Saint Christopher has been such a friend to this Vietnam War hero!
“Mr. Christopher and I, we went to war,” Stephan Franich Jr. said as he told captivating war stories to The Vietnam Experience in a video released on YouTube last month.
In this video, which has gained over 100,000 views on YouTube, Franich shared stories of completing his trainings, heading off to war, losing dear friends, and his return home all while owing his accomplishments to “Mr. Christopher” whom he wore around his neck.
Having been drafted into the U.S. Army in 1969, Franich recalled his departure from home and his farewell to his family. Just as he was about to board his plane, he suddenly heard his mother shout, “Stephen! Stephen!” It was then that she gave him her Saint Christopher medal.
“Son, under no circumstance ever take that off,” she said.
From that point on, Franich wore the medal.
“The entire time I was in Vietnam," he shares, "I don’t care what I was doing, or where I was going, that medal stayed with my dog tags, and that medal never came off.”
As the video continues, he touches on a more somber story.
When talking about performing rescue missions, Franich shares that he watched a boy, no older than he was, die.
He tried all he could to help the boy live and said, “I’m sitting there trying to tell him, ‘I’m trying, I’m trying’, and 50 years later [it] still bothers me.”
Regardless of his sadness, his confidence in Heaven is evident when he shares, “I’ll see him someday.”
Eventually, when he was relieved of his duties, he chose to go home immediately without telling his family. Franich shares that he walked up the back steps of this home and snuck into the dining room, embraced his mother from the back, and slipped the Saint Christopher medal back over her head.
“It worked like a charm... your boy is home,” he says.
Now, choking through tears, he noted that his mother continued to wear that medal until the day that she died. At this point, he took the medal back and wore it for multiple years before passing it to his grandson who enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school.
Without ever telling his grandson of the importance of the medal or what he said to his mother, his grandson also came home, walked up behind Franich, and slipped that medal over his head while saying, “Grampa... it worked like a charm.”
Currently, the medal is on its third tour. Franich recently passed it off to a young man whom he calls his “adopted grandson.”
He said, “I haven’t gotten that one back yet, but I’m expecting it anytime."
Ultimately, this veteran shared a great testimony to the way the saints intercede for humanity.
He finished his interview with The Vietnam Experience saying, “I never considered myself a hero, but I’ve served with heroes... I got shot down three times and shot up a number of times, but thanks to Mr. Christopher, and probably a lot of prayers from my folks...I got home.”
Watch him tell the story below:
The comments under this video echoed similar stories.
One pilot shared in the comments, “My story is very similar to his story. My mother draped the Miraculous Medal around my neck. I too never turned down a mission. It helped too that our church was right across the street from our home. My mother never mentioned it but I am sure she spent a lot of time over there. I needed all the help I could get.”
Another said, “My mom gave me a Saint Christopher’s medal to wear when I went to fly in the Air Force. I served and I am still here and will be 80 in September.”