In Afghanistan I played a war fighter role. We had Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) teams spread out all over the country. The Afghanistan people are tough as nails. They appear to be unemotional. You could really understand how Alexander the Great lost there. They are also incredibly industrious. They can make anything out of everything. They are also pretty inscrutable, hard to read. One thing they do value is the humanity we brought. Although we pursue our enemies, we also care for those we liberate. It is the Special Forces motto, de oppresso liber. The English translation of this Latin phrase is “to liberate the oppressed”.
We had gone out to visit a forward operating base for one of the ODAs. A family had brought in a young child, approximately two months old. He had probably been sick for a while. The medic for the team had kept the kid alive until we arrived. He had done everything a pediatrician would have done without the benefit of labs. The medic had started an IV line and gave the child fluid and antibiotics.
We decided that nothing else could be done there, so we loaded the child on the Chinook and flew to the combat support hospital. I held the child on the way.
That was what we did. We were not just there to kill and destroy. The people are tough as nails, but they responded to the humanitarian side of what we did. Death and oppression are the enemies. Humanity is more than the ultimate end; it is also a great deal of the means by which we reach the end.
God of mercy, may we show your grace and mercy to those who are in need. Creator of all, may we show your love and compassion to everyone we meet.
“I pursued my enemies and overtook them. I did not turn back until they were destroyed.” (Psalm 18:37)