Russell Hayes has learned that one man's coincidences can be another family's miracles.

Hayes is a Mormon convert and a war veteran who flew helicopters in Vietnam decades ago. After being discharged from the U.S. Army, he went about the business of starting a family and a professional aviation career. His days in uniform, he believed, were far behind him.

Then in 2007 he was unexpectedly summoned back to active military duty as a helicopter pilot. He learned he would be deployed to Iraq. His first impulse was to fight the orders. But after much prayer, his wife, Carmen, told him that perhaps the abrupt changes happening in his life were meant to be.


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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.