Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan Read online

  Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

  Jane Hampton Cook

  Jocelyn Green

  John Croushorn

  In this newest installment of the Battlefields & Blessings series, Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan is a 365 day collection of inspiring stories of courage perseverance and faith based on first-hand accounts of more than seventy individuals who have served in the war. Through multiple, never-before-told stories, readers will uncover the personal challenges of the battlefield. In Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan you will discover the experiences and perspectives of deployed soldiers, chaplains, military wives and parents, organizers of humanitarian efforts, and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

  It has won the prestigious 2010 Gold Medal Award from the MWSA (Military’s Writers Society of America) and the 2010 Silver Medal Award from the Branson Stars and Flags Book Award.

  Through multiple, never-before-told stories, readers will uncover the personal challenges of the battlefield. In Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan you’ll find the experiences and perspectives of deployed soldiers, chaplains, military wives and parents, organizers of humanitarian efforts, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, loved ones of fallen soldiers, and more. You'll meet:

  • The crew member on a Marine transport vessel combating a dust storm during the invasion.

  • A major overcoming bureaucratic challenges to stand up the Iraq Air Force.

  • A three-star general motivating his team to build a stronger Iraq through reconstruction projects.

  • The mother of a Navy SEAL who herself demonstrated tremendous courage under fire after her son’s death.

  • And a congressman heralding the founding principles of our nation, ones he passed along to his son who served in Iraq.

  Readers will come away appreciating those who have lived loudly for liberty.

  Jane Hampton Cook, Jocelyn Green, John Croushorn

  Stories of Faith and Courage from the

  WAR IN IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN

  Dedication

  Dedicated to those who have lived loudly for liberty in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

  January 1

  WHITE HOUSE RUN

  Jane Hampton Cook, Former White House Deputy Director of Internet News Services

  “Take off your shoes and run,” the security officer called to me.

  I’ll never forget that moment on September 11, 2001. Hundreds of my White House colleagues and I were evacuating the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), the grand Victorian building next door to the West Wing.

  At less than five feet tall, I don’t have the leg length to run quickly, but I ran as fast I could to exit the White House complex. I remember the sick feeling I had when I learned that two planes had attacked the World Trade Center and a third plane had just hit the Pentagon. The possibility of a fourth plane striking the White House was very real.

  On that unforgettable date, my job responsibility was developing and designing the content for the official White House website. I was working on a new page focusing on President George W. Bush’s educational initiative, but that page never was posted. Instead we created new postings, highlighting America’s multi-front response: diplomatic efforts, military attacks, financial blocking of terrorist financing, and humanitarian aid.

  When I think about September 11, I remember two things: the courage of those first responders, many who lost their lives, and America’s strength, resilience, and commitment to freedom. A few days after the terrorist attacks, my mother had shared with me Psalms 91, a biblical passage that strengthened me during this difficult time. I found it fascinating that Psalm 91:1 (9-1-1) brought such as powerful message. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” and in verse 11, “he will command his angels concerning you.”

  When the security officer called out to me to “take off my shoes and run” on that trying day, he was acting as an angel from God to guard me in all my ways.

  Prayer:

  Thank you for bringing guidance in times of extreme need.

  “They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11–12)

  January 2

  A LIFE-SAVING LATTE

  Chaplain, Maj. Gen. (Ret.), Charles C. Baldwin, former Chief of Chaplains, United States Air Force

  “We’ve been bombed,” a guard hollered into the cafeteria where retired Major General Charles Baldwin, a longtime leader of chaplains, was sitting and drinking a latte.

  The announcement didn’t make sense to Baldwin. He hadn’t heard an explosion, and after more than thirty years in the Air Force, Baldwin knew what a bomb sounded like.

  Although he was a General and a senior administrative leader, going to the Pentagon was a normal part of Baldwin’s daily routine. Stationed at nearby Bolling Air Force Base, he came to the Pentagon that morning to attend his first senior staff meeting as the new deputy chief of chaplains for the Air Force. He soon realized that nothing about September 11, 2001 would be routine.

  “The meeting started at nine o’clock,” Baldwin said. Led by the Secretary of the Air Force, the meeting took place in the basement of building eight.

  “We were about twenty minutes into the daily slide briefing, when someone interrupted. We turned our attention to the television and watched the second plane fly into the World Trade Center Tower,” Baldwin recalled. Shocked, “we immediately adjourned.”

  “I had a ten o’clock meeting on other side of the Pentagon, but stopped to get a latte in the cafeteria” Baldwin said.

  “Shortly after I got my latte, a guard ordered an evacuation.” We immediately exited the building,” Baldwin said. “That’s when we saw the huge fireball on the other side of the Pentagon.”

  Baldwin then realized that his ten o’clock meeting was located at the site of the black billowing smoke. Had he proceeded to his meeting earlier and not stopped to get a latte, he would have been in the wedge when it was hit.

  The Pentagon had turned from an office building into the burning aftermath of a battlefield. Having served as a chaplain in Desert Storm a decade earlier and as a rescue pilot in Vietnam, Baldwin knew what to do.

  “I went to the Sheraton hotel across from the Pentagon where they were bringing in the wounded. At that point I turned into a chaplain and went from couch to couch.” Baldwin spoke words of comfort to the patients triaged in the hotel before going to local hospitals. After about an hour, Baldwin decided to return to Ground Zero at the Pentagon. But it wasn’t smoke or shock that drew him there. He wanted to be with the people who were hurting the most. His life’s purpose led him in that moment to step in and simply be ready to face the tragedy head on.

  Prayer:

  Almighty God, you have given my life purpose and meaning. May I embrace the service you desire for me.

  “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)

  January 3

  MORE CHAPLAINS THAN NORMAL

  Chaplain, Maj. Gen. (Ret.), Charles C. Baldwin, former Chief of Chaplains, United States Air Force

  “On an average day there are normally five or six chaplains in the Pentagon,” Chaplain Charlie Baldwin explained, “but on September 11, 2001, it was really an amazing
thing. There were about thirty-five chaplains in the building.”

  These chaplains were at the Pentagon that morning for various meetings. After the evacuation, they gathered at the casualty collections points to minister to those in need. Unlike local pastors who also arrived, these military chaplains had clearance to the Pentagon, which enabled them to help find survivors.

  With all three chiefs of chaplains out of town, retired chaplain, Major General Baldwin and two other deputy chief of chaplains (Army and Navy) developed a plan. “We realized we needed to organize this pastoral care moment, because this was not going to be short term. So we claimed some tent space and then sent many chaplains as far as they could go into the building to look for survivors. Then we developed a plan to organize the chaplains on site as the wounded came out,” Baldwin explained.

  Many of these chaplains were senior officers with administrative responsibilities and no longer involved in day-to-day chaplain duties, but they all returned to their roots.

  “We all became the chaplains who were present to help the injured. We went to the casualty collection points and just did, what any chaplain would do, what any pastor would do,” Baldwin explained. “I stepped in and out of the role of organizing the chaplain ministries and just being one.”

  One gentleman came up to Baldwin, pointing to the gaping hole and said, “My wife’s in that room right there. I need to get in there.”

  Baldwin talked to him throughout the day, encouraging him not to give up hope. It was possible she could have been away from her office. The good news didn’t come, but Baldwin knew from experience that a chaplain’s job was to not to give a magic answer but to be a hopeful presence during this trial. The ministry of the site was profound. Some might wonder if those chaplains wanted to be there. “Why wouldn’t you want to be there? If you’re a military chaplain, that is where you belong,” stated Baldwin. “That is exactly the purpose for which you were trained to be present with people during difficult times, not to have the magic answers, but to be present.”

  The presence of six times the normal number of chaplains at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, was truly an amazing preparation for the immediate aftermath. For many hurting people that day, chaplains were God’s instruments of hope and peace.

  Prayer:

  You are a great God. Thank you for putting an extra number of chaplains on site at the Pentagon that day.

  “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

  January 4

  THE DAY RANK DISAPPEARED

  Chaplain, Maj. Gen. (Ret.), Charles C. Baldwin, former Chief of Chaplains, United States Air Force

  Rank disappeared on September 11, 2001. Everyone wanted to do whatever they could to help. About four o’clock in the afternoon, the fire chief in charge of the recovery process made an announcement at Ground Zero.

  “We need volunteers to put on masks and gloves and be willing to do a sweep through the Pentagon. Any volunteers?” he asked.

  “People ran to get a place in line,” recalled retired Major General Baldwin, Air Force deputy chief of chaplains.

  “So here we were in line. Next to me was a two-star general, and I was a one-star general. We’re standing in our blues. We stepped forward, put on gloves, put on the masks. They gave us the instructions to stay together in rows, and we were going to sweep through the building and walk through the clouds of fire, dust and all that. And just before he said, ‘Okay, this line step forward,’ a brigade from Arlington Cemetery pulled up in buses.”

  Because this brigade was trained and ready to do a sweep, the fire chief released the volunteers.

  “I looked around and saw the field full of people who were willing to step into the fiery furnace to see if somebody else could be pulled out. So we stepped away and went back to the areas where we could be helpful, be the pastors present.”

  Two experiences prepared Baldwin to lead chaplains on that unforgettable day. He was a rescue helicopter pilot in Vietnam, where he witnessed death, carnage, and many other terrible things. Years later as a lieutenant colonel in Desert Storm, he was in charge of chapel services at the base in Saudi Arabia. “We preached every Sunday in the war zone and saw people die. Body bags were brought back to our base to process before sending them back home,” he explained.

  He learned his role was to be a calm, encouraging presence in the midst of the tragedy. “You don’t have to be a military chaplain to have the theology of hope that says ‘God is present in the midst of terrible things.’ Military chaplains have the type of experience that says, ‘God is present on the battlefield, not to help people kill people but to help them through the tragedies and consequences of sin. They don’t bless the bombs, they just pray that God would be present with those who are the instruments, even we would say the instruments of peace. It’s an amazing thing.”

  Prayer:

  Thank you God for your promise to be present with me no matter what.

  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

  January 5

  WHERE WAS GOD ON 9/11?

  Chaplain, Maj. Gen. (Ret.), Charles C. Baldwin, former Chief of Chaplains, United States Air Force

  “Where was God on the morning of September 11,” a CNN reporter asked Chaplain Charlie Baldwin in an on-camera interview in his office not long after the terrorist attacks.

  “It wasn’t something I had to make up. It was obvious to me that he was present in the midst of the terror. He revealed himself through the angels of mercy who were present,” Baldwin recalled.

  Baldwin saw many moments of mercy at the Pentagon that day. “One second lieutenant, a young lady, came running over to me, asking, ‘Chaplain, what can I do to help?’”

  “Go to that tent and just wipe their brows, and you will be helping.”

  She went to one of the collection tents where victims were being brought. There she set up cots, and did whatever needed to be done.

  Right beside her was a two-star general doing the same thing. “I want to help. What else can I do?” Knowing the man was a Christian, Baldwin added, “Tell them not to be afraid. Tell them God is here. He will take care of them.”

  Baldwin mentioned that chaplains offer the same message to troops on the ground, “so they can be assured that God is with them; that they might know that they are not alone.”

  “These people weren’t the preachers,” Baldwin decreed. “They were just people who cared. They were God’s hands, his instruments of love and comfort, saying ‘God is with you, and he will be with you through this whole thing.’”

  Baldwin was asked several times by reporters, “Where was God on 9-1-1?”

  “The answer was, ‘He was present.’”

  “He worked through that second lieutenant, brand new to the Air Force. She probably didn’t think she would experience something like this so early in her military career. But she just jumped into the middle of it all, carrying stretchers, taking bandages. If the nurses needed an orderly, he or she was that person.” God was everywhere. He made his presence known through the least of these.

  “He was in the building when the terrorists struck. He offered healing to those who received it. He offered comfort to those who were dying. And God’s presence was overwhelming and even miraculous in some cases,” Baldwin replied.

  Prayer:

  Thank you for using the “least of these” to provide hope to those in need on the battlefield. Thank you for being a presence among your people.

  “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7–8)

  January 6

  CHEMISTRY CLASS

  Maj. Brandon Reid, United States Air Force

  I was holding and inspecting my chemical mask!

  Though I had been in the Air Force for five years and was on my
second deployment to Southwest Asia where the threat and enemy were near, I had never before been concerned about my chemical gear. I now realized I should have paid more attention during my annual chemical defense classes, one of my requirements as an Air Force navigator on C–130’s. Recalling how to put all the gear on was easy, but my worse case scenario was: I don all my gear and simply worry about dehydration. However, remembering where to inject the large needle from my gear into my hip without jamming it into my sciatic nerve was gaining prevalence on my list of important things to know.

  It was fall 2002. Discussions of an invasion of Iraq gained fervor on television and on our base in Oman.

  My crew and I had grown accustomed to flying into Pakistan and Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. Original fears of unknown operating areas and first-time combat operations had led to many prayers and self-reflection, but we had replaced them with card games and reading. With the exception of occasional small arms fire or a lucky rocket propelled grenade launch, threats to our C–130 aircraft were minimal. The walk many of us had taken with God to get through earlier tough times had been replaced by repetition.

  This normalcy was broken that day when our commanders ordered us into a tent for a chemical gear refresher course. As they spread us apart to make sure we had enough room to inspect and manipulate our individual equipment, I noticed a difference. The more experienced master sergeant, not the young senior airman, was teaching the course. I suddenly realized this was for real. Something was about to happen. That moment brought the confrontation of war to the forefront of my thoughts.