FRIDAY FOTO (August 18, 2017)

… with wings as eagles.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Daniel Love)

A bald eagle soars by a paratrooper descending from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The soldier is a member of the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne). The photo was taken July 27, 2017.

If you’re curious about the quote in the headline above the photo, it comes from the Book of Isiah, 40:31. The King James Version, which is most often quoted version is below.

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

(Courtesy of Bible Hub: http://biblehub.com/isaiah/40-31.htm)

One Oscar-nominated film where the Bible verse played a prominent role is  Battleground, a 1949 film that, long before Band of Brothers, told the story of the 101st Airborne Division (the Screaming Eagles), when they were surrounded by the Germans at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge five years earlier.

We couldn’t find the film clip on YouTube where a dejected soldier played by Marshall Thompson quotes the verse — first, mockingly when there is no airdrop of badly needed supplies and ammo — and then joyously when the clouds break and relief comes through.

But here’s another famous scene from that film that seems to address some of the issues America faces today.