Some are probably familiar with the Marine Black Sheep Squadron of fighter pilots that were popularized by the “Baa Baa Black Sheep” television series. They were a group of misfits that banded together to form a squadron. Initially, they didn’t even have a plane.
There are a couple of parallels with an Army group of flying misfits that took on missions no one else wanted. In spite of the small errors in the oddly-titled article “The Most Honored Photograph“, it is quite a story.
It tells of how the Eager Beavers were able to obtain a valuable reconnaissance photo of Buka air field on Bougainville Island of the Solomon Islands, in a plane where the commander never got certified as a pilot, the plane was pieced together starting with one that was a junker that was supposed to be parted out, and the team was a bunch of renegades and misfits.
You know, we were meant to win World War II. There are numerous stories like this, and some even stranger and more unbelievable, that show a certain resilience of the actors as well as a generous helping of what some might call “pure dumb luck”. I prefer to call it being generously blessed from above.
People scoff at American exceptionalism. However, even those who believe in that are skeptical of Anglo Israelism. Yet, from where and from whom do our blessings come, and to whom were these blessings promised in the latter days? Only one ethnic group. Not out of nor for superiority of Israel, but rather to show the power of God. He keeps His promises even when things look like they cannot be fulfilled. Always.
On a couple of side notes, though, there are also more important promises that were given to all races everywhere. In addition, I firmly believe that, if, any given nation were to dedicate themselves to God wholeheartedly and actually follow through on it, God would be generous and bless them also.
Israel was supposed to be an example nation. In truth, they were, but unfortunately not as an example to follow. Instead, they became an example of what not to do. However, if they were an example, then that means God’s dealings with them could have meant to show how He would deal with any nation that adopted His way of life.
To put it another way, if Israel were truly superior, they would have never gone into captivity to begin with. If their descendants were truly superior, they would have learned from what came before rather than making the very same mistakes.
Still, America has been blessed. Great Britain has been blessed. Everyone under the UK umbrella has been blessed to one degree or another. We are exceptional, at least for now, but not because of anything we did or could have done. It was God’s power, and He used us as a vehicle to spread the Bible throughout the world. The technology we use daily is also used to spread the true Gospel throughout the world. God had an end in mind, and it was in spite of the stiff necks that we inherited from our forefathers.
One more thought I have is more historical. It used to be that everyone had a place. They just had to find it. Anyone who was industrious and resourceful could make it, and with the right circumstances they could make it big. However, society has changed — a lot. There is no real tolerance for misfits. Criminals who have fame and money are a different matter with their various enablers that surround them, but anyone with less status is shunned and left out in the cold.
Even our treatment of criminals is somewhat odd. We won’t put people to death, we won’t rehabilitate them, and we won’t try to make them useful members of society. Even if one wants to turn their life around, society is set up to make them fail. However, we as a society tend to become angry when they cross some line, and we look for stern punishment.
Add to that, our economy is more and more geared to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The amount of work no longer seems tied to the amount of honest effort that is put forth.
We have succeeded in making an underclass that has no ambition, no goals in life and are trapped in a system that was set up to ensure that the bureaucracy not only maintains itself but grows ever larger. In our arrogance, we believed we had all the answers, and we are paying for it by watching society erode away, being washed out from underneath. The entire structure will eventually fall because it has no foundation. No working foundation, no moral foundation and ever decreasing blessings from above.
In short, could the story of the Eager Beavers even happen today? I honestly have my doubts.