As the troopship moved forward, there were burning Japanese battleships everywhere ahead of them full of holes and spewing flames. As the U.S. fleet pulled closer to the shores of Okinawa, they dropped anchor and lowered the boats off the side. There were thousands and thousands of small boats loaded with terrified troops heading for the beach. There was the scream of suicide planes overhead, bullets flying, and a horrible roar of shells, “Boom! Boom! Boom!”
It was late spring of 1945, and Clark Thornton was leading in a line of boats in the first wave of the biggest Pacific invasion of World War II. His boat hit the beach, and he lowered the ramp to let the marines out. When the boat was emptied, he raised the ramp and pulled the boat back to the ship for another load. This time it was a tank and a tank crew consisting of eight men.
As they headed toward the beach, a shell hit Clark’s boat and the whole bow disappeared. Two steersman and Clark were thrown over the back of the boat into the water and the rest of the crew were killed as the weight of the tank took the boat straight to the bottom of the ocean.
Heavenly Father watched out for Clark and spared his life over and over throughout his history, allowing him to live and raise a family. He went on to dedicate his life to help build and protect Lord’s work on this Earth.
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