Christmas Miracles
2023 CHRISTMAS
“… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
I held onto this faith while I faced danger and the indeterminate future in Iraq. This faith that saved me and my team as we survived the devastation of the battle zone. As I go through this Christmas season, I remember 2 of my miracles in Iraq. You can read more in my book Silent Freedom!
One day, during my time at the 86th Combat Support Hospital, I was determined to run two miles. Just two miles to shake off the grief of missing my family at home and my unit the 101st in northern Iraq. I hadn’t gone very far when I began to hear loud barking coming my way. It was two dozen angry Iraqi dogs ready to jump at me! They formed a circle to surround me and snarled with extremely sharp teeth ready to shear my flesh into pieces. I stopped, stayed stiff and immobile in the middle of the circle while my brain was working on how to escape. If I went between the dogs, I was sure I would be their feast in two seconds. Irrationally I thought, if I could climb up a rope, then maybe I would be free, except there was no magical rope. This was my greatest illusion at that moment as I wished for any escape from circle of wild fanged canines drooling with nasty saliva and sharp teeth ready to tear me apart. At that time, I wished for a miracle. It was my only hope. The incessant barking woke up everybody in tent city. I looked back and saw a soldier driving a Gator toward me. It was SSG Figueroa, and he rescued me from becoming a non-combatant casualty. I stepped back as I listened to SSG Figueroa. He was coaching me to walk back slowly and watch the dogs as they were moving towards me. The Gator was positioned at an angle, and it helped us escape the most ferocious canines I’ve ever encountered. I wished for the Gator to move like thunder and lightning as I saw the dogs continue to chase and getting closer. Finally, we reached our tents. We saw the troops ready, to aim and fire at my aggressors. All it would take was a shift of the lever from safe to fire and the dogs will be dead in seconds. The dogs saw the danger of getting terminated and they ran away. I felt relieved but my hands were cold and I looked pale from the shock of the narrowly escaped canine attack. It was the excitement for the day around the tent camp. This was a first miracle for me, having survived the most dangerous wild canines. I remember Jesus saying, your faith has saved you.
My other miracle occurred when I had almost lost my faith and hope. I was desperately hoping to ground convoy to Northern Iraq but did not succeed, and as my hope diminished with each hour, St. Michael the Blackhawk pilot showed up. He was clad in a desert camouflaged uniform and said, “I am here to pick up a litter patient.” I felt it was my cue that something big was going to happen. My fellow soldier and I looked at each other. “Sir, we don’t have any litter patient. We’re tearing down the hospital tent and we don’t have any more patients.” My silent freedom was screaming that maybe I could be that litter patient. I didn’t waste time and poured it all out as a scream. “But I am willing to be your passenger!” The pilot took his shades and helmet off and said, “You got it. Pack your gear and I will wait for you at the helipad in 20 min” and then he left. My fellow soldier and I exulted at the good news. “At last! I know you’ve been wanting to join the 101st in the north, so you go ahead, pack your stuff, and go! I will take care of everything here.” We hugged in tears as we said goodbye to each other and then I sprinted to my tent, shoved all my uniforms in the duffle bags, and those that didn’t fit into the duffle bags, I shoved into a trash bag. With my M16A-1 slung across my chest, rucksack on my back, a duffle bag in each hand, and a trash bag, I was ready to go. I was not sure if I could make it to the helipad on what was left of St. Michael’s time limit, it was a crucial 20 min stretch to the helipad. I told myself I wasn’t giving up, my silent freedom willed it to happen.
Suddenly, my hero showed up. SSG Figueroa, my hero from the wild fangs, I couldn’t believe it. He said, “Do you need a lift?”
I was already in tears when I said, “Would you please?” And he helped me toss all my things on his Gator and drove so we could make it on time to meet St. Michael at the helipad. I was thinking how beautiful it was in the paradise on that day. There I was, instead of redeploying with the 86th Combat Support Hospital to the U.S., I was happily heading to the war instead, and I was telling myself it was a beautiful day.
Later on, some people including my commanding officer asked me, “Why didn’t you choose to redeploy when you had the chance?” I answered that perhaps they were thinking of another person. What they didn’t understand was, I was following my Silent Freedom. I knew I would never be at peace until I got out of there, not heading south, but heading north, to join my unit and leave no one behind in that war.
SSG Figueroa and I bid our goodbyes after dropping me off at the helipad and said, “See you on the other side.” It was a familiar phrase in a war-torn country that hosted about 30,000 troops to fight the war in Iraq. It was a familiar phrase of the living and the dead. Some made it home, while others sacrificed their lives and did not return to see the other side. Freedom is not free.
I finally made it to Mosul, northern Iraq, where I celebrated Christmas. Life is too short to be little, stand tall in your faith. In Iraq, we all knew that life was uncertain, and anything could happen at war. It was like walking on a thin wire. We did not know if we would survive the war. There was no guarantee that the fellow soldiers we were talking to in the foxhole side by side today would be at our side the next day. One might be a casualty of war, or the war might take both of our lives. In order to become more effective, we tried to think positively and not be drowned into the world of negativity. We thought of many happy things, like celebrating Christmas in the battlefield. I remember joining the nativity, and I was supposed to be one of the shepherds, but I wasn’t able to make it. I was working hard on manifesting soldiers flying out of the Military Army Airfield and boarding the Strat air. It consisted of soldiers from aviation brigades and some from division support command. I missed the nativity show. However, I do remember the Christmas concert. There were five readers, and I was assigned to read the Soldier’s Christmas. Many of us remember how solemn the story is, I choked up in the middle of the reading as I thought of my brothers and sisters.
A SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS POEM
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT,
MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.
(https://archive.org/details/the-soldiers-christmas-poem).
This Christmas let’s remember and pray for our brave heroes’ safety as they fight so we can have and enjoy freedom. Let’s make this Christmas and New Year count. Let’s keep our faith and hope that tomorrow will be better.
To you and yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a MAGICAL NEW YEAR from the Silent Freedom team!!
