2007 Essay Contest Honorable Mention

THE BLUE CROSS

Submitted by Alice Fain of Ashdown

The greatest tragedy of the 20th Century was the Second World War. I was eleven years old when the United States entered the war. My oldest brother was called up immediately because he was in the National Guard. My younger brother was called up when he was eighteen.

In our community there were several men that were captured, wounded or killed. One of our neighbors, Tom Denay, was captured by the Japanese very early in the war. When he came home, he was emaciated and racked with TB. Allen Eades was severely injured on the Hornet. Orel Mitcham, my 3rd grade teacher’s twin brother, was killed on a bombing raid over Germany.

One young man really stands out in my memories. Eddie Rouse, who lived Smackover built a cross and lined it with blue lights and hung it in a tall pine tree on the southern edge of town. This was all done when he was a very young teenager. When we would drive into town at night during the holidays, I was fascinated by the beautiful cross. Eddie Rouse was called into service and his friends kept up the custom of hanging his cross. Eddie was killed in the invasion of Italy. Since he wouldn’t be coming back, the people of Smackover continued the tradition for more than fifty years now. If you drive into |Smackover during the Christmas holidays, you can still see the beautiful blue cross. The pine tree is gone, but a place is found for Eddie’s crosses.

A young man who loved the cross and all it represented made an effort to honor the Saviour and his love for us. What a testimony to their great sacrifice.