After lunch we walked down to one of the palaces and took pictures of each other standing in front of large paintings of Saddam holding a child and standing with an old woman. I found it ironic that one of the most evil men in the world would be pictured standing with the most innocent.
We returned to the aircraft and began our startup procedures. Right on time our scheduled group of travelers arrived and jumped on board. We took off low and fast and moved beyond Freedom back over Mosul. Within minutes we were over the desert again, for our flight to Baghdad.
Several weeks later a man walked into the DFAC during lunchtime. He detonated the explosives, killing twenty-two and wounding sixty. In a moment, twenty-two human beings who were hungry and ready to eat lunch were no longer alive. Sixty individuals went from relaxing to agonizing from wounds both internal and external.
Life changes quickly, in a heartbeat. Whether by heart attack, automobile accident or improvised explosive device, life can change forever. To take for granted each breath of life is to waste the gift of it. God is good. He does not desire death even for his enemies. But death does come just as surely as life.
Father, help me see each day for the promise it holds. You promise that there is nothing that can separate me from your love Abba.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
September 27
MARC’S LAST LETTER HOME, PART 1
Marc Alan Lee understood the cost and sacrifice that service defined. He single-handedly held off enemy fighters by creating an offensive diversion while his team rescued a wounded teammate from a rooftop. The firefight took place in Ramadi, Iraq August 2nd, 2006. Marc Alan Lee became the first Navy SEAL to die in Iraq.
“Glory is something that some men chase and others find themselves stumbling upon, not expecting it to find them. Either way it is a noble gesture that one finds bestowed upon them. My question is, when does glory fade away and become a wrongful crusade, or an unjustified means which consumes one completely?”
“I have seen war.”
“I have seen death, the sorrow that encompasses your entire being as a man breathes his last. I can only pray and hope that none of you will ever have to experience some of these things I have seen and felt here… .”
“I have seen hate towards a nation’s people who has sic never committed a wrong, except being born of a third world, ill-educated, and ignorant to western civilization. It is not everybody who feels this way, only a select few, but it brings questions to mind. Is it ok for one to consider themselves superior to another race?”
“Surprisingly, we are not a stranger to this sort of attitude. Meaning that in our own country, we discriminate against someone for what nationality they are, their education level, their social status. We distinguish our role models as multi-million-dollar sports heroes or talented actors and actresses who complain about not getting millions of dollars more than they are currently getting paid.”
“Our country is a great country. My point of this is how can we come over here and help a less than fortunate country without holding contempt or hate towards them, if we can’t do it in our country. I try to do my part over here, but the truth is over there, in the United States, I do nothing but take.”
“Ask yourself, when was the last time you donated clothes that you hadn’t worn out? When was the last time you paid for a random stranger’s cup of coffee, meal, or maybe even a tank of gas? When was the last time you helped a person with the groceries into or out of their car?”
Father, you are good; you are compassionate. Let me see your heart. Give me your compassion. Burden me with the cares of the least of these brothers of yours.
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40)
September 28
MARC’S LAST LETTER HOME, PART 2
“Think to yourself and wonder what it would feel like if when the bill for the meal came and you were told it was already paid for. More random acts of kindness like this would change our country and our reputation as a country. It is not unknown to most of us that the rest of the world looks at us with doubt towards our humanity and morals.”
“I am not here to preach or to say ‘look at me,’ because I am just as at fault as the next person. I find that being here makes me realize the great country we have and the obligation we have to keep it that way.”
“The fourth has just come and gone and I received many emails thanking me for helping keep America great and free. I take no credit for the career path I have chosen; I can only give it to those of you who are reading this, because each one of you has contributed to me and who I am.”
“However, what I do over here is only a small percent of what keeps our country great. I think the truth to our greatness is each other. Purity, morals, and kindness, passed down to each generation through example.”
“So to all my family and friends, do me a favor and pass on the kindness, the love, the precious gift of human life to each other so that when your children come into contact with a great conflict like that we are now faced with in Iraq that they are people of humanity, of pure motives, of compassion.”
“This is our real part to keep America free!”
Marc died for these values. He was raised “in the way he should go.” Even in the stress of combat he did “not depart from it.” Marc loved by giving. On August 2, 2006, he gave the ultimate gift.
Abba, help me live by example and teach our children about your compassion. Father help me learn of your example. Your steadfast love and kindness never cease.
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
September 29
LOVE MUST OVERCOME THE THUGS IN IRAQ
I have been one of the government contractors operating in Iraq that you may have heard about in the news.
