The heat was searing as they drove through the desert. Joan was one of the four in the armored truck … Kirk, Jimbo and Todd were a part of her crew. They were watchful as they scoured the terrain for the enemy. Kirk drove as though the devil himself was after him. They were watchful as they neared their target. Jimbo was the communications man. Todd was the rocket launcher. Joan held an M1 rifle. They were a team.

The radio crackled as Jimbo kept responding, "no target in sight."

Then all hell broke loose…there was rapid fire everywhere.

They fired back…the enemy was gaining ground…any minute now, she thought. They’ll let loose of a rocket…we’ll be blown to bits. She unconsciously started to pray, "Holy Mary mother of God."

He appeared out of the blue. Fighting like no other. Darting behind the vehicle, launching rockets and fire power, with his help, they were able to overcome the enemy. It was all over in minutes. Then he'd leave without a trace.They could not explain it. He was there and then he wasn’t. It happened more than once. They were beginning to think of Joan as “lucky.” They always came back unscathed. When questioned, they could only describe him as a soldier. Fought like a battalion. And then he would leave without a trace. The army had no record of him, or the regiment that he belonged to. When asked who he was, or if they could produce an ID, they could only shrug their shoulders, could offer them nothing. Joan kept a low profile, would remain silent. She held no outstanding features. Just a woman in uniform who gained the trust of her men. 

Father John, the Chaplin, would say of her; “She is the bravest woman I know. She never complains. Attends services, she is a good example to her fellow soldiers. I cannot say she’s a saint or an angel. I  know that God is watching over her…she definitely merits heaven. She comes the closest to Joan of Arc if I were to describe her. She is a woman of substance.”

They remember the day she was shot and was tended by medics. She remained lucid, telling them she was okay, to mend her up so she could return to battle. They were reluctant to let her go. But she went anyway. Suddenly he appeared, in close proximity of her. It always occurred after she prayed. She felt confident when he came, was deeply grateful for his assistance. They fought like a team. She was a threat to the enemy; they said she held power over the men. They wanted to destroy her, and finally they succeeded.

He came to her, as she lay dying. Picked her up and carried her off into the desert, never to be seen or heard of again. Nobody could explain the phenomenon; it was as though she was meant for battle, that she was not an ordinary woman but a woman of substance, and not of this world.