THE LEGEND OF THE BATTLE SAINT

One night around the campfire at our family reunion, our nephew told us the story of his saint bracelet. He is a combat-hardened Marine with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan under his belt. Following this reunion, he was deploying again to the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan.  But, on his second tour of Iraq, a Chaplain handed him and his buddies some wooden bracelets. Marines are the hard center in a steel saber; they are the tip of the spear. Bracelets and jewelry could easily be frowned upon.  But, when a Chaplain (and a Captain to boot) says “take this bracelet,” there is no debate. When he told them, “give them to your families and loved ones to wear as they pray for you and your safe return,” they knew the order of things: God, family, the Marines. These three priorities live in their hearts. Each one helps the other. If you make it back, or make it through to live another day, God, family and the Marines are playing a part in the universe.

The Chaplain called them “saint bracelets.” Made of wood with the images of the saints staring back at you, these icons seem more than religious. They are simple, hopeful and almost alive. We sat around that roaring fire and listened to our nephew tell the stories of war, close calls and even closer friends. He passed out these saint bracelets and said, “wear these for me and all those men and woman right now dug in doing their job.” The unspoken hope around the campfire was that this simple act would protect them in battle and bring them home safely to their families.  

We soon discovered that wherever we went, the conversation turned to the wooden saint bracelets around our wrists. So, the Battle Saint™ project was born; we decided to manufacture a bracelet uniquely developed to incorporate specific saints relevant to our troops. (For information on the saints included on the bracelets, please click on The Saints tab.) Furthermore, $1 from the sale of each battlesaint.com bracelet would be dedicated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Your participation in this effort is meant for every military branch. It is non-denominational and represents your support for our men and women in the armed forces. We continue to wear our Battle Saint™ bracelets every day in the hope it will surround the troops with the protection of the saints.