Forgive Me For All the Men I Kept Trying To Kill

The book (and TV series) “Band of Brothers” follows an American paratrooper unit through World War II. One of the few men to survive from beginning to end was Sgt. “Skinny” Sisk. After the war, Sisk had a hard time shaking his memories. In July 1991, he wrote to Capt. Winters to explain:
“My career after the war was trying to drink away the truckload of Krauts that I stopped in Holland and the die-hard Nazi that I went up into the Bavarian Alps and killed. Old Moe Alley made a statement that all the killings that I did was going to jump into the bed with me one of these days and they surely did. I have a lot of flashbacks after the war and I started drinking. Ha! Ha!

“Then my sister’s little daughter, four years old, came into my bedroom (I was too unbearable to the rest of the family, either hung over or drunk) and she told me that Jesus loved me and she loved me and if I would repent God would forgive me for all the men I kept trying to kill all over again.

“That little girl got to me. I put her out of my room, told her to go to her Mommy. There and then I bowed my head on my Mother’s old feather bed and repented and God forgave me for the war and all the other bad things I had done down through the years. I was ordained in the latter part of 1949 into the ministry and believe me, Dick, I haven’t whipped but one man since and he needed it. I have four children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“The Lord willing and Jesus tarrys I hope to see you all at the next reunion. If not I’ll see you at the Last Jump.”