Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

I envision every morning, in heaven, a briefing between God and Marc, “Okay, where are we going to put mom today?”

Iraq. Eighteen months after my son’s death.

My third tour with “Move America Forward” ended with the news I would be able to deliver 226,000 Christmas Cards to the troops in Iraq.

It took courage to decide to travel to the war zone where my son gave his life courage God gave me.

Courage was my companion the night I boarded the C-130 bound for Baghdad. My flight made the craziest cork-screw landing that I could imagine to avoid being shot down by terrorists. Courage dressed me in body armor and Kevlar to go out on patrol in Baghdad and walk the streets with the 1-4 Cavalry. Courage to board the Blackhawk in the middle of the night on a secret flight to Camp Marc Lee, the base in western Iraq named in my son’s memory. Courage to walk where Marc walked his last steps, spent his last night, to smell what he smelled, and embrace what he embraced.

Yet that night at Camp Marc Lee, I was reminded of what real courage is. Real courage is what our troops, my heroes face every day. Real courage is being willing to give up your right to everything you want for your future to make a better place for others. Real courage is facing the enemy and being willing to pay the ultimate price with your life because you value others’ lives more than your own. Real courage is using your voice and actions to make a difference in the world. Real courage is selfless, noble, true, humble, right, and honorable. That is the description of our men and women serving in Iraq.

My Angel of Courage sits on my desk, her arms lifted high and fists clenched in victory, as if to say, YES! As a nation founded on God’s principles we need to raise our hands high and thank the one who created us and blessed us to be born in America.

Thank you for this amazing nation. Thank you for the courage you have given the members of the military. May I show courage to them by saying thank you with my voice, pocketbook, and voting.

“Be strong, take heart all you who hope in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:24)

A command chaplain enjoys a special relationship with his commanding general. Multinational Force-Iraq Command Chaplain, CH Colonel Mike Hoyt was one of a few colonels who attended meetings led by General George Casey and then, General David Petraeus.

“We have access that most other colonels don’t have because of that relationship,” Hoyt said. “I saw my role not as a religious expert, because we had a lot of Ph.D’s and political advisers, but I was the top credentialed clergyman on the staff. I was the only one who could interpret religion as a doer of religion,” said Hoyt, who didn’t talk statistics, comparing the percentages of Shi’i to Sunni. “Part of my role was to talk about the religious lifestyle decision-making that people would use to interpret coalition actions such as a curfew during Ramadan.”

These “fly on the wall” moments included daily briefings and the “meeting of the wizards” as Hoyt called the Effects Assessment Synchronization Board that met every six weeks. All general officers from the theater along with coalition commanders, the ambassador, and embassy staff attended this day-long meeting to review the strategic campaign plan the document approved by the president and implemented by MNFI and the ambassador.

Hoyt was one of three listening “flies on the wall.” They didn’t record the meetings but watched, listened, and offered “what if” questions. They analyzed who said what and to whom as well as the high points and off track moments.

It was Hoyt’s job to try to interpret the spiritual psyche as he saw it as a clergyman. And hopefully through a restatement of that, he could offer the leadership an approach to a solution that would make it more inclusive of the Iraqi civilian on the ground who was trying to practice his faith in the midst of a violent environment, fifty percent of which we were creating.

If Hoyt heard something he was apprehensive about in a meeting, he would write it on a 3 x 5 card and pass it to a nearby general. Sometimes Hoyt was asked to share his concern with the group or sometimes they would discuss it later. Either way, this listening method proved an effective leadership tool.

“When I presented myself as a leader who was willing to learn from everybody and anybody, then I was able to uncover ideas that people would never have brought up,” Hoyt stated.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of listening, for the gift of wise counsel. May I listen today, and if I speak, may I speak with wisdom.

“Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.” (Job 29:21–22)

Courage doesn’t disappear with responsibility, it rises with rank. The soldier on the ground routinely reveals raw courage, while generals continually muster moral courage. As Multinational Force-Iraq Command Chaplain, Hoyt had the opportunity to observe such moral leadership first hand.

One of the things that’s always going around in the back of their minds (general officers) is “what is the appropriate level of risk?” It’s not risk to their careers as some people would like to say. For the four star billets, it’s the risk to the country. And they are obsessed with getting it right for the sake of America.

“My two MNF-I CGs are men of incredible intellect, valor, and purpose. It is an honor to pray for them” Hoyt said.

Generals must keep open the broadest number of options for America. A general officer is exercising the military might of the United States. That’s serious business. That’s life and death. If you make a strategic decision to clean up Ramadi, then that decision will get people killed. That’s all there is to it. It can’t be done nicely.

With 3,500 civilian deaths a month, Iraq was peaking in “Iraqi on Iraqi violence” in 2006. Violent Iraqis justified their crimes through the idea that someone had it coming to them because of their sense of loss. Revenge often stemmed from centuries-old conflicts. Hoyt saw similarities with his deployment to Bosnia.

The difference in Iraq was that it was being manipulated by Al Qaeda and covered with religious verbiage that created a mirage for the poor and disenfranchised that said, “If you really want to be religious, this is what you have to do.” So they took advantage of chaos and leveraged it to their side.

To respond, the generals had to weigh the right thing to do given the risk involved. They knew that extending tours of duty or increasing the number of troops through a surge would increase risk.

“The problem when you get up into the higher echelons of decision-making is that black and white is rarely available. You often have to choose between bad choices in an ambiguous environment. Then you choose as wisely as possible. War rarely presents a lot of good choices. Implementing national policy on foreign soil and conducting theater level war is volatile and unpredictable,” Hoyt said.

Rising in the ranks requires moral courage and risks for the right reasons.

God, thank you for the courage it takes to be a leader. I pray for those generals as they weigh the risk and costs to America. Give them wisdom.