Armor of Light

Corp. Will Brandon, United States Marine Corps

I fell asleep for a period of time, even though it felt like only a few minutes. Before then, I had been surviving on two hours of sleep a night. But a strange thing happened when I woke. Daylight was streaming through the driver’s hatch where Mejia was still sitting. The darkness was over.

“What’s going on up there, man?” I asked.

“Nothing, you missed it,” Mejia replied. “It cleared up enough. Air was called in.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” I exclaimed.

“I don’t know how you missed it: it was kind of loud,” he chuckled.

I was surprised Mejia didn’t wake me when the Marine air strike destroyed the tanks but grateful for the peace that came with sleep.

I was told later that those Iraqi tanks were T-72s, the most modern tanks the Iraqis had. These former Soviet vehicles weighed at least forty-one tons and would have easily made short work of us if they could have seen us. I was also told the tanks had closed within 1,400 meters of our line - almost well within the range of their main guns. If it hadn’t been for that last dust storm, those tanks would likely have rolled close enough to see us, and our armament coil of smaller vehicles would have made easy targets.

As I think about that night in Iraq, I can’t help but reflect in wonder and awe. I might have fallen asleep and missed the “air show,” but I didn’t miss God’s hand. He used a dust storm to turn daylight into the darkest pitch I’d ever seen. He sustained us despite the missed location of the ICM, the chatter over the radio, and the mistaken illumination round fired by the corporal.

After that night, we pushed on toward Baghdad. We were ambushed multiple times. On April 4, we attacked the West side of Baghdad and controlled the city within a week. We stayed as a reinforcement until President Bush announced the conclusion of combat operations.

We were some of the first Marines to come home and received a true hero’s welcome.

I believe God answered many prayers that night and sent a final dust storm to spare us. I’m grateful to Him for providing me assurance from His Psalms and allowing me to give him thanks for my life and those I love. He was the fresh air of hope in a dust storm.

Prayer: God, thank you for your armor of light and bringing us out of the darkness.