The Price of Freedom
On August 16, I posted a blog called "They Call them Heroes" about a medevac mission to Wardak province. On that mission, two men from the 101st Airborne were killed and three more wounded in an IED blast during a combat resupply mission. I related that the dead are referred to over the radio net as "Heroes", and rightly so.
Later, I found out that the hero who was carried back to Bagram Airfield on my aircraft was a 29-year-old 1st Lieutenant named Donald C. Carwile. Donnie was formerly a policeman from Oxford, Miss., and joined the Army because he believed it was the honorable thing to do. Donnie left Jennifer, his wife of four years and two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
I told the story of this mission when I was asked to speak at a church in Columbus, Ga., a few weeks ago. For that service, I put together the above video from that mission. Donnie's feet are the last thing you see. In the front of the church was a woman who sobbed throughout the telling of this story. Later she approached me and said that Jennifer Carwile is her best friend, and she knew Donnie well.
Through that chance meeting I was able to get in touch with Jennifer and offer her children scholarships through Oliver North's Freedom Alliance. In the process, I met a very strong woman whose courage in the face of this great sacrifice is matched only by that of her husband.
I was truly inspired in speaking with Jennifer, and she indicated that Donnie is now enjoying the pleasures of heaven, as he was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. She also communicated her deep desire to use Donnie's sacrifice to point people to that even greater sacrifice that Christ made for all of us - that while we were His enemy, he still died to save us.
I hope you'll help Jennifer and me in this by watching this story and passing it on to others.
Rest easy, Donnie. It was an honor to meet you - even more so because it was at the moment of your passage from death into life.