Christian Living

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A Soldier’s Tale
©
by

Stephen A. Peterson


My military backpack weighed more than 40 pounds. Despite the gentle rain of a South Texas summer evening, I was hot—and the military unit I was attached had two miles to walk to complete this phase of their training during Operation Bald Eagle conducted at Camp Bullis during the summer of 2004. Suddenly, out of the waving heat looking like he had just stepped out of a Sir Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes mystery novel, an American soldier dressed up in the traditional dress of an Iraqi stepped forward:

“American! Want to trade? Need food for baby”

“We must move on, sir,” responded one of the soldiers.

“Need food for baby and wife. Like American food. Want to trade?”

“We’d like to but we must go,” responded another soldier.

“Say, American. You don’t look so good. You look worried about something,” said the actor.

“No, things are fine,” the soldier responded.

After roughly one mile had been completed, another soldier dressed in Iraqi dress showed up indicating he had information desired by the Americans. “Americans, I have good information. You want it? I show you. Okay! It not safe here. Bad people here!”

Although the situation was for training, we were shown a building housing people hostile to our efforts. Shooting, though blanks, was based upon the situations experienced by soldiers who had been in Iraq and had returned. Following the training exercise, one of the soldiers acting as an Iraqi stated that while deployed to Iraq he prayed, “Lord, be with us as we work to liberate a people. May we see and recognize these people as our brothers and sisters whom you love. Lord help me to always accept Your help and protection in whatever form it comes.”

Based upon a soldier’s stories about his duty in Iraq, I wondered how often he and members of his unit met angels in the form and person of Iraqi men and women. Men and women seeking the freedom and liberties many Americans now take for granted. One thing I realized whoever the Iraqis were, they were of God, sent to help him and the other men and women while they were in harms way liberating a people who lived through the horrors of repression, murder and death in their homeland.

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