Grace Moments by Dolores Martin

THE STEEL COVERED BIBLE

During WWII, mothers sent BIBLES that had a steel cover to their sons. Theory was that the Bible would be in his shirt pocket, thus would stop a bullet to the heart.

Beth had one such Bible. Her husband took it from the body of one of his men. He intended to return it to the mother of this brave young man. This was not meant to be.

Beth's husband returned from the war with numerous medals including two Purple Hearts. He also developed tuberculosis overseas. He fought the valiant fight to regain his health but the ravages of war combined with tuberculosis killed him.

Beth was a young widow with two small children. There was little money to support them and so she went to work. She tried to locate the family of the young man and to fulfill her deceased husbands desire to return the Bible with the steel cover to the soldiers family. She was not successful in her endeavor.

In memory of both her deceased husband and the young infantryman, she carried this Bible in her purse for many years and frequently read it.

The inscription inside the cover gave his name and it was signed, With love, mother. His name was Patrick Foley. He was probably Catholic as the Bible also held his scapula.

Beth remarried and her husband, Joe, tried to locate the family of Patrick Foley on and off over the years to no avail.

After over 50 years of marriage, Beth passed away. She took good care of this Bible during her lifetime.

The war has been over for 63 years. Joe recently stopped by the local VFW and asked them for help in locating the family of Patrick Foley. They will try to trace the name for him if possible. They have access to records that were not available to Joe and Beth.

The VFW Commander never saw such a Bible before. He said that they were going to put up a display in front of the Hall for Columbus day. He would like to include the STEEL COVERED BIBLE in their display.

It was really poignant when you opened it up and saw "MOTHER"S HANDWRITING", faded but still legible.

Hopefully, this latest attempt to locate the family of Patrick Foley and return his Bible will be successful.