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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Jeff Struecker

Aired April 20, 2002 - 07:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, on October 3rd, 1993, Army Ranger Jeff Struecker put on every piece of protective gear he had, but nothing would shield him more from a 17-hour firefight than his bulletproof faith. It was in Mogadishu, Somalia, that bullets and rocket-propelled grenades took the life of 18 American soldiers in a mission to capture a warlord that was turning his homeland into a humanitarian disaster.

You may have seen the movie "Black Hawk Down" and decided for yourself whether that real-life battle was about American victory or defeat. But one of the brave young soldiers who fought that fight and survived looks at it in a different way. Jeff Struecker saw it as individual acts of courage, a courage her realized was not only going to save his life but change his life's purpose.

We won't address Jeff as a sergeant this morning, but rather Army chaplain. He's joining us from Raleigh, North Carolina, to tell us about his new mission in the military, not with guns but with God.

Jeff, great to see you this morning.

CHAPLAIN JEFF STRUECKER, U.S. ARMY: Thank you, Kyra. It's great to see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, what an honor. I have to admit to you that I've had a chance to talk with some of your fellow soldiers that you were in that gun battle with. And they way they describe you is pretty amazing -- "moral icon," "cut from a different cloth," "If there's a flaw in that man, I've never found it."

You are quite revered, my friend. How does it make you feel when you hear your fellow guys talking about you that way?

STRUECKER: Well, you know, that's even more impressive, hearing comments like that from people that I've worked with and known me for so long. I guess they've overlooked the bad things.

PHILLIPS: You know, I tell you what, though, in such a macho environment, you have remained so disciplined and so steadfast. How have you managed to do that?

STRUECKER: Well, really, that's not been by my own strength. It's been because of my faith. I have every day sought to do my absolute best, especially while serving in the Ranger regiment and in the Army. And I know that I have a lot of people with a lot of eyes pointed at me, and so I want to do my best in everything that I do. And I also remember that I'm serving not only my country but I'm serving my God while I'm there, so that also helps motivate me.

PHILLIPS: Well, Jeff, let's go back to that moment in Mogadishu, and tell me at what point did you realize, "OK, I am going to make a life's change once I get out of here"?

STRUECKER: Well, during the course of the battle, about an hour or two into the fight, I picked up a soldier, Todd Blackburn (ph), took him back to the airfield where we were staying. And on the ride back, one of the men in my vehicle, one of my men, Dominick Pilla (ph), was shot and killed. And when I arrived back at the airfield, I thought to myself that I was going to die and all of them men that I was working with were going to die. The situation was just so intense.

And at that moment, I had nothing left to go to, nowhere to find strength except my faith, and my faith -- really, at that moment, I prayed and asked God to give me strength. My faith in Christ really gave me the strength that I needed to go back out into the city a second and a third time. And from that moment on, I realized, "You know what? My faith has made such a difference for me tonight, I want to do what's possible to share my faith and to tell as many other soldiers as possible about how faith can make a difference for them in a battle."

PHILLIPS: Well, Jeff, there was a scene in the movie -- I remember this clearly. And after talking to your other guys within the Army, they told me that it was for real. And that was when one soldier said, "I'm not going back in there. I can't do it." And you pulled him aside, as the squad leader. Tell me what you said to him, because he ended up going back into that fight.

STRUECKER: He did. That was Specialist Brad Thomas (ph), one of my soldiers, who probably said one of the most courageous statements that he could make in war, especially to another Ranger. And that is that the battle was just too intense, and he didn't feel like he would survive the rest of the night.

And he said to me, "I can't do it. I can't go back out there." And I really believe that these words were not my own, that I got them from inspiration, but I just said to Brad Thomas, "Listen, Brad, I understand that you're afraid. It's only natural to fear for your own life in combat." And I said, "The real difference between a hero and a coward is not the fear but what you do with the fear." And then I simply said, "Brad, we need you. I won't make you go back out there, but we need you." And I left.

What has really impressed me about Brad Thomas is the fact that he, fully expecting that he was going to lose his life, grabbed his weapon, got on his vehicle and rolled back out into the city, ready to give his life, if necessary, for the rest of the men that were out there.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So during this situation and even after Mogadishu, did you find a lot of soldiers coming to you and searching for answers, asking about "Is there a God? Where is the God?" And if so, how did -- what did you tell them?

STRUECKER: Yes, Kyra, a lot of soldiers did ask me. Immediately after the battle was over with, a number of them came up to me with tears in their eyes and asked me those very questions. And to be honest, most of the questions about why that happened, I couldn't answer and still can't answer to this day. But the questions about "Was God involved in it?" Yes, he definitely was involved. And he gave me the strength to make it through the city. And for the next several hours, I spent as much time as possible telling my friends, "Hey, God can give you that same kind of strength if you place your faith in Jesus Christ."

PHILLIPS: Jeff, how do you find peace of mind, as a chaplain now, when having to be forced to deal with soldiers who are trained to kill and then God's word that says "Thou shall not kill"?

STRUECKER: Well, you know, that's -- that can often be a difficult problem, especially for many soldiers. And I just simply remind them that if you study the original languages of the Bible, that word in the Old Testament, "kill," really is better translated "murder." And so I don't necessarily believe that in the -- in the case of combat, that -- that command applies directly to life or to one-for-one death.

But I also tell them, "Don't forget that there were many battles fought for religious purposes," not to say that everything that the United States does is motivated by religious sentiment, but also don't forget that there is a necessity worldwide, in many cases. And certainly, what we're doing in Afghanistan to -- to restore justice and freedom to the United States. There's a necessity for soldiers and combat, and I think there's no better place for a Christian to be than a soldier in a situation like that.

PHILLIPS: Jeff, you mentioned Afghanistan. My final question -- what do you say to your -- to the soldiers now, as the Army chaplain -- what do you say to the families when both parties are saying, "Why do we have to have war? Why do we have to go to war? And why does my son or daughter have to go out there? And why do -- sometimes -- why aren't they coming home alive? Explain it to me."

STRUECKER: Well, Kyra, those are tough questions, and no answer that I could give them would be adequate for a parent who just lost his -- their son or a wife who just lost her husband or a mother who just lost her life in combat. But what I can say is that what we're doing in Afghanistan, restoring justice and freedom to the United States, it's worth the price that we're paying. And it's worth continuing to do what we do until the Taliban are rounded up, until freedom and justice has once again been restored to this nation.

PHILLIPS: Jeff Struecker, I got to tell you, you're an example to all of us.

STRUECKER: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Thank you so much for getting up and just sharing your story, your life story with us.

STRUECKER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Very inspiring. All right.

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