Faith On the Front Lines 

MILITARY IN HER BLOOD

Emily comes by her love for military service naturally; many of her own family members served with distinction starting in WWI.  Some of those are: Joseph Lorenz, her great-great-uncle, who died in the First World War, and lies buried in France.  Lieutenant Luella Lorenz, Emily’s great-great aunt, was part of the US Army Nurse Corps and deployed to Europe for 16 months in late 1944.  William Bertsch, her great-grandfather, was in the US Army from 1912 to 1946, actually serving in both world wars.  Bertsch received both a Purple Heart in WWI, and a Commendation Award Medal for saving a drowning woman.  Then there’s Anton Lorenz, her great-cousin, who was stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station when Pearl Harbor were attacked in 1941.  Closest to her heart is her own father, Commander Joseph Compagno, a pathologist in the US Navy Medical Corps in the 70’s.  Emily herself was a member of the University of Washington Air Force Reserve Officer Training Program (ROTC).  At the time, she wanted to be a jet pilot (like two of her cousins), but didn’t meet the height requirement.  Emily’s motivation for writing the book is to honor her ancestors and many other heroes, and give them all a voice to share how God met them in their times of need. 
 
A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME TRIP

In 2007, as a new attorney, Emily became an NFL cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders.  Two years later, she was given the opportunity, along with four other “Raiderettes” to join a two-week tour of Kuwait and Iraq to encourage the troops.  “Visits with the wounded and the medical staff in field clinics and the main hospital in Baghdad were poignant highlights I will always carry in my heart,” she says.  The Raiderettes were taken to many bases, including Sadr City, near Baghdad, Iraq.  The Black Hawk helicopter that dropped them off was scheduled to pick them up a few hours later … but was later diverted for a medevac mission.  “So, we ended up having to spend most of the night in that concrete, urban complex.  No one went to bed; we all stayed up together, talking and playing games in the inner courtyard, laughing well into the night.  It was like a summer camp, a special bonding experience, where the soldiers perhaps momentarily forgot the dangers surrounding us and only felt our shared joy of making new, lifelong friends.  It was definitely my favorite night on the trip – likely one of my favorites ever.”  The girls were later whisked away in the wee hours of the night, never to forget the experience … especially because of what followed, Emily says.  “Three days later those men drove over an improvised explosive device (IED).”  There were severe injuries and one fatality. 
 
Fifteen years later, Emily was able to reunite with Colonel Tim Karcher, the commanding officer at the Sadr City post, and a believer, who had bent over backwards to make the girls feel welcome, and keep them safe.  He was in the vehicle that drove over the IED in 2009, and told the story.  “I heard a big boom.  I know immediately what’s going on.  You hear it, you feel it, you taste it.  The vehicle is full of dust and smoke.  I yelled to my guys, ‘I’ve got two broken legs.  How’s everybody else?’  They all report back that they’re okay.  The pain made me think my legs were broken.  They weren’t.  They were gone.”  Tim went into shock, while his men got him to the battalion aid station.  

When stable, he was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then spent six weeks at the famous Walter Reed military hospital in Washington, D.C.  Tim’s wife and three daughters were pillars of support to him through an extremely difficult period of recovery, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Emily says he maintained his faith and even his sense of humor through it all.  When a chaplain told Tim it was okay to be mad at God, he quipped, “God promised me eternal life, not eternal legs!”  The next two years were spent learning to walk with prostheses.  Afterward, Tim opted into the limited duty program the Army offered so he could return to work.  He told Emily his why.  “It wasn’t that I loved the Army.  I loved the soldiers.  I loved taking care of them, helping them and their families.  Being a commander was an extraordinarily rewarding, sacred duty.”  Emily adds, “The power of his remarkable, unshakable faith colored his recovery in an unfaltering strength, a consistent security in knowing Jesus.”
 
HERO IN SOMALIA

“In 1993, then-Sergeant Jeff Struecker was the squad leader assigned to Task Force Ranger of the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment,” Emily explains.  Jeff and the other Rangers were in Somalia to respond to a terrorist organization which had killed a number of UN peacekeeping troops, intercepted much-needed aid, and would later shoot down two Black Hawk helicopters.  “What ensued during that mission became the longest continuous firefight the US Army had engaged in since the Vietnam War.  The harrowing story was later the subject of a bestselling book and an Academy Award-winning film, Black Hawk Down,” she says.  Jeff, a seasoned combat veteran at age 24, and his men, were sent into the thick of the battle three times during that fateful 15 hours.  The first mission was to rescue a fallen private, which was a success.  En route, one of their expert gunners killed a sniper, only to be shot and instantly killed himself.  Jeff says one of the worst moments of his life came hours later when he had to clean his Humvee of his friend’s remains.  

A devout Christian, Jeff had often shared his faith with fellow soldiers, who usually said they didn’t feel they needed God.  After that awful day, perspectives changed.  “So many of my buddies were immediately confronted with their mortality.  They were telling me ‘Jeff, I shouldn’t be alive right now.  I’m not sure if I get on a helicopter or a Humvee that I’m going to make it home to my family.  And I don’t know where I’m going to spend eternity.  And you obviously do.  I want what you have.’  These men were literally saying I need you to tell me about Jesus right now.”  Jeff was more than happy to do exactly that.  In fact, that moment was pivotal in his life, as the Lord led him to become an Army chaplain.   He described that role to Emily as a “terrible privilege.”  “I use both those words very sincerely.  It is terrible to help bear those burdens and hear those stories.  I wish nobody on the planet had to hear those stories.  I wish nobody on the planet had those stories.  But it is an incredible privilege at the same time.  God has given me this terrible privilege.  I cherish it.  But I wouldn’t want anybody else on the planet to have to go through what I’ve gone through to get there.” 
 
LESSONS FOR US ALL 

The heroes highlighted in Under His Wings have clearly undergone situations that civilians simply don’t face: “A Green Beret heard God’s voice in the middle of a firefight in Iraq; an infantryman felt His direction during an ambush in the jungles of Vietnam; a Ranger realized His calling on a tarmac in Mogadishu; a prisoner of war has his prayers answered during torture sessions.”  Emily points out that no matter our callings in this world, that the lessons these heroes learned apply to us all.  “It is the Lord Who goes before us, Who is always with us, Who will never leave or forsake us.  Their breathtaking accounts remind us how simple and magnificent God’s love is for us; how transformative it is when we feel His love, when we accept His mercy, when we pray; and the life-changing – and lifesaving – effect of surrendering your life to Christ.”  
 

For more information on Under His Wings: How Faith on the Front Lines Has Protected American Troops click the Link! https://www.foxnews.com/books/under-his-wings

CREDITS

Author, Under His Wings (FOX News Books, 2024) / Co-host of FOX News’ Outnumbered (with Harris Faulkner and Kayleigh McEnany) since 2021 / Host, FOX News Audio’s The FOX True Crime Podcast with Emily Compagno, since 2023 / federal managing Attorney and Acting Director, Social Security Administration, 2010-2014 / practicing attorney since 2006, in criminal defense and civil litigation in CA / former NFL Oakland Raiders cheerleader, 2007-2010, selected to visit U.S. troops throughout Iraq and Kuwait / BA, Political Science, University of Washington; JD, University of San Francisco School of Law