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

by Jane Hampton Cook

  Prayer:

  You are the source of courage when life takes an unexpected turn.

  “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20)

  March 3

  WILD WEST

  Sgt. Michael Huntley, United States Marine Corps

  “I didn’t tell my parents,” Marine Sergeant Huntley said of his assignment to the combat outpost. “I tried to make it as comfortable as possible for them.”

  The United States Army had just taken over an agricultural college in Ramadi after a fierce firefight when Huntley arrived there in November 2005. They had turned the college grounds into a combat outpost. The place was a web of generators and strung out power lines. A village with many boarded up windows surrounded the outpost. Because the buildings sat above the outpost, insurgents could just take pot shots into the post from different buildings.

  I arrived during a blackout at 4 a.m. The other dog handlers came out and grabbed me and said. “Hey, follow us.” They had us sit down.

  “We just got attacked yesterday; gun fights are here and there.” And within the hour they were attacked again.

  “The enemy launched about seven or eight mortars, large rockets, into the base. Then they just started shooting,” Huntley recalled. “This was the first night I was there. I was already firing back at random things and shooting large machines guns, something I hadn’t done since target training. Now all of a sudden I’m shooting at people, shadows, or silhouettes of where I think the fire is coming from.” The firefight lasted about thirty minutes.

  Huntley soon learned why this place was so hot. They were in the enemy’s backyard.

  “Ramadi was where all these fighters lived. They would travel to Fallujah and Al Asad to fight. Then they’d go home at the end of the day to Ramadi. So we were fighting pretty much in their backyard. That’s the reason they were so aggressive and why it was so dangerous at that point in time,” Huntley explained.

  Fighting the enemy in his own backyard was not was Huntley expected, but like the others, he responded the best way possible: with prudence and practicality.

  “We had to wear our Kevlar vests and helmets at all times,” he said.

  Prayer:

  Thank you for providing protection in practical ways, from seat belts to bullet proof vests. I pray for those in the military, men and women who need your protection today.

  “Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God.” (2 Chronicles 23:9)

  March 4

  SURPRISES IN THE ROUGHNESS

  Sgt. Michael Huntley, United States Marine Corps

  “The first three months, we got mortared four or five times a week. You could set your watches by it. Because the enemy knew there would be a large gathering of people at the chow hall, that’s when they’d launch their mortars, at breakfast, lunch, or dinner,” Marine Sergeant Huntley recounted about the combat outpost in Ramadi in late 2005.

  The enemy used religion as a cover. “They often launched an attack after their prayers; the biggest time was right before sundown. They’d go to their mosque and get preached at with hate towards the Americans. Once the prayer and preaching ended, they would attack,” he explained, noting that not everyone in Iraq was the enemy.)

  “I saw that religion was the only saving grace they had over there. If you were to go into their mosques, they’re very beautiful with granite walls, very holy and sacred. Their religious beliefs are extremely strong. It’s one of the things that they hold on to. But if you were to go into their houses, they’re very dirty, third world country-ish like mud huts,” he said.

  Despite the fighting, Huntley and others went on peacekeeping excursions. Every couple of weeks they’d go on peacekeeping missions where they weren’t necessarily hunting for anybody. When they arrived at a house, they’d say, “Hey we’re not here to hurt you guys, we’re trying to help.”

  It was surprising that most people were trying to help get their country back to some sort of civilized structure. Huntley was under the impression that when they went out on a peacekeeping mission that they would meet heavy resistance. Instead, people welcomed them into their homes. They gave them food and drink, and then let them rest for the time being. They also knew that if the extremists found out, they would be killed.

  Keve stood out on these peacekeeping visits. Dog are not pets in Iraq but dirty pack animals. Most people looked at Huntley in a strange way, because he had a dog that was very pristine, on a leash, and was there to help. They were intrigued. Most had never seen a trained dog, so he showed them some funny little tricks, making her sit, lie down.

  In the midst of extremist warfare, these peacekeeping moments were among the most surprising. They were smooth places along the roughest terrain.

  Prayer:

  Thank you for life’s surprising moments, where something or someone turns out much better than I expected.

  “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)

  March 5

  KEVE

  Sgt. Michael Huntley, United States Marine Corps

  The attacks at the combat outpost in Ramadi didn’t stop Sergeant Huntley or his dog, Keve, from fulfilling their mission of detecting explosives.

  “I would have the dog out searching for explosives. It would be my determination whether or not Keve was on to something based on her cues,” Huntley said.

  By the time he went to Iraq, Huntley had trained thirteen dogs for the Marines in seven years. Dog training requires a lot of time and attention with the dog. One can’t just get anybody to go and look at a dog and say, “You know what? That dog is taking a lot of interesting in something. It’s all about their body, what they do, and their reaction to different things. I’m just there to determine if this dog is on to something or not,” he explained.

  Huntley and Keve went on numerous raids and cache sweeps. They’d go along the Euphrates River, that’s where the enemy liked to hide a lot of their stuff. Keve’s biggest find was an acetylene torch tank packed with approximately 250 pounds of high explosives. The terrorists would ignite the container allowing it to shoot large molten steel able to penetrate any kind of military armor and kill anything in sight. Keve ‘s important find was able to get that explosive off the street.”

  Keve was also able to find explosives in unsuspecting places. “We were doing a scouting mission, and she started pulling me. It looked like a rock with bushes around it. Turns out it was an actual IED, what is called a daisy chain. It was a 155mm mortar that was rigged seven more times in daisy chains along the road. The engineers dug it up and saw one line going to another rock and then another and so on,” he explained.

  Dogs like Keve begin their training when they are about a year old. The United States military often procures German Shepherds or Belgium Malinois as working dogs. They spend three months training in patrol work, such as fighting and chasing after bad guys and three months in the detection field learning how to detect either explosives or narcotics. The dogs emerge as dual purpose attack and detection.

  During her deployment Keve found quite a few pounds of raw explosives, several thousand rounds of ammunition, and numerous rifles and rocket launchers.

  “She should take all the credit, she’s the one who found all the stuff, I was just the one holding the leash at the time,” Huntley said.

  Prayer:

  Thank you for giving dogs amazing senses and for using them in such a remarkable way, to detect the plans of evil and make roadways safe and clear.

  “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” (Proverbs 4:11)


  March 6

  MOTIVATION

  Sgt. Michael Huntley, United States Marine Corps

  Motivation is the primary tool in working with explosive-detecting canines. “Everything in their training is considered a game to them. It all depends on their reward, whether they’re going to work for it or not. What’s their drive like? One dog might like a squeaky toy, and another dog might like a rubber kong Keve’s favorite,” Huntley explained.

  “The hardest thing about training a dog is the way you approach the training. Not every dog is the same. Some learn quickly, some don’t. So you have to look at this dog and figure out if the dog is responding to your first method of training. If not, you’ve got to go to something else, sometimes to the point where you want to pull your hair out. Finally you stop and try something totally off the wall and all of sudden it starts working and you say ‘WOW,’” Huntley said, noting that Keve was a difficult dog to train.

  The reward of a rubber kong may motivate a dog, but it usually takes something deeper to motivate humans. Complexity and new challenges are what drive humans to work and gives them hope for the future.

  “It’s the greatest job I’ve ever done. I never have the same day twice. In dog training there’s always something different that I’ll learn or see every single day. I guarantee that if I pull my dog out one day and do some sorts of training with him or her, and then the next day I do the exact same training scenario, the dog will respond differently.”

  Motivation alone is not nearly enough to get me through days of intense mortar attacks and the risks associated with detecting explosives. Sergeant Huntley found that his faith strengthened his courage: “It made me a stronger believer in God in his master plan. That brought me a lot of comfort. If something was going to happen to me, it was going to happen to me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn’t as scared anymore.”

  Although he was definitely nervous at times, his faith helped him to block out the jitters. “My faith helped me to stay focused on the mission at hand; I wasn’t focused on being scared,” Huntley reflected.

  After serving in Iraq for seven months, an uninjured Huntley safely returned to the United States.

  Prayer:

  Father: Thank you for giving us inner strength for the times we need it the most.

  “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent men you save me.” (2 Samuel 22:3)

  March 7

  CLEANING THINGS UP

  Maj. Jim Lively, United States Marine Corps

  “I think every piece of trash in this neighborhood is dumped on the street. Some piles are higher than the homes!” I stated curiously to an Iraqi Army officer during my initial patrol through Ramadi.

  The sight and smell of hundreds of trash piles spread throughout Ramadi was one of the most overwhelming things I’d ever experienced. Years of fighting had forced the city government to shut down trash collection services and prevented citizens from safely moving the garbage to local dumps outside the city. The people literally lived among the trash. They would collect it in their homes, walk outside, and dump it on the street. Some neighborhoods did become large collection sites. The worst was a twenty-foot high wall of trash that lined the outside of a school. During our first several months there, the fighting was too intense to initiate cleanup projects.

  The trash piles remained ever present reminders of the insurgency. The enemy loved the trash pile. They were experts at hiding the infamous improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, among the trash. Iraqi soldiers, Marines and often Iraqi citizens were attacked by these hidden dangers, which became symbolic of the evils of Al Qaeda.

  The Iraqi citizens obviously did not like the trash piles, but they could do little to correct the situation. Any local leader who protested was often harshly dealt with by insurgent forces. The enemy liked it dirty, because when people saw the oppression and filth, they figured they would taunt us saying, “See, your government and the American Forces are weak. They can’t even pick up the trash! How can they possibly fight us?”

  Those trash piles have made me think about how often I’ve let trash pile up in my “spiritual neighborhood” cluttering my life, testimony, and spiritual growth. Satan, like the insurgents, loves trash the places where I hide my deceit, pride, arrogance, lust and selfishness. If I ignore my time with the Lord through prayer and scripture reading (which is my daily garbage clean up), it’s then that I find trash piling up in my life. Only God’s grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can provide a routine clean up.

  For the Iraqi people, we were finally able to organize huge cleanup efforts that created jobs and returned some normalcy to Ramadi. The Iraqi soldiers found large dump trucks and bulldozers hidden by the enemy and subsequently used them to clean up the neighborhoods. The trucks became something to cheer, not to fear. Hundreds of Iraqi men accepted clean-up jobs. The entire project grew into a phenomenal cleanup effort that brought much joy and pride back to the Iraqi citizens.

  Routine cleanups are a good path to peace in life.

  Prayer:

  God, thank you for the joy and peace that comes when my heart and spiritual life are clean.

  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23–24)

  March 8

  A SIMPLE PRAYER

  Maj. Jim Lively, United States Marine Corps

  There were no congratulations when my close friend took command of a rifle company in Iraq. This is unusual because taking command is the premier goal of every Marine infantry officer. Unfortunately, his move into that billet didn’t come with normal fanfare or military formations, but rather with the specter of loss, frustration, and battlefield confusion. My friend’s new role came suddenly. An IED had struck the military vehicle of the previous company commander, killing him instantly.

  When I saw my friend’s solemn countenance, I knew he had just been given the unwelcome task of both taking command of a company who’d just lost its commander and leading a recovery effort to locate his remains. The emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges of this assignment are among the most difficult a Marine can ever experience. In a period of two hours he went from standing as the battalion’s watch officer at a relatively benign post to leading a company that was still in contact with the enemy. As he was packing and preparing for the unwelcome task, I asked him if he needed anything before he left. He chuckled and said, “Yea, I think I might need a map!”

  We had a rare moment of levity. I grabbed a map I didn’t use often, and then asked if I could pray with him. As we prayed, I felt the Lord’s hand on us both. He went out that day and did a phenomenal job in a very challenging situation. Looking back, I’m so thankful the Lord gave me a chance to lift my friend up in prayer and encourage him.

  The opportunity to minister to others is an important responsibility for Christians. In this case, a fellow Marine needed encouragement and hope. He was visibly calmer after we prayed and earnestly thanked me for it. I believe I could have offered him a million tidbits of advice about taking command, but none of them would have meant as much to him as that simple prayer. I’ve done this several times during my career, including praying with a family member of a wounded soldier.

  Sometimes in life you don’t know what to say, which is a good signal that maybe it’s time to get on your knees and pray. The act of yielding a situation to God is a simple roadmap to bring encouragement, express faith, and share the gospel. Prayer goes a long way to restore hope.

  Prayer:

  Father, give me an opportunity to offer to pray with someone who needs encouragement. May the words of the Holy Spirit fill my voice as I lift them up. Lord hear my prayer.

  “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6)

 
March 9

  BEING READY TO SERVE

  Maj. Jim Lively, United States Marine Corps

  Our headquarters radio buzzed an amazing message one night in Ramadi: “An Iraqi Army medic just helped deliver a baby!”

  The only response I could muster was, “Say again!” This was our procedural response meaning, “Are you kidding me?”

  Incredibly enough it was true. Although the birth of a baby is common place, this delivery was astonishing for several reasons. First, Ramadi was still a dangerous place in December 2006. Any movement by civilians at night was completely unauthorized because insurgents would often attack our forces under the cover of darkness. Consequently, the Iraqi was unable to take his wife to the hospital to deliver her baby that night. The family managed to get word to the nearest Iraqi Army unit. That’s when this amazing Iraqi Army medic made himself available.

  Second, childbirth in Muslim countries is completely the purview of females. Men are not involved at all. To circumvent strong cultural taboos, the Iraqi medic stood outside the make-shift delivery room and shouted instructions to the women who were with the pregnant woman. He coached them through the process to safely deliver a healthy baby boy.

  This surreal event occurred at the height of the fighting in Ramadi. Not only did the birth bring joy to the family but it also gave the Iraqi soldiers and our advisory team, who were so frequently exposed to death and destruction, an opportunity to celebrate a life-giving moment. This simple act of compassion also earned the Iraqi Army a great deal of respect from the locals, who for decades had viewed them only as a treacherous arm of an evil dictator.