Blogotional

Many people think war a godless occupation. I have to disagree. The Old Testament is full of God commanding the Israelites to war, and blessing them in their combative endeavors. I do not think that the Incarnation somehow changed the character of God to the point that in New Testament times He has become a pacifist - He would not be much of a God if His character was subject to such radical change. In the teachings of Jesus, I can find admonishments to making war as a last resort, but not to its elimination.

That is just a lead in to a couple of things. The first is this piece by Oliver North from the Holy Weekend. Ollie lauds the baravery and spirituality of our military chaplains. A good friend of mine was a chaplain's assitant in Vietnam. He is a man of God, as are all our fighting men and women who call upon His name.

And I have heard from my friend Jared in Iraq again. The man spends his days making sure bombs don't go off, but finds the necessity to tell us here at home about the resurrection. Don't tell me the military is a godless occupation. Here's what Jared had to say:

Hello again from Mosul, Iraq. Things have slowed down here a little. We seem to be less calls for EOD (explosive devices) in the past week, but we did have a spike in activity about two weeks ago. The guys of 1st platoon are doing well and are starting to not only rely on each other for their safety, but also for some good entertainment. We put together a cookout with the guys from EOD and spent a day just hanging out. Leave it to the guys of 1st platoon to get some real hamburger and potatoes shipped here without going through the usual one week of military inspections. The exact details of that operation are still classified, but I hope to be able to tell you when I get home. We also had to conduct a black op in keeping the eight cases of gatorade that we had received from our mess section secure from other units who wanted to help themselves to it. Let's just say that most people don't look on the roof of the battalion commander's office for gatorade!!!

In addition, the guys now have an X-box game system and have been playing 4-player football tournaments and shooting games. We also have constructed a horseshoe pit in front of our hooches (slang term for the housing units we live in). The ground was too rocky and hard to drive the stakes into but, with the help of a little plastic explosives and some fresh dirt, we have a horseshoe pit. We also get the frisbee, baseball, and football throws going around too.

The missions have been fewer, but they seem to be getting more involved. A week ago, EOD brought in a new team to help get trained up. These guys were from the Navy. They really knew their explosives, but were not well versed in ground tactics. We were at an IED site, which later turned out to be a hoax to draw us into a certain area, when we started receiving small arms fire. 1st platoon, who was already behind cover, started returning fire while I called in some helicopter gunships and a local infantry unit to help us out. One of the Navy guys decided he couldn't really see from where he was so he went from one place to another. While moving he was shot in the leg. He dropped to his knees and then started hobbling towards my location. Myself and another guy from 1st platoon went, grabbed him, and pulled him behind a vehicle. While the infantry unit started chasing the insurgents, we started to do first aid on the navy tech. We got him to the hospital and he came through just fine. The bullet went clean through and he will be up and around soon. With that, the Navy has decided to not come to Mosul, but now EOD has an Air Force team coming in. We'll see how that goes.

This weekend, as many of you know, is a special time. It is a time that we can reflect on the greatest gift of all time...the greatest sacrifice that was ever given. As many of you know, Mosul is very close to the remains of Ninevah, where Jonah went. Here on our Foward Operating Base (FOB) we have a Christian monastary that was built several years soon after Christ walked the earth. Our battalion's chaplain, along with several other chaplains, have gotten permission to hold Resurrection Day services there. The chaplain and I went there a few weeks ago to check it out. It is really cool to think of all the thousands of people that had come into that monastary to praise God. I will have to find out how the service goes as I have elected to pull the guard duty that some of my guys were scheduled for so they can attend. I pray that this small sacrifice will help bring one of the troops closer to God. I also pray that you will make a specific sacrifice for someone you
know (or even don't know) in honor of the sacrifice that Jesus made.