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On March 19, when the United States officially launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, the nation braced itself for the inevitable pain and tragedy of war. By the time Baghdad was captured, on April 9, more than 100 American and British soldiers—not to mention thousands of Iraqis—had become casualties of the conflict. As the fighting intensified, faith in God became a major theme of the campaign. The news was filled with stories of praying families and praying soldiers. One such soldier was Captain Jeffrey Donnithorne, a pilot with the 391st Fighter Squadron from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. His e-mails to family and friends reveal a young man whose commitment to his country is outweighed only by his faith in Christ and his confidence in the power of prayer. With his permission, we share excerpts from his messages home.

Sent: 19 March, 2003
Subject: The war begins

Thanks for the many e-mails in the past 24 to 36 hours, after our President announced the "coming liberation of the Iraqi people." This e-mail won't be lengthy, but I wanted to touch base before the water starts boiling, knowing that outside communication might be cut off for a while after that—which would mean not only no e-mails, but also no way for me to track Duke's progress through the West regional bracket [of the NCAA basketball playoffs]! (Even in time of war, March still has its Madness...)

I was flying the other night when the President gave his speech. Interestingly enough, I was at 30,000 feet and about 50 miles south of Baghdad at the time, flying a racetrack pattern in the sky. It turned out to be a quiet night in the skies, and we came back to hear that President Bush had offered a 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam.

The reception here of that speech was one of hearing what seemed inevitable. While I believe that the President has thoughtfully and aggressively pursued a diplomatic solution, none of us doubted that the road home for us runs through Baghdad. I pray that I am the only one on this e-mail list who will experience the front lines of this conflict—our job here is to absorb and confront the violence so that you all don't have to.

You can be confident that we who will do the fighting are praying that peace will come quickly, with minimal loss of life on both sides. Of course, there is friction and fog in war, and its kinetic methods yield imperfect results. But trust me—we're going to great lengths to minimize the violent footprint of the conflict.

	Pray that I will continue to reckon my life as hidden in Christ, fearing not those who can harm the body but cant touch the soul.

As for your role in this next phase … pray, really pray, and don't let penitent worrying count as prayer earnestly make requests of Almighty God, believing him to do all we ask and more with unbounded love and power. Please ask God to grant me safety, courage, wisdom, and skill. Pray that I will continue to reckon my life as hidden in Christ, fearing not those who can harm the body but can't touch the soul. Pray that I will shine with supernatural grace among my comrades, and that God might be glorified in the peace he supplies to my heart and mind. Pray for a soon-and-lasting peace to be brought about through the conflict.

So keep an eye out for news of the mighty F-15E Strike Eagle [fighter jet].

My sincerest thanks to each of you for such potent support, love, and encouragement in these days.

Sent: 4 April, 2003
Subject: Weary, but encouraged

Good morning from the far country. In an attempt to be a responsible steward of your prayers and encouragement, I know I should have kept you all updated more frequently on the pace and contours of my deployed life. I know it sounds shopworn and trite, but would you believe it if I told you I've been busy? I saw that Fox News just reported that Coalition aircraft have flown 1,900 sorties (i.e., missions) in the past 24 hours, and that pace has been fairly consistent over the past week or so. In fact, I think my body would contend that I flew roughly 40% of those 1,900 sorties. In the past two weeks since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in earnest, I've amassed roughly 60 combat hours over Iraq, and at one point I think I had more combat hours than sleep.

Before going any further, I must thank you for the "shock and awe" prayer and encouragement campaign that you all have invoked [on my behalf]. The fruit of your prayers has been real, and I'll try to flesh out the particulars a little throughout this e-mail.

The pace of life here has been dizzying but not distressing. With 24-hour operations being flown, there is no set schedule, pattern, or rhythm to the passage of time. In fact, previously meaningful benchmarks like calling a certain 24-hour period of time "Tuesday," or seven collective days "this week," or even a temporary period of darkness "the night," are devoid of value here. I honestly have no idea what day of the week it is, nor do I have any recollection of what I did "two days ago," because there are no such things as days.

You sleep in your tent for a couple hours at a time, wake up, shuffle blind across the 300 yards of gravel and sand to the bathroom trailer, take a razor to your face, throw contacts in your uncooperative eyes, throw on the flight suit, and head to work. It could be 0500, it could be 1400, it could be 2200, it may be dark and cool, it might be "Damascus Road" bright and 110 degrees. You may have just eaten because the chow hall was open, or you may have only had a Twizzler or two in the past 12 hours. You plan, you fly (usually five- to six-hour missions), you land, try to eat, then you go back and sleep for a couple hours.

Your prayer campaign has been devastatingly effective in counteracting the possible attrition of good cheer and high spirits. I've been well sustained on little sleep and little food, neither of which are conditions I'm particularly fond of. Your prayers for my safety and divine protection have been potent as well. The AAA [anti-aircraft artillery] and SAM [surface-to-air missile] fire I have received from enemy ground forces has not come anywhere close to my jet, the phalanx of angels being well equipped to fend them off.

Your prayers for my skill and wisdom have been fruitful as well, as the combat reality of dropping bombs on enemy equipment and targets has been successful, and I hope it will expedite the liberation of the Iraqi people and the return of Coalition troops to our own homes. I have been spiritually, physically, and emotionally strengthened throughout, with no flagging in determination. I often find myself singing songs of praise and worship throughout the day and night, and often even in the cockpit during the calmer phases of flight.

Obviously, no war is entered into lightly and always as the last resort to persistent diplomacy, but from various reports I've read and seen, large numbers of Iraqi people themselves have welcomed the violence as the (tragically) only way to set them free from endless years of privation and torture. I pray that a lasting peace can be accomplished for these people.

That's about all the news I have time to relate right now. Again, my heartfelt thanks for your flood of support.

Sent: 16 April, 2003
Subject: Liberation!

So they say the war has gone well. I just found out this afternoon that my contribution to the present war effort will no longer be required as of tomorrow night. I serve at the pleasure of the President, and it sounds like he's pleased to send me home. I'll be jumping on a military charter flight in about 24 hours (Lord willing) bound for the American homeland! Of course, things can change quickly and I may be here for another six to eight weeks, but for now it looks promising that I'll spend Easter in the U.S.A.

The war in its present evolution no longer requires the huge arsenal of tactical fighter aircraft to "shape the battlefield" for our brethren on the ground. My squadron has dropped thousands of bombs in the past three to four weeks, subduing the Republican Guard from Nasiriyah to Najaf to Baghdad to Tikrit, before the Army and Marines had to face them—our job was to make sure that the ground battle was a completely one-sided fight. Now that the real heroes on the ground have things under control, the need for tactical air power is drastically diminished. So, some of us are going home, and I'm among them.

In some respects, it feels like I just got here and it couldn't possibly be time to go back home. There are many things I have genuinely enjoyed about this deployed life:

• A single-minded job focus, being convinced that my work matters
• An abundance of free food that I didn't have to cook, prepare, or clean up
• The sense of community and camaraderie
• The flood of e-mail, letters, and care packages, etc. I'm grateful that these deployments have reconnected me with so many old friends (the wonders of forwarding e-mail) and introduced me to so many new ones (the wonders of re-forwarding e-mail a couple more times).

On the other hand, I've now been deployed for eight months in the last year and a half, and it will be nice to return home, where going to the bathroom in the middle of the "night" (I use that term loosely) doesn't involve a 300-yard stroll across the sand.

	Let your wartime prayers continue for my comrades who stay behind to keep flying. And finally, for the Iraqi people as they now enter a new era of freedom.

I can't thank you enough for the amazing prayer and encouragement you've provided these past eight weeks. God has truly heard and answered your prayers, and it has made all the difference in my being able to do my job effectively, both in the cockpit and on the ground. Let your wartime prayers continue for my comrades who stay behind to keep flying—and even more so for our brethren on the ground in Iraq who have a very difficult and delicate job ahead of them. And finally, for the Iraqi people as they now enter a new era of freedom from a totalitarian government.

Closing thoughts … Just as Psalm 34 was the theme for my time at Survival School a few years ago, Psalm 71 has captured this deployment well for me. I encourage you to read it thoughtfully when you have opportunity. Also, a friend sent me a CD of music by Chris Tomlin. It arrived probably five or six weeks ago, and it has been the only album in my CD player since. His music of worship has provided the rhythm and melody accompaniment to my days, sticking to my soul like the sand between my toes—and many of his choruses have now been sung softly at 30,000 feet over Baghdad. Just one highlight from his song called "Enough":

"And all of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need. You satisfy me with Your love, and all I have in You is more than enough."

That's all for now. Again, my sincerest and heartfelt thanks to each of you. Strength and Honor, Jeff

A Christian Reader original article.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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