When peace and nobility overshadowed war

Despite the grief and suffering in every war come acts of peace and nobility.

We all have our favorite books and stories of moments of humility and humanity carved out of the cruelty of war.

When offered such books, many of us devour them.

My latest favorite good for July 4th or any time of the year is “Lost in Shangrai-La,” an epic story of survival, adventure and an incredible World War II rescue mission.

More about this later, but first just a mention of three other stories of kindness, dignity and valor that should be on everyone’s reading list.

“A Higher Call” by Adam Makos retells the famous incident where German ace pilot Franz Stigler guided a helpless, bullet-riddled B-17, its pilot Charlie Brown and crew survivors to the safe shores of England.

Stigler could have easily done his duty and destroyed the crippled plane, but he chose to escort Brown and crew to safety. In the end, Stigler saluted Brown as the German plane pealed away. Later the two would meet and become life-long friends.

“Ghost Soldiers” by Hampton Sides deals with a WWII rescue mission where 121 select Army Rangers slipped through Japanese lines to liberate 513 American and British POWs, many who were survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March.

“Silent Night” by Stanley Weintraub is maybe the most emotional of all. It came in the cold and dismal trenches along the Western Front of WWI, Dec. 24-25, 1914.

On that Christmas Eve, with less than 50 yards of “No Man’s Land” separating German and British allied forces, the German’s began to sing “Silent Night.” The allied forces chimed in with “The First Noel.” Through the night they sang. Not a shot was fired.

The next day they crawled out of their cold muddy pits, met halfway, shook hands, and exchanged tobacco, food and sewing kits. Even if just for a moment, war had ended.

I just finished “Lost In Shangrai-La” by Mitchell Zuckoff. It’s a story of the rescue of three America soldiers, two men and a woman, after a plane crash in the jungles of New Guinea where 21 of their comrades perished.

The badly injured survivors faced certain death, either by natural causes or at the mercy of snakes, animals, Japanese troops and native headhunters.

A tight little valley dubbed Shangri-La is where the three survivors settled. The area was surrounded by 8,000 foot mountains and thick forest.

Without giving away the story, paratroopers, medics who had never jumped and gliders became the saving grace. From beginning to end, with every conceivable option considered, rescue was considered near impossible.

These are among my favorite war stories and in time I will likely read them again.

Ted “Spud” Buss is a former TRN sports and business editor.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: When peace and nobility overshadowed war Ted Buss column