Missing in Action
Marjorie and Rowland Gaunt were married in Cranston, Rhode Island, in August 1943. Within a few weeks, Rowland received his navigator’s wings and assignment to a B-17 bomber squadron in England. In March 1944 Marjorie received the dreaded telegram informing her that her husband was missing in action. For months, she lived in the limbo of not knowing. She continued her letters and her prayers in spite of the agonizing uncertainty. In November, with dwindling hope, she wrote:
Wherever you are, I know you must feel my love for you. My love has grown stronger each day and it is just bursting for expression. I’ve told you many times how much I love you, and I am so thankful for that now… Please, darling… keep your eyes uplifted and trust in God. I’ve prayed continually for His protection over you and His guidance during these long trying months. I pray for Him to give you patience and to bless you and make you strong. Oh, that I might bear it for you. I would gladly die that you might come back to those that love you and live gloriously to serve humanity and God… Be strong, my darling. May God give you courage, patience and strength that will carry you triumphantly through your ordeals to lasting peace, gentleness and love.324
Unfortunately, these prayers were not answered as Marjorie hoped they would be. Rowland was lost at sea in February 1944 when his B-17 was shot down off the coast of Denmark. It was not until 1945 that she was officially informed of his death by the War Department. Marjorie’s courage and faithfulness sustained her during this long ordeal and are a strong witness to the power of faith in such a bleak time. Her prayers may not have been rewarded in this life as she had hoped, but we can rest in the assurance that God’s will was accomplished and that this brave couple will triumphantly find lasting peace and love together in eternity.
And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.
—Mark 10:89