Always Faithful: The Story of Lance Corporal Joel Murray

In the early morning hours of March 19, the city of Baghdad awoke
to the piercing sound of air raid sirens and then explosions.
Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun. In the days that followed,
coalition forces launched nonstop air and missile attacks on targets
across Iraq. Coalition troops crossed over the border of Kuwait and
began the push toward Baghdad. It was here that Lance Corporal
Joel Murray of the U.S. Marines would see combat for the first time.
Says Joel, "When you are in the middle of it, you are on your feet all
of the time wondering when something is going to come at you. You
dont know. When we first went into Iraq, you would hear mortars
going off. You are wondering when it is going to come your way."
As a crewmember of an assault amphibian vehicle, better known as
a "track" to the Marines that use them, Joel was living out his
childhood dream of becoming a Marine.
"When I saw the Marines, I saw someone that people respect and
honor. They are the toughest people and the most respected of all
the military branches, so I thought that would be something for me,"
he says.
Living up to the Marine Corps motto of semper fidelis, or "always
faithful," Joel and the Marines of the 2nd Expeditionary Brigade were
taking the fight to Saddam Husseins doorstep. As they entered the
city of An Nasiriyah, the fighting intensified. Joel spotted a "track"
that had been hit. He called out to God, whom he knew was always
faithful, too.
"When I saw the Amtrac going down the road, and the back of it was
down, when it passed by, I realized that the whole back of it was
blown up," Joel says. "I prayed there that nobody that I knew would
have gotten hurt. I prayed that they would be all right. "
Joels father, Vernon, and step-mom, Jackie, knew that prayer
support was vital to keeping their son and all the troops in Iraq safe.
Thats why they sent his picture to the 700 Club to be a part of
Operation Prayer Shield.
"I was watching The 700 Club, and I saw the first day that they had
Operation Prayer Shield. I said, 'I got to get my step-sons picture
over there.'"
One day, while Pat Robertson and Terry Meeuwsen were praying for
the troops, Jackie saw the photo she sent in of Joel on her television
screen.

"I thanked God and I got tears in my eyes. I said, 'I have got to call
my husband, Joels dad, and tell him Joels picture is on there.
Millions of people will be praying for him,'" Jackie recalls.
"I was struck emotionally by seeing my son on national television,"
Vernon says. "It just did something spiritually for me. That made a
really important difference in the way that I dealt with the
uncertainty of the war."
God heard the prayers lifted up daily for the military men and
women. In the middle of some of the most intense fighting in Iraq,
God protected Joel and his crew in a miraculous way. Their track was
attacked by RPGs, also known as rocket-propelled grenades.
"A grunt on my track, there are different weapons that they shoot,
and one is a SMAW (shoulder-launched multipurpose assault
weapon). It is kind of like a bazooka. He fired it and the sites were
off and he hit a telephone pole. The telephone pole fell over.
Someone at the time, I guess, shot a RPG at us, and it got deflected
off by the telephone pole. It probably would have hit us if it werent
for the telephone pole."
Today Joels family and friends are celebrating his safe return from
Iraq. They know that it was the grace of God and the prayer support
of Operation Prayer Shield that saw him through.
"When we saw him coming back," says Jackie, "he was on a bus at
Camp Lejeune. It was a very exciting moment. There was music
playing and a crowd there and we all had flags to wave. We saw his
face looking out a bus. We just all started running toward the bus,
and we were very excited. When he got off the bus, of course, we all
ran up to give him hugs. It was a wonderful answer to our prayer."
"I want to thank all the people across the United States, across the
world, for praying for my son," says Vernon. "Their prayers were
answered in a very big way. I think what is really neat about it is the
prayer scheme was Operation Prayer Shield, and God protected
Joels life by providing a shield, a literal shield. A telephone pole falls
and protects his Amtrac from an incoming RPG."
"To know that someone appreciates me going over there enough to
take the time out to pray and to ask the Lord to watch over me is
very important," says Joel. "It makes me feel good to know that
people cared about other people enough like that."

I choose this story entitled Always Faithful: The Story of

Lance Corporal Joel Murray because when I was reading it, I
felt Gods saving grace. Reading the title alone, I
immediately knew that it is going to be a story about wars.
But when I read the whole story, I realized that I was wrong.
It is not just a simple story about wars but also, a story
about fighting for survival. Life as we know it is very
essential. We dont know when it will end. Only God knows.
Based on the news I see in the television, a life of a soldier
is very difficult because they risk their lives just to defend a
certain country against the harmful works of the enemies. A
soldier must also be loyal in fulfilling his duties. In the story
I chose, Lance Corporal Joel Murray is on a mission in Iraq
where there are many terrorists that will attack his troops
including him. So, Joels parents sent his photo in Operation
Prayer Shield. It is a Prayer group where you can send photos of
your loved ones whom you would like to be prayed on and ask for
protection. During the fight in Iraq, Joel prayed to God and asked for
his protection over his crew as they go for battle. They were
standing near a building and beside them is a telephone pole and
unknowingly, the enemies made a shot. But because of Gods
miraculous works, the enemies shot the telephone pole and not Joel
and his crew. Today Joels family and friends are celebrating his safe
return from Iraq. They know that it was the grace of God and the
prayer support of Operation Prayer Shield that saw him through.
Joel said, A simple prayer to ask the Lord to watch over me is very
important."
Relating it to our lesson about Human Dignity, it is important to
know that our dignity comes from God who created us in His image
and likeness. Through Jesus Christ His Son, who became human like
us just to show us how great our God, is. We have the capacity to
Love because we are first loved. Also God gave us the gift of life and
grace that enables us to share with other people. Therefore, we are
called to use these gifts and follow Jesus command, which is to love
our neighbors. The Holy Spirit empowers and inspires us to show our
respect to our fellow human beings, do what is good and become
stewards of Gods beautiful creation.