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March 20, 2007
Mr. Halvorsen in WWII
The passing of Mr. Halvorsen has made me sad in some ways, and joyful in others that he will be where he has longed to be for years. I took piano with him all four years, and he was a dear, dear friend.
I've been waiting to do a blog post until I processed the emotions that this has stirred up. But while I try to find my own words, here's an amazing story I found.
He used to frequently talk about his experiences as a POW in WWII, telling about when his parachute caught on a tree and he was captured, and how he told his guards that he would be happy as long as they brought him books (which they did).
I did a little google search on him, and found this story in his own words, on a website about the Stalag Luft I prison camp, in which veterans have the chance to tell their own stories of being POWs. I'm just really touched by seeing him in historical context
Name: Ira David Halvorsen Hometown: Gary, Indiana POW Camp: Stalag Luft 1 Name of POW: Denver Jeff Wood Postal Street Address: 1625 Five Springs Drive City, State, Zip: Chattanooga, TN 37319 Sent: 12.24 AM - 11/15 2003I was a prisoner at Stalag Luft 1 from the last few days of December 1944 until liberation in May of 1945. As I recall, I was in the northernmost compound, but I do not find my name or the names of my bunkmate Monroe David and my buddy Denver Jeff Wood.
Please notify me if you can determine the room and the barracks where we were housed. I think my kriegsgefangenen number was 4813. The night before the flight of B-17's evacuated us, a piano that my roommates had "scrounged" from the German officer's clubhouse was moved out by a roaring campfire and I played popular requests for the better part of the night. Maybe some of the other former prisoners will remember that celebration. Now I play much better than I did then. But I did so much enjoy entertaining my fellows with popular favorites of that era.
Amazing. A POW, yet he doesn't complain at all in his story, he recounts a joyful time. An old roommate reminded me the other day that Mr. Halvorsen used to say, "Everything in life is a gift." And with the death of two beloved wives, and all of the other suffering he endured over his long life, he could not say something like that lightly. So simple, yet one of the most powerful summaries of the comforts of having a sovereign God.
Jo | By Tim and Jo | 8:50 AM
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Comments
Mr. Halvorsen came the same year I did. His wife couldn't come right away, so my "Practical Work" was to do his weekly laundry. He became a beloved friend, though I was not musical! Htaught both of my children, came to my wedding with his wife, and generally exuded profound love of life and his LORD! It was a pity not to know of his death right away!
Debbie
Posted by: Deborah Hastings at April 17, 2007 11:48 AM