As a scout for the U.S. Marines 4th Light Armored Battalion, Tyler Smith is no stranger to weapons. But now in Iraq on a dangerous mission near the Islamic State war, the Santa Monica resident is completely unarmed.
Tyler, who studied and worked in Santa Monica, is currently deployed in Iraq with Operation Soul Shepherd helping refugees. He and seven other men as part of an advance team are setting up a safehouse for women and girls who have been raped by ISIS jihadists.
“I couldn’t let myself sit at home doing nothing while people here were suffering so immensely,” said Tyler. “I CAN help, so there’s no reason not to. I’m just a man trying to do the right thing. I’m not a hero.”
Not everyone agrees with his self-effacing.
“Every one of these guys are heroes,” said Paul Neier, founder of Mississippi-based non-profit that fights human-trafficking. “They made made a choice to go into harm’s way. The craziest thing about this is they are in the belly of the beast. They have no weapons to defend themselves.”
Mustard Seed Budget 
They need our prayers, but the One we serve is able!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
I will be praying for Tyler and these other heroes. Thanks for posting this.
thank you for your prayers
God bless you, Tyler and all who are serving in this vitally important way! Our prayers will certainly be with you.
eres una bendicion
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Tyler, I went ahead and deleted my original re-blog, then re-blogged from your feed, all is well my friend!
I’m Mike. Good to get to know you, Vincent. Why Talmid? It means “Wise” or “student?”
Sorry about that Mike, I chose talmidim since it has a meaning of a student. I have a copy of The Complete Jewish Bible and in the New Testament talmidim is used for the Disciples
Great
What a noble thing. Interesting to note that when I was in Iraq his unit 4th LAR was often the back up we called upon if things got more heavy for mere light infantry.