Actual Story of B17 battle scars
During WWII many B17 bombers returned from missions with flak and machine gun damage.
The USAAF decided to analyse the damage patterns and increase armour/protection for the damaged areas.
Before the planes were modified, a Hungarian-Jewish statistician named Abraham Wald reviewed the data. Wald had fled Nazi-occupied Austria and worked in New York with other academics to help the war effort.
Wald’s review pointed out a critical flaw in the analysis. The researchers had only looked at bombers who’d returned to base.
Missing from the data? Every plane that had been shot down.
But the research wasn’t a wasted effort. These surviving bombers rarely had damage in the cockpit, engine, and parts of the tail. This wasn’t because of superior protection to those areas. In fact, these were the most vulnerable areas on the entire plane.
These areas were not obvious but had much greater damage which caused a loss of aircraft and crew.
The researchers’ bullet hole data had created a map of the exact places that the bomber could be shot and still survive.
With the new analysis in hand, crews reinforced the bombers’ cockpit, engines, and tail armor. The result was fewer fatalities and greater success of bombing missions. This analysis proved to be so useful that it continued to influence military plane design up through the Vietnam war.
How we deal with battle scars and wounds
It is not the obvious battle scars we carry, but the hidden ones that need attention.
The Lord is bringing deep healing to the deepest wounds. He is healing the most broken parts of us.
We need to see the depth of some wounds and welcome Holy Spirit healing.
Trust the Lord with your most vulnerable issues, a bruised reed He will not break nor a smoking wick will he extinguish. Isaiah 42:3
His deep love makes whole again, rest in Him, allow His healing balm to come and flood you with His Power and Love.