On March 19, when the United States officially launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, the nation braced itself for the inevitable pain and tragedy of war. By the time Baghdad was captured, on April 9, more than 100 American and British soldiers?not to mention thousands of Iraqis?had become casualties of the conflict. As the fighting intensified, faith in God became a major theme of the campaign. The news was filled with stories of praying families and praying soldiers. One such soldier was Captain Jeffrey Donnithorne, a pilot with the 391st Fighter Squadron from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. His e-mails to family and friends reveal a young man whose commitment to his country is outweighed only by his faith in Christ and his confidence in the power of prayer. With his permission, we share excerpts from his messages home.

Thanks for the many e-mails in the past 24 to 36 hours, after our President announced the "coming liberation of the Iraqi people." This e-mail won't be lengthy, but I wanted to touch base before the water starts boiling, knowing that outside communication might be cut off for a while after that?which would mean not only no e-mails, but also no way for me to track Duke's progress through the West regional bracket [of the NCAA basketball playoffs]! (Even in time of war, March still has its Madness ?)

I was flying the other night when the President gave his speech. Interestingly enough, I was at 30,000 feet and about 50 miles south of Baghdad at the time, flying a racetrack pattern in the sky. It turned out to be a quiet night in the skies, and we came back to hear that President Bush had offered a 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam.

The reception here of that speech was one of hearing what seemed inevitable. While I believe that the President has thoughtfully and aggressively pursued a diplomatic solution, none of us doubted that the road home for us runs through Baghdad. I pray that I am the only one on this e-mail list who will experience the front lines of this conflict?our job here is to absorb and confront the violence so that you all don't have to.

You can be confident that we who will do the fighting are praying that peace will come quickly, with minimal loss of life on both sides. Of course, there is friction and fog in war, and its kinetic methods yield imperfect results. But trust me?we're going to great lengths to minimize the violent footprint of the conflict.

As for your role in this next phase ? pray, really pray, and don't let penitent worrying count as prayer earnestly make requests of Almighty God, believing him to do all we ask and more with unbounded love and power. Please ask God to grant me safety, courage, wisdom, and skill. Pray that I will continue to reckon my life as hidden in Christ, fearing not those who can harm the body but can't touch the soul. Pray that I will shine with supernatural grace among my comrades, and that God might be glorified in the peace he supplies to my heart and mind. Pray for a soon-and-lasting peace to be brought about through the conflict.

So keep an eye out for news of the mighty F-15E Strike Eagle [fighter jet].

My sincerest thanks to each of you for such potent support, love, and encouragement in these days.

Good morning from the far country. In an attempt to be a responsible steward of your prayers and encouragement, I know I should have kept you all updated more frequently on the pace and contours of my deployed life. I know it sounds shopworn and trite, but would you believe it if I told you I've been busy? I saw that Fox News just reported that Coalition aircraft have flown 1,900 sorties (i.e., missions) in the past 24 hours, and that pace has been fairly consistent over the past week or so. In fact, I think my body would contend that I flew roughly 40% of those 1,900 sorties. In the past two weeks since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in earnest, I've amassed roughly 60 combat hours over Iraq, and at one point I think I had more combat hours than sleep.