During the North African campaign, a group of soldier boys had been on a long hike. Tthey came to a town called Bezerti.

The next morning being Sunday, some of the boys went to Church. 
A sergeant commanded the boys in Church and after the Chaplain 
had read the prayer, the text was taken up next. 

Those of the boys who had a prayer book took them out, but this one 
boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread them out. 

The Sergeant saw the cards and said,
"Soldier, put away those cards." 

After the services were over, the soldier was taken prisoner and 
brought before the Provost Marshall.

The Marshall said, 
"Sergeant, why have you brought this man here?" 
"For playing cards in church, Sir." 
"What have you to say for yourself, son?" 
"Much, Sir," replied the soldier. 
The Marshall said, "I hope so, because if not I shall punish you more than any man was ever punished." 

The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for six days. I have neither a Bible nor a prayer book, but I hope to satisfy you, Sir, with the purity of my intentions." 
And with that, the boy began his story:

"You see Sir, when I look at the 'Ace' in my deck of cards,  it reminds me that there is but one God. 

And the 'Deuce' reminds me that the Bible is divided into two parts, 
the Old and the New Testaments.

When I see the 'Trey,' I think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. 

And when I look at the 'Four,I think of the four Evangelists who preached the Gospel; there were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

And when I see the 'Five,' it reminds me of the five wise virgins who 
trimmed their lamps; there were ten of them: five were wise and were 
saved, five were foolish and were shut out. 

When I look at the 'Six,' it reminds me that in six days, God made this 
great heaven and earth. 

The seven tellsme that on the seventh day, he rested from his  work and called it Holy.

And when I see the 'Eight,' I think of the eight righteous persons God 
saved when He destroyed this earth; there was Noah, his wife, their 
three sons and their wives.

And when I see the 'Nine,' I think of the lepers our Savior cleansed, 
and nine out of the ten didn't even thank Him. 

'Course when I see the 'Ten,' I think of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments God handed down to Moses on a tablets of stone.

When I see the 'King,' it reminds me that there is but one King of 
Heaven, God Almighty. 

And when I see the 'Queen,' I think of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the 
Queen of Heaven. 

And the 'Jack' or 'Knave' is the Devil. 

When I count the number of spots on a deck of cards, I find 365, the 
number of days in a year. 

There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year.

There are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter. 

There are 4 suits, the number of weeks in a month.

And 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year. 

So you see, Sir, my deck of cards serves me not only as a Bible, an Almanac  but also a Prayer Book."
