July 3. Army Ranger Sergeant Jeff Struecker. Struecker was the real-life hero behind the 2001 Oscar-winning movie: Black Hawk Down.
It’s the story of 160 crack soldiers dropping into Somalia to take down 2 top lieutenants of the renegade warlord.
In today’s story, Struecker’s prime directive drives a key decision. What he does is motivated by his love for God and his love for his men.
Once you’ve committed never to leave a man behind, you’re ready to make the tough decisions.
For the sixth time that hot October afternoon, Struecker and his ten-man squad roared back to base in their Humvee. They had rescued another wounded Ranger from the heart of a battle-torn city in Somalia. Their Ranger Creed was: “I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of an enemy.…”
Through narrow streets lined with two- and three-story buildings, they sped. Insurgents hid in those upper rooms, and they controlled the city and everyone in it. As the Humvee zipped through, from every direction, bullets flew.
Rounding a corner, Struecker yelled directions to his driver. But just that instant, the machine gunner in the turret was hit and killed. For a second, Struecker panicked. He’d just lost a good soldier, a man he was responsible for, and a good friend.
Everything was going haywire. Struecker struggled to detach himself and jump back into tactical mode. The team raced through the hail of bullets, and Struecker ordered himself to get it together.
Back at the base, doctors cared for the wounded Ranger the team had rescued. But Struecker stood alone with his thoughts and the body of his friend. “God, like, so what’s the deal here? How come this all fell apart on me? What am I supposed to do next?”
The officer in charge walked up and addressed Struecker. “You need to get the guys ready to go back out there again. We don’t have everybody. In fact, it sounds like half the assault force is stuck at the crash site … Black Hawk down.”
Struecker had to go tell his men they were going back into that deadly city for the seventh time. Their job was to support the rescue effort and escort them back. As they geared up, he stood in silence.
“I’m going to die tonight. And what’s just as bad, I’m going to get every one of my men killed. I just know it. There’s no way we can survive another run back into that city. Tomorrow this squad is going to have ten dead Rangers instead of just one. God, I’m in deep trouble, as you can see. I need help. I’m not saying you should get me out of this. I just need your help.”
It was 11:30 at night as Struecker led a rescue convoy back into the city. In the lead Humvee, he picked their way through the narrow streets to the site of the downed Black Hawk helicopter, where a bunch of Rangers were pinned down by enemy fire.
Struecker’s team stopped just short of the downed Black Hawk, and his squad provided cover while waiting for the last group of survivors to be rescued. The whole time he kept thinking … we’re the easiest target in town; we’re every rifleman’s dream sitting here, and there’s nothing I can do about it but keep fighting and praying.
When the order to leave the city came, the sun was rising. Struecker’s squad was in the last two vehicles to leave, and they guarded against insurgents following them.
All of a sudden, the top machine gunner yelled, “We’ve got bodies chasing after us from down the street.”
Struecker gave the command to open fire, but the gunner didn’t shoot.
“Why aren’t you shooting?” Struecker yelled.
“Sergeant, I think they’re our guys.”
That didn’t make sense. The entire convoy had sped off, leaving Struecker’s team isolated in the street with Somali gunfire increasing all around them. But his primary directive was never to leave a man behind.
Immediately, Struecker gave the command to stop and back up. Wide-eyed and exhausted, Rangers and special-ops soldiers returned fire in all directions as they piled onto the last two Humvees.
“If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:12–14 TLB).
If you were to write out a prime directive for your life, what would it be? If you’ve already committed never to leave a man behind, you’ll be ready when you make the tough decisions.
CBN. “Captain Jeff Struecker, Fearless?” Accessed June 1, 2020. https://www1.cbn.com/700club/captain-jeff-struecker-fearless.
Struecker, Jeff. The Road to Unafraid: How the Army’s Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009.
Story read by: Daniel Carpenter
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: Thomas Mitchell, http://www.walkwithgod.org/
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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