The Day God Showed Up by Gordon C. Helsel | Books in Review

I “I pen the words of this book for one reason and one reason only, ” Gordon C. Helsel writes on page one of his Vietnam War memoir, The Day God Showed Up (West Bow Press, 92 pp., $9.95, paper), “and that is to share with as many people as I can what God did for me while I was a young soldier in the Republic of Vietnam.”

Helsel goes on to say that he also wrote the book so that others will know that “God has no favorites. You see, what He did for for me, He will do for anyone. I am thankful to anyone who acquires this book, and I pray my story will bring you closer to God than you have ever been.”

Helsel then briefly relates his life story, focusing on what happened after he was drafted into the Army, leading up to the fateful day of February 27, 1968, when he was “miraculously saved” during a vicious firefight. Just before the fight began another solider in his unit—Charlie Company, 2nd of the 35th in the 4th Infantry Division—asked if he could take Helsel’s place walking point. That was the first divine intervention.

Then, during the worst of the intense fight, Helsel managed to shield himself from withering fire under the body of a fallen comrade.

After being medevaced, Helsel was rushed into surgery. The doctors feared he would lose his arm, but when Helsel awoke, his arm was still there.

“God, ” he writes, “intervened again.”

The author’s website is www.thedaygodshowedup.com

—Marc Leepson

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