A mother’s gift and a soldier’s loyalty define a family’s faith and love

By John Shaughnessy

A mother will do everything she can to protect her child, and Don Booth’s mom hoped and prayed that her special gift would give him a double layer of protection as he served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

The first part of the gift stemmed from her firm belief in God, a belief that she and Booth’s father passed along to their son—a copy of the New Testament.

The second part of the gift was formidable in a different way. Booth’s mom added a steel plate to the cover of the New Testament.

As he prepared to go into combat during the war, Booth placed his mom’s gift in his front shirt pocket, over his heart—a heart that was filled with love for his country.

“He was proud he was an American, and he wanted to keep his country free,” says Marian Roth, Booth’s daughter and a member of St. Louis Parish in Batesville. “His service in the war began in North Africa. While he was there, he contracted malaria, and the doctors thought he had died. Dad woke up among rows of dead soldiers, and he was terrified. God did not want him to die so he fought on.”

Booth continued to serve in battles in Europe, enduring the horrors of war while fighting for people’s freedom, clinging to the hope that nearly all soldiers have—to return home safely one day.

“He fought until he ended up in France and the French people were liberated,” Roth notes. “The fighting was fierce, and God protected him throughout the war.”

Years later, her father shared other moments from the war when he believed God saved him.

One of those moments involved the steel-plated New Testament.

“He always remembered that his mom and dad were praying for God to protect him,” Roth says. “A bullet hit that Bible and made a dent in it, sparing his life.

“In another battle, he had to leave his fox hole to go to the command center. His unit was under attack, and they were being bombarded with artillery, and shells were flying everywhere. When it was time to return to his

fox hole, he hesitated, wondering how he would ever get back there alive.

“Someone came up from behind, grabbed his shoulder and said, ‘Come on buddy, I’ll go with you.’ He traveled through the shelling with explosions all around him, and he did not get a scratch. He turned to thank his new friend, but no one was there.”

Her dad always wondered if an angel had guided him during that moment. At the same time, he also knew the cold-hearted reality of war.

“Only eight soldiers out of his unit made it back to America alive,” Roth says.

Booth “was awarded the Silver Star and many other medals for heroism,” his daughter adds.

In the years that followed his return home, Booth married and had a family. His daughter says he showed them the same loyalty that he displayed in serving his country. He also gave them the same double layer of love and faith that his mother had given him in the gift of that steel-plated New Testament.

“Dad taught me that God loved me and to have faith that he would take care of me in good times and bad,” Roth says. “He also taught me to have hope for a good future because of the freedom brave men and women had earned for me.

“When the ‘National Anthem’ is sung, I get a tear in my eye when I hear ‘Land of the free and home of the brave.’ God has truly blessed America for 250 years. May Americans continue to love God, have faith in him, and hope for another 250 years of freedom.” †

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