At the time, it was considered a miracle.
On July 30, 1943, an American B-17 Flying Fortress, the “Tondelayo,” survived a bombing run on Kassel, Germany.
When the Tondelayo returned to its base in England, airmen discovered eleven 20mm shells inside its fuel tanks.
How was it possible that these shells never exploded, they asked.
The crew members of the Tondelayo were emphatic: it was a blessing from God. A miracle.
But an investigation soon revealed that, as each shell was opened, they found no explosives inside. Each shell that hit the bomber’s gas tank was empty and harmless.
Except one. Inside that shell was a carefully rolled piece of paper with a note scrawled in Czech. Translated, it said: “This is all we can do for you now.”
That note was likely written by a Jewish laborer forced to make the shells for the German Luftwaffe.
The airmen on the Tondelayo had been saved by someone they would never know — a prisoner brutally exploited by a fascist regime that allowed no opposition.
And that prisoner would never know that he or she had saved 10 American lives, including that of Master Sgt. Michael Arooth of Springfield, the top tail gunner ace of the entire war.
Most likely this anonymous prisoner was just a number in a Gestapo report — an arrest, a deportation to a concentration camp, a slave laborer, and finally a death. But that person lives on in eternity as a symbol — a symbol of great bravery and courage, a symbol of selfless defiance without any expectation of reward or recognition.
I first read about this “miracle” as a young Air Force officer, during Squadron Officer School, while researching the lives of airmen flying bombing missions out of England during World War II.
I had filed the story of the Tondelayo away in the recesses of my brain until it resurfaced after Donald Trump’s second inauguration in January.
Many of us despaired, feeling hopeless about opposing a government firmly controlled by one party, wondering if resistance was futile, asking, “Is there any way I can make a difference?”
It was then that the story of the Tondelayo and the Czech resistance re-emerged and helped me answer those questions.
“Do what you can do now,” I would tell people while telling the story of the nameless prisoner who, in 1943, cleverly and courageously sabotaged the Third Reich. You never know what act will be the one that saves someone or even saves our democracy, I would add.
If you still want to believe that the B-17’s aircrew survival was a miracle, I won’t deprive you of that conviction. But I am convinced that what saved the Tondelayo was one human being doing what he or she could do, at a singular moment, against unimaginable odds.
Isn’t that where we are today? In cities everywhere, innocent people are being violently thrown to the ground by masked agents and detained under inhumane conditions without due process. What more proof do we need that this is a similarly singular moment? Who knows when or how any of us will be called to action? But I believe we must be ready.
I never imagined a life of activism. I didn’t serve my country to see it dissolve into a dictatorship. But now everyone needs to be an activist.
If you’re not sure where to start, sign up with Indivisible Northampton – Swing Left Western Mass at www.in-slwm.org. In signing up with Indivisible, I joined a beloved community of people dedicated to saving our democracy. It’s easy to find something to do.
“There are many ways for you to step in, step up, learn, and be a part of our community of dedicated activists,” says our website.
You can choose from several teams and initiatives or even create your own, like I did – the Veterans Action Team that now has more than 70 members.
Democracy, voting rights and civil liberties all need action right now. So do reproductive rights, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate action. Or you can jump into several actions like phone banking, postcard writing, and protesting, along with a myriad of other important tasks. From writing letters to voters to crafting a letter to the editor, there is something for everyone.
If you’re still not sure, join the dozens of us who will be at the No Kings Rally on Saturday, Oct.18, at Pulaski Park in Northampton from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., or at any of the more than 2,000 events across our nation. It will be a day of joyful resistance and community empowerment with music, speeches, and peaceful protest, along with Indivisible people answering questions about our current initiatives and actions.
Every act of resistance counts. Every principled action of dissent, no matter how small or large, can and will make a difference.
There is no time to wait and no time to sit on the sidelines. Choose something. And then, when it’s your turn to step up, you, too, can say that you have done what you could do now.
John Paradis is a member of the Veteran Action Team with Indivisible Northampton — Swing Left Western Massachusetts. He is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and lives in Florence.