Editor’s note: Two of the crew members of the Chinook, Flipper 76, are members of Providence Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fayetteville, N.C. This account of a miraculous rescue in Afghanistan, is taken from the News-Observer.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — As Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Woolley eased the giant Chinook down into the mud-walled compound, Special Forces troops on the ground dashed to form a perimeter to protect the helicopter, a prize target for Taliban insurgents.

The landing zone in the western Afghan province of Badghis wasn’t under fire when U.S. Special Forces called for help to evacuate five wounded U.S. soldiers. But seconds after the Chinook, call sign Flipper 76, touched down, generating its trademark cloud of khaki-colored dust, the attack began.

Woolley, of Sanford, N.C., and the other pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric Slover, of Hope Mills, noticed a puff of smoke maybe 175 yards away up a slope, and the chopper immediately lurched like a car hit in a fender-bender.

Read more here.

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]