Tag Archives: blackhawk down

US Army Hosts National Prayer Breakfasts in Afghanistan

Despite being in a combat zone on the other side of the world from home, the US military facilitated servicemembers’ participation in the National Prayer Breakfast.  Retired US Army Colonel Danny McKnight was invited to speak at 12 different locations in the country.  McKnight is famous for his role in Somalia in 1993 — in what the rest of the world now knows as Blackhawk Down.

Col Danny McKnight and his Hollywood alter-ego, Tom Sizemore

National Prayer Breakfast is an annual interfaith tradition started in 1953 by members of U.S. Congress to get Read more

Fighter Pilots, Helicopter Pilots and Attitudes toward War and Killing

In Blackhawk Down, the dramatized events of the 1993 assault on Mogadishu, US Army Blackhawk Super 61 is struck by an RPG and begins spinning to the surface.  As the alarms blare and the helicopter loses altitude, the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Cliff Wolcott, calmly asks his co-pilot, CWO Donovan Briley, to silence the annoying caution lights:

“Hey, Bull, you want to pull those PCLs off-line or what?”

The pilot knew his capabilities; he knew the status of his aircraft.  He likely knew he was about to die; yet his voice was calm and procedural, betraying not a hint of emotion.

In perhaps the most widely watched example in recent history, American Airlines pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger calmly told the taken-aback Air Traffic Controllers

“we’re going to be in the Hudson.”

By all accounts, the crew was calm and methodical as it executed its emergency procedures, saving the lives of all on board.

How can pilots be so stoic during life-threatening catastrophes that might bring screams and panic from others?  Read more

Army Chaplain Pastors Rangers

In a video at the Baptist Press, Chaplain (Capt) Jeff Struecker speaks about the spiritual support he gives the trainees at the US Army Ranger School.

The more difficult the circumstances, the more receptive they are to issues of faith…

There is an urgency for me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ…

My heroes are Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airman, and I can’t think of a greater privilege than to be a pastor to a group of my heroes.

The Chaplain is the former Staff Sergeant Struecker of Blackhawk Down fame.  One of his stories is recounted in Stories from a Soldier’s Heart, and he has written his story in The Road to Unafraid.  (See the last three paragraphs of this article.)