A Member of a Team

I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior
and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States
and live the Army Values.
(the rest of the Soldier’s Creed is appended)

The term, “I am a warrior,” brings to mind a variety of images. To many people, particularly those influenced by the media-driven culture of the 80's, it evokes visions of a larger than life, trained killer, like Rambo. With Special Forces skills honed in the jungles of Vietnam, John Rambo was a one-man Army. In three movies, he fought injustice, reluctantly employing his warrior skills with his cunning mind and bulging muscles (and his magic M-60 machine gun that never seemed to exhaust its single ammo belt).

Then in 2001, another cinematic milestone put the warrior in the context of a team. “Blackhawk Down” recounted a harrowing rescue operation in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, by Army Rangers on October 3, 1993. Two Blackhawks had been downed by RPG fire during a raid to capture an insurgent leader. 123 Rangers and Delta Force soldiers, cut off by thousands of armed militia, fought for their lives while a convoy tried make it through the city to them and the downed pilots.

Like Rambo and Chuck Norris, the Rangers were heroic. They were well trained, disciplined and tactically adept warriors. But the similarities end there. The Rangers were all about working together as a member of a team. They fought as members of a team—together, risking all for one another as a helicopter flew over the city, blaring through its speakers a message of hope to a captured pilot: “Mike Durant, we won’t leave you behind!”

1,000 militia were killed during the fifteen-hour battle, and 19 Americans. All 123 of the Soldiers could easily have been overrun and killed. But because these warriors fought in teams and as a unit, the stranded Rangers were able to hold off until reinforcements could arrive.

The advantages of team over the rugged individual are nothing new. Sages have noted the value of teamwork for thousands of years, including the writer of Ecclesiastes, who declared:

“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if somebody overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

We can see this synergy of teamwork in nature. Migrating birds fly in a V, covering more ground than any of them could alone. Beasts of burden teamed together manage a greater burden than the sum of their individual efforts. Lioness hunters, drone bees and worker ants are well known for their synergistic collaboration. No wonder even ancient writers observed the phenomena of team work.

In the 1850’s, settlers headed west, traversing the continent in covered wagons. They crossed the North Platte River at a wide, shallow ford. But the current swirled strongly there, creating big potholes in the sandy bottom. The most seasoned guides could not predict where these holes might occur in the muddy water. If a team foundered into one of these holes, it might not be able to climb out, and if a wagon got stuck in one, it would most likely capsize. All the pioneer family’s possessions—and their very lives—hung in the balance.

Eventually, the settlers and guides broke the code on this hazard. They hitched all the oxen or horses together in one long team, hauling one wagon at a time across the North Platte. If a wagon or a team fell into a hole, the collective might of the entire team would free them, in a way that would be impossible for a single team.

As a skilled warrior, each Soldier makes an important contribution. A warrior who is a member of a team can draw on the strength of others when necessary, and help pull team members out of the rut at other times. From the team, we draw encouragement, direction and motivation. To the team we owe our duty, our very best—and sometimes our lives.


DEVOTIONAL:
(Please read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

As Christians, we can take this concept of warrior and member of a team further. In the preceding verses, Paul used the analogy of a body. Some of us might be feet, and others hands. Some might be eyes, or ears, or … well, you get the picture. The Apostle’s point was that, as a foot should rejoice at being a foot, rather than complain that the hand gets all the glory, we should celebrate our diversity in the Body of Christ. If one suffers, we should all suffer, and all should rejoice at the victory of one member (v. 26).

Each one of us is uniquely created, fashioned by God to fill a unique role in the Body of Christ. We are each gifted by God with our own backgrounds, perspectives, talents, and passions. Working and living together as one, the same ministry Jesus did during his earthly ministry—healing, teaching, delivering from oppression—continues through us.

Medical experts tell us that if one member of your body is injured—your leg, for instance—your entire body reacts to the injury. In a very real way, if one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body suffers. Conversely, when a part of the body is healthy, it contributes to the well being of the entire body.

As members of the Body, we need each other. Like warriors in a cohesive team, we draw strength and encouragement from one another; we exhort one another to greatness, and console in the event of setbacks; we pool our talents and resources together to do the great work of Christ on this earth. We ARE the Body of Christ.

PRAYER:
O God, you do all things well.

You have created me to live and to love and to work as a part of your Body,
in communion with You and with my brothers and sisters.

As a member of your Body, placed just where you want me,
open my eyes to the unique ways You have gifted me;
open my ears to cries of the world around me;
open my heart to do unto others; and
open mind to accept the love and support of my fellow team members.

In the name of Jesus, to whose Body I belong,
Amen.



(c) 2009, Jeff Peppers
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The Soldier's Creed

I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and
proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies
of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.

New article on the 779th's deployment in the Tallahassee Democrat.

In the Company of Heroes

After the farewell extravaganza in Tallahassee (see blog entry), a reporter asked me what it felt like to be a hero, or words to that effect. “I’m no hero,” I replied right away. I thought, We haven’t even left Florida; aren’t we being a bit premature? “Now these young soldiers, and the ones leaving behind their young children—they’re the heroes. And the ones who fought through the first part of this war, they’re heroes. And those who fought in Vietnam, and in World War II. They’re the heroes.”

I understand where the reporter was coming from. We Americans, we love our heroes. And so do I. Whether more or less than others, I can’t judge that. I just know that I value the sacrifice and personal expenditure so many have made, so that we can all be free and safe.

O beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!

As we sang this stanza of America the Beautiful in chapel this morning, time stood still—enough for me to glance around at the soldiers worshiping with me. Some were young, some old, some new to the military, some going back for their second or third tour. All of them are heroes to me. That is why I feel so honored to be their “Chappy.”

Band of Brothers, an HBO mini-series, recreated the events of “Easy Company” from before D-Day through the end of WWII, based on actual events and interviews. Lieutenant (later Major) Winters became the E Company commander, and one episode ends with the actual Major Winters discussing a letter he received from a comrade. Like Winters, the friend had been decorated by President Eisenhower for valor. “"I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked the other day,” read an emotional Major Winters, “when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said, 'No, but I served in a company of heroes.’”

We may not be destined for the hardships of Normandy or Bastogne, but I could not be more proud of these fine young men and women. It is an honor to serve in the company of heroes.

An American Soldier

This is the first installment of a series of reflections I have undertaken to write, based on "The Soldier's Creed." Some, like this one, will have an appeal to the Army values and patriotism, but most will also include a devotional aspect as well.
I welcome any comments ... especially criticism.

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I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
(*the rest of the Soldier's Creed is annotated at the end.)


Former President George H. W. Bush, in an interview late in 2007, described his favorite photo of Operation Desert Storm. It depicted a terrified Iraqi soldier in his foxhole, surrounded by American Soldiers. An emotional President Bush recalled, “and the American guy says, ‘We're not going to harm you. We're American soldiers.’”

We’re not like the others, the Soldier was saying. You can count on us to be humane, even amidst the inhumanity of war.

There is something about the claim, “I am an American Soldier” that provokes in me a certain pride—but also the humility of being in undeserved company of greatness. It is the American Soldiers, not the generals or the policy wonks, who have captured the hearts of Americans, particularly since 9/11. TIME Magazine portrayed the American Soldiers in 2003 as, “the bright, sharp instrument of a blunt policy, and success or failure in a war unlike any in history ultimately rests with them.

“For uncommon skills and service, for the choices each one of them has made and the ones still ahead, for the challenge of defending not only our freedoms but those barely stirring half a world away, the American soldier is TIME's Person of the Year.”

Forty years after Vietnam, the American People have rekindled their love for their Soldiers. Whether they agree with the current war or not, people often stop me when I am in uniform, just to say, “Thank you for your service.” It humbles me, having never served a moment in combat, to be thanked for the courageous contributions the American Soldier has been making for six years.

Most of these soldiers are young enough to be my children. Just a few months or a couple of years ago, they wore baggy pants and lip rings, and their biggest challenge had been to master the latest video game. And now they exemplify the best of American values, giving themselves for their buddies and their country.

General Douglas MacArthur, in his famous “Duty, Honor, Courage” speech to the West Point graduating class of 1962, described the American Soldier:

“His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. … He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.

“…In 20 campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination, which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage.”

“I am an American Soldier,” says we are different. We are not just soldiers, but we are AMERICAN Soldiers. We don’t abuse prisoners. We defend not only our own freedom but even the faint stirrings of liberty a world away. We flush with discomfiture at the thank yous—after all, “I am an American Soldier; it’s what I do.”


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The Soldier's Creed

I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and
proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies
of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.