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

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Psalm 40:2)

A muddy place in need of gravel for making asphalt no doubt had other rudimentary buildings. The Anaconda-Balad chapel was no exception. On the inside, this expandable shelter was lined with plywood. The outside had a traditional-looking bell tower topped with a pointy A-frame roof. However, the bells were far from traditional they were empty 105mm shells.

What proved to be time-honored, however, was the role friendship and faith played in giving Rosenmerkel perspective and inspiration in Iraq.

“Early in the deployment, my team and I all sat down and discussed our goals for the next six months. One of Captain ‘Donna’s’ goal was to get baptized. Yesterday at 1400 hours, we got to witness this great event, and it sure helped shift focus on the present and future,” Lt. Col. Greg Rosenmerkel emailed his friends.

The presiding chaplain offered this during the ceremony prep: “This is a historic region, especially for a Christian baptism. While Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible, Iraq is mentioned second most often. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means ‘between the two rivers’ more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq means ‘country with deep roots,’” Rosenmerkel expressed, noting that Iraq is home to the ancient land of Assyria, land of Eden, Tower of Babel, Nineveh, Babylon, and Ur, Abraham’s home.

“If you can mentally escape from the current situation, it’s truly awesome to be here. The Tigris is on our base map.”

Encouragement also came from casual conversations ending in poignancy.

Despite the chapel’s rudimentary conditions and makeshift bell tower, Lieutenant Colonel Rosenmerkel found that what most mattered in a church is not its appearance, but those relationships and friendships that direct a heart toward God.

“Friendships and a re-kindled participation in church really helped us keep perspective,” he observed.

Father: Thank you for those ceremonies, ministers, and people who direct me to your word and lead me to you.

“And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ “ Then the people bowed down and worshiped.” (Exodus 12:26–27)

“I think it’s important to get out, take a break, meet some people, learn something new, see things that most take for granted or don’t know exist,” Lt. Col. Greg Rosenmerkel wrote about the weekly field trips he arranged for his Air Force engineering team.

One trip was to the CRAM operation at Anaconda-Balad Air Base, known as Mortaritaville. “CRAM stands for Counter Rocket, Artillery, Mortar It’s loud, and not a favorite alarm clock. The ‘shooter’ is a phalanx 20mm gun off Navy ships,” he emailed. Rosenmerkel attached a photo showing their tour guide holding the rocket that had interrupted their physical training session earlier that morning. The mortar turned “our ‘push-ups’ into ‘get downs.’ CRAM system did its job. We were back at it in no time.”

His team visited a number of places, including the reverse-osmosis water purification plant. The people were always more impressive than the process. The boss of the whole water production program is Eloy. Greg’s favorite story of Eloy is from summer 2004. He was relaxing on the deck at 11 p.m., shirt off, cooling down, and watching the new X-Men movie in 3D when a mortar hit about fifteen feet away. Of course he was knocked out, woke up and thought, how cool is THAT technology. They pulled a chunk from his skull, left one in his shoulder, and he laughs about it. Incredible guy, loves his country, loves the military, and loves making water.

They also visited “Monster Garage Iraq,” the contractor shop that assembles IED detection equipment and repairs battle-damaged rigs so they can return to safe-clearing supply routes.

“While the equipment provides great protection, we’re still losing people as the bad guys figure out how to break stuff. Our technology is constantly improving, as is theirs. The repair shop guys are warriors, incredibly dedicated to keeping soldiers safe. Seeing the vehicles in the shop with holes in them where people used to sit is the most angering thing I’ve seen since we got here. I find it ironic how cowardly the insurgents are fighting the battle,” Rosenmerkel emailed.

Rather than just stimulating their intellect, these field trips strengthened his team’s resolve. Rosenmerkel’s email after watching the president’s State of the Union address summed up their determination. “I will say this: I believe we can fight here, or wait until they come back to the United States. It ain’t pretty, so let’s say we fight ‘em here.”

Thank you for using the stories of ordinary people who do difficult things to inspire others who are facing danger.

“I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” (Acts 20:23)

“Thursday was huge first, our replacements arrived, and second we are now making asphalt on base. I know for most of you this is humdrum news, but for us civil engineers, it is a banner day. More pavements faster and cheaper,” Lt. Col. Greg Rosenmerkel emailed his friends near the end of his deployment. His team celebrated with Mountain Dew.

As Rosenmerkel completed his six-month deployment to Iraq, he emailed his friends with a list of the things he would and wouldn’t miss about Iraq. In addition to dust, mud, wind, heat, cold showers in the winter, and warm showers in the summer, here are some others he wouldn’t miss:

Getting dressed in the middle of the night to walk outside to the porta-john, wearing 40 lbs. of body armor and Kevlar helmet after a morning run with a 40-year-old back, the nauseating smoke from the burn pit, showering in a small, hot, crowded, stinky, muddy trailer with a dozen other guys, and waking up to the CRAM shooting down a mortar.

He also wouldn’t miss the painful experience of attending memorial services, but all was not bad in Iraq. Rosenmerkel had a few things he would miss: bottled water everywhere and running into old friends from previous deployments and air bases. He’d also miss church in the expandable shelter because “everyone there wants to be there.”

“This was possibly my last opportunity to be a commander of my Airmen, a group at the level in which I see them all every day. They were a joy and an inspiration to strive to be the kind of leader they deserve. New Army friends, a totally different culture some of it I liked, most of it I respected. They were all deployed at least twelvemonths,” he wrote.

There were two things he’d miss watching: F-16s take off in the dark with full afterburner (the sound of freedom) on the way home from the office and the incredible dedication of so many people.

Most importantly he’d miss feeling like a day’s work will make someone’s life better. And as the author of Ecclesiastes concludes, such satisfaction in one’s work is from the hand of God.

Enable me to find inherent satisfaction in the work you have given me, knowing that the work of my hands comes from your hand.