Captain Moder: Courage Under Pressure
A Marine captain sweats. I could see it plainly but maybe his troops didn’t.
They were nervous and he didn’t want to show them he was too. Captain John Moder was more than sweating a little when he called his men together to give them a “pre” battle pep talk in the middle of the desert in Helmand, Afghanistan.
This young Marine had a lot on his mind. It was his first combat mission as a commander of the Charlie Company of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. It was his first combat mission of a company of soldiers, period.
That “pre” mission rally with a prayer by the Chaplin is more than just talk. For a young captain, you see, the weight of command weighs more than the hundred pound packs the marines carry in one hundred degree weather. The weight is if he make a bad call, one of his men potentially doesn’t come home alive.
Mission - clear an area called Garmsir of Taliban.
The intel says there are booby traps, roadside bombs, snipers and machine gunners all waiting. Moder has to decide how his men move and at what speed into an inevitable clash with an enemy willing to die just to take out one American.
Moder called it right. Not too fast. Let helicopters and artillery take out dug-in insurgents. Don’t force men into the open to quickly defeat an enemy when a few more hours means no one gets hurt.
Death or life for some young American far from home surrounded by poppy fields and desert and a hostile enemy.In the middle of all that, rocket propelled grenades were going off over our heads, bullet rounds whizzed by, and a Cobra helo fired a hellfire missile into a Taliban compound no more than 75 yards from our position. Moder kept awake and focused and like his favorite college sport, lacrosse, dodged the enemy and scored a victory for Charlie Company.
When I was done, I saw a smile in those eyes. The weight was off his shoulders. And when I asked him, “Victory today, John?” he didn’t talk so much about the 30 Taliban killed or the enemy machine gun taken out, or the forward objective taken. He said, “no one’s hurt” and those tired eyes smiled.
Nice work Captain Moder.
Thanks for a job well done, using COMMAN SENSE has a lot to do with your thinking things out. Wish a lot more teachers used common sense. Realize why its harder for some students to get it. A teacher that caried a c avarage can understand students better, because of her own mistakes. Its the same way with Captain Moder, he’d been there. A teacher with straight A’s don’t make good teachers.They never had to struggle.
Awesome story. Dana Lewis is a terrific reporter.
Thank you Captain Moder. Nothing we can say is enough. But we know your reward was …”Nobody hurt.” So few men like you in the world that you definitely stand out. We are so proud of you.
Sincere Thanks to you and each one of your great men. Our hearts and thoughts are with you there doing the hard work for us.
Two citizens back home in the good old USA
Thank you, my love for your bravery and leadership. I am so proud of you and your marines. I miss you and love you so much, but know that you are needed in Afghanistan right now. I will keep you and your marines in my thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself and know I am thinking of you and can’t wait to see you again. Your daughter will be so happy to finally meet her hero dada, when you are back home safe again.
Your loving wife
Thank you, Capt. Moder and all of the fine men and women that are depending on you in the field.
Thank you, Dana, for bringing the experience to us at home. We can not love or appreciate what we do not know. Your description of Moder’s careful direction and assessment helps those of us back home to fathom the stage set in Afghanistan.