The Greatest Compliment
The mission was a navigator’s nightmare. The bombing run to Karlsruhe should have been an eight-hour trip, but bad weather forced the formation to make frequent course changes. Frank Federici was lead navigator for a flight of six B-24s and felt that they were “touring Germany.” By the time they were over the target he was hearing complaints from the other aircraft that fuel and oxygen were in short supply.
At this point Federici recommended a complete departure from the planned route that had been ordered for the mission. He took his lead aircraft down to an altitude of 500 feet and headed straight for home base, ignoring orders. At such low altitude he had to do the navigating job of his life. Cloud formations required constant maneuvering and new sets of calculations for each course change. He said later, “I could have used one hundred twenty seconds in a minute instead of sixty!”291
Federici reached his base in England with ten minutes fuel to spare. However, instead of congratulations, he and his pilot received reprimands for violating their orders. He was almost too tired to care:
I decided that sleep was more important (than eating) and started walking in the snow toward our Quonset hut. As I walked toward the hut, I was tempted numerous times to lie in the snow and go to sleep. However, I continued to walk to the hut, when suddenly I was confronted by another navigator who caught up to me and said, “Thanks a lot, Frank.” He was one of the navigators in an aircraft flying in our six-ship formation back to base. I have considered his “thank you” as the greatest compliment received during my seventy-nine years! He was thanking me for saving his life.292
To have your work judged positively by someone you respect is one of life’s great rewards. We should also remember, however, that our work can have eternal consequences as well. Although our salvation in Jesus Christ is guaranteed, when our work for him is judged worthy, we will be rewarded. Someday, every one of us will want to hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
The fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
—1 Corinthians 3:13–15