America is a land of promise, pledging to all the opportunity to live freely in peace and prosperity. But when war threatens America’s freedom, its citizens vow to fight to preserve it, sacrificing their prosperity and sometimes their lives in service to something greater than themselves.
And when they do, they sometimes make vows to themselves to continue that service long after the war ends.
This is the Forgotten History of The Farmboy’s Promise.
Jim was a loving young man. One of nine children, he loved his family, loved working on their farm, and loved his church. Every Sunday, he loved listening to the bells of St. Mary’s Parish in Lake Church, Wisconsin as they welcomed him to service, and when he was old enough to attend school, he of course attended St. Mary’s School.
Every day, his pastor told him, he was praying for Jim to become a priest when he grew up. Jim wasn’t sure if he loved the parish that much—he was, after all, a boy with dreams of adventure and seeing the world.
And the world has a funny way of interfering with one’s plans. When Jim graduated from high school, the US had entered World War II, and Jim enlisted in the Army on his 18th birthday. But shortly afterward, his mother died, leaving his father alone to manage their farm. Jim received a temporary deferment to help his father.
When it was time for Jim to ship out, his father saw him off at the train station.
“Be a good soldier, Jimmy,” he said.
It was the last time Jim saw his father, who died three months later. A devastated Jim left basic training for the funeral. As he sat in the pews of St. Mary’s, he wondered what God’s plan for him truly was. His parents were gone, and he was about to ship out overseas. Would he ever come back?
When he returned to basic training, he learned that his infantry unit had shipped out without him. They had finished training, but he had not. A few weeks later, word came from the front that Jim’s old unit had been wiped out in battle. Every single man had been killed.
Jim was shattered, but knew he had to press on. His country needed him. He joined a new infantry unit and shipped out in 1944. He brought along a small silver prayer book with a metal cover and thought of his mom and dad every time he opened it.
That winter, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Pinned down in a foxhole, Jim made a promise to himself and to God. If God would save him from this war, he would become a priest—just like his pastor had prayed for when he was a small boy.
The fighting intensified. Jim steeled his nerves in preparation for a charge. Suddenly he felt something strike his chest. He turned to the soldier next to him and asked why he had slapped him.
What? The other soldier asked. He hadn’t slapped Jim. Jim grabbed at his chest and felt his metal prayer book in his breast pocket. He pulled it out and it felt hot. Suddenly, the two soldiers saw a piece of shrapnel lying nearby. It had flown into their foxhole when a Howitzer shell exploded and struck Jim in the chest.
But it hit the prayer book and bounced off. Had Jim not had the book, the shrapnel would have struck him in the heart and either severely injured or killed him. God, Jim believed, had saved him.
And true to his word, he became a priest, celebrating his first Mass on May 15, 1955 at his beloved St. Mary’s in Lake Church.
Father Jim Ernster served in parishes around the Milwaukee area, but St. Mary’s was always his first love. It was the place he was baptized, made his first communion, and was confirmed. In 2019, he was a founding board member of the Bells of St. Mary’s—a group organized to preserve the bells that Fr. Jim heard as a young boy.
On Sunday, at the age of 96, after a life of service to his country, his parishioners, and his God, he was called home, and next week, he will be laid to rest in—where else? St. Mary’s Cemetery.