The Virtue of Courage (Part 2): “The Right Stuff” in overcoming fear
By Dr Gerard Gaskin, Director of Catholic Education Tasmania
Like many people of our generation, my father fought in the Second World War and my grandfather fought in the First World War. We had nostalgic memories of watching their generations, marching in their thousands, every Anzac Day. World War II was very real to us, a part of our cultural consciousness. We knew that the survival of our country had been at grave risk and we understood the mortal impact that the war had, destroying many young lives among the families we knew.
My generation lost fathers, uncles and brothers, fighting to defend Australia. We had plenty of first-hand accounts of what warfare was like, for military and civilians alike, because the conflict of World War II was only a decade into our past.
At the time of the outbreak of World War II, my father was studying for the priesthood. Like many of his peers, he felt the call to defend Australia against an almost certain invasion by the Japanese military, whose forces had advanced as close to Australia as New Guinea and had bombed the mainland at Darwin. He left the seminary and enlisted in the Australian Army.
My dad spent his war as a commando with Australia’s elite special forces, most of the time operating behind enemy lines, living in secret and raiding Japanese military positions. Operating inside the enemy’s territory meant living in constant fear of being detected and killed or imprisoned. Fighting was often at close quarters with the enemy: it was brutal, deadly and hand-to-hand.
How, I often asked, could a man who planned to live as a priest, give five years of his life fighting such a fierce war? What courage did it take to return, again and again, into battle, knowing that at any time he could meet sudden death? My Dad’s answer to this question was so simple and clear – a lesson to all our children in our schools today.
He said that courage was mostly about overcoming fear. He told me that the night before a raid on an enemy position some of his fellow commandos would play cards and act as though nothing affected them. Dad, on the other hand, would endure a sleepless night of agony and prayer before each morning’s raid. He would spend the night in fear imagining what might happen to him the next day. For my dad, courage was not about being fearless, about acting as though there was nothing to fear. He understood that he had everything to fear, but he also knew that he must courageously overcome fear to do his duty for his country. That is true courage.
For many of our children today, some who are victims of domestic trauma and all who are part of a society that fears global environmental damage and threats of war – they are called to the virtue of courage. For them, and for us, courage lies in doing always what is right, and overcoming our fears by trusting in God. He is greater than any fear or anxiety. The Gospels tells us how His only Son Jesus, had to overcome mortal fear in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His death on the cross. He is our model and example of a form of courage that comes from love. He alone can save us from fear. He alone promises a life of eternal happiness to those who live with courage.