U.S. Army Chaplain Jeff Struecker, whose combat experience in Mogadishu, Somalia, was chronicled in the movie, "Black Hawk Down," will speak at Samford University Tuesday, March 5, at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel. The public is invited.

As an Army Ranger, Struecker helped recover bodies and rescue injured fellow soldiers following the October, 1993, firefight which left 18 American soldiers dead.

Now an Army chaplain at Fort Bragg, N.C., Struecker has said that his faith in God brought him through the battle and prepared him for full-time ministry. Media attention since the film's January release has given him a new forum to share his Christian faith. Struecker's character is played in the movie by actor Brian Van Holt.

Struecker's combat experience also includes participation in Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Iris Gold in Kuwait.

He is now battalion chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. The Iowa native holds a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and bachelor's and associate degrees from Troy State University.

Struecker's Samford lecture is part of the school's convocation series.