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Famed “Black Hawk Down” Survivor Says There Is Only One Force Big Enough To Change The World – Viral Believer
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Famed “Black Hawk Down” Survivor Says There Is Only One Force Big Enough To Change The World

In a nutshell, the article discusses Jeff Struecker’s life-altering experiences during the 1993 Mogadishu raid, famously depicted in “Black Hawk Down.”

Most impactful for Struecker was not the intense combat but the subsequent conversations about death and the afterlife with his fellow soldiers. These discussions led him to become a chaplain, realizing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, surpassing even military might.

What impacted Jeff Struecker most was NOT the thousands of hostile Somalis swarming his Humvee, nor the hailstorm of bullets and RPGs as he attempted to rescue fellow Rangers in the ill-fated 1993 raid of Mogadishu made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down.

What impacted him most was the next October morning back at base when his buddies one by one asked him about death and the afterlife.

“It changed my life forever,” Struecker said at Liberty University in a video posted on YouTube.

“I would still be a sergeant in the ranger regiment today if it wasn’t for what I saw the morning after the firefight. It wasn’t really the blood and the bullet holes that had an impact on me. It was back at the base the grown men, some of the toughest warriors on the planet, with tears in their eyes. They said, ‘Jeff, what happened to my best friend who just died last night? Jeff, what happens to me if I get on a helicopter or a Humvee tomorrow and I don’t make it home?’

image of a black hawk helicopter

“Almost all of them were saying, ‘Jeff, there was something different about you last night, and I want to know what it was,’” he said. “For the next 24 hours, I had guys lined up to ask me about Jesus Christ because they could see the difference that He makes when you’re getting shot at and when the bullets flying.”

The advice he gave that night did more to direct Struecker’s career than the intensive Ranger training. Seeing a chance to impact the lives of men, Struecker became a chaplain for his same Ranger buddies in the 82 Airborne Division, a post he’s held for more than a decade.

The Ranger/Delta Force mission code-named Operation Gothic Serpent began to go awry when Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn failed his fast-rope drop-in and fell 70 feet to the ground headfirst.

While other Rangers secured the perimeter and Delta Force operators seized two of Mohammed Farrah Aidid’s top lieutenants, the subsequent efforts to rescue the fallen ranger led to two helicopters being shot down and 18 deaths.

The attempt to rescue pilots and rangers from two helicopter crashes led to the casualties and the debacle that forced Defense Secretary Les Aspin to resign.

image of a military rescue

He talks about his experience trying to rescue a fallen soldier.

“I was thinking that as a leader, not only would I get myself killed but I would get every one of my men killed if I went back out there,” he said. “There will be 10 more body bags tomorrow morning if I go back out there.”

But then he remembered he was a Ranger, whose creed is to never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy. As a Christian, he started to pray.
“God I’m in big trouble right now, and I need your help because I’m certain that I’m going to die tonight,” he said.

The Lord brought to his mind the recent Bible devotional about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There, Jesus said, “Not my will but yours be done.”

“Jesus, the perfect sinless Son of God, walked into the hands of the enemy and He willingly, freely gave His life up so that your sin and my sin could be dealt with once and for all,” Struecker said. “At the back of that Humvee, I prayed, not my will. From that moment on, God once and for all dealt with that fear. I had no worries about what was going to happen to me that night.”

He was given no surety that he would survive, but he felt strangely assured that if he died before his body fell to the ground, his soul would be transported to Heaven.

“I realized if I go home to my family in Georgia or go home to my Father in Heaven, in either case, I cannot lose because of what my Savior Jesus Christ had done for me,” Struecker said. “That alone gave me the peace to go back and forth into the streets repeatedly for the rest of the night.”

Meanwhile, dozens of Rangers and Delta Force operators were fighting for their lives, completely surrounded by militiamen. Superior marksmanship and helicopter strafing run held off the masses attempting to overrun the U.S. soldiers.

Struecker drove back into the maelstrom, dodging burning tires and evading ambushes at every turn. Once an RPG bounced off the hood of his Humvee and exploded against the wall, Gunmen opened fire on him with AK-47s from point-blank range, but miraculously no one on his vehicle was injured.

He found half of the assault force in the city, loaded up the soldiers, and headed back to the base.

To rescue the second batch of soldiers, Pakistanis and Malaysians joined the effort. At 11:30 p.m. the convoy left to rescue the rest of the assault force.

In all, U.S. forces suffered 18 deaths and 73 injured. The U.S. left the region shortly afterward and Aidid was subsequently killed in battles for control of Somalia.

As fallout hit Washington, Les Aspin, U.S. defense secretary, resigned because he had refused requests for tanks and armored vehicles in support of the mission. President Bill Clinton was criticized extensively for abandoning the region before goals were achieved and for failing to recognize the link between Aidid’s forces and Al-Qaeda.

After counseling a large number of comrades shaken by death, Struecker realized God had something greater for him than “kicking in doors and slinging lead at the enemies of our country,” he said.

He became a chaplain for his same Ranger regiment.

“Before that night, I thought you could transform the world through military prowess and national power,” Struecker said. “But I realized something in Mogadishu, Somalia: There is only one force great enough to transform the world, and it is the Holy Spirit of the Living God through his Son Jesus Christ.”

Source: Godreports

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Pastor Duke Taber
Pastor Duke Taber

Pastor Duke Taber

All articles have been written or reviewed by Pastor Duke Taber.
Pastor Duke Taber is an alumnus of Life Pacific University and Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
He has been in pastoral ministry since 1988.
Today he is the owner and managing editor of 3 successful Christian websites that support missionaries around the world.
He is currently starting a brand new church in Mesquite NV called Mesquite Worship Center, a Non-Denominational Spirit Filled Christian church in Mesquite Nevada.