By Peter Kennedy
“At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.” – 2 Timothy 4:16
In May 1970, aerial photographs revealed what U.S. military intelligence believed was a POW camp near the town of Son Tay, twenty-three miles west of North Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi. When American officials decided the prisoners were attempting to send signals, they set in motion a daring plan to rescue the more than sixty airmen thought to be held captive.
On November 20, a joint group of volunteers from Army Green Berets and Air Force Special Operations Forces perfectly executed the raid, only to find the prisoners' quarters empty; the POWs had been moved to a different location. Initially, the Son Tay raid was a devastating disappointment to the men who risked their lives to carry it out. Many vocal critics labeled it as a spectacular failure of our nation's intelligence network. However, subsequent events proved that the audacity of the rescue attempt stunned the North Vietnamese, who implemented immediate changes in the treatment of their captives. They consolidated all Americans from their incarceration in camps to a single downtown Hanoi location where prisoners could take better care of each other. The operation also restored the prisoners' faith that their nation had not forgotten them.
Though friends or family may leave us, Jesus will never abandon us. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that He is faithful and will never leave us.
"It is when God appears to have abandoned us that we must abandon ourselves most wholly to God." - Francois Fenelon
God’s Word: “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
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