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Army Vet Returns to Iraq to Teach Christians to Defend Themselves Against Islamic State

Brett Felton / CBS News
March 23, 2015

Brett Felton, who was deployed with the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army in Iraq eight years ago, is helping teach Iraqi Christians how to defend themselves against the Islamic State (IS). The 28-year-old is not part of any organized effort but instead entered the country on his own, CBS News reported.

Driven by his Christian faith, Brett Felton of Troy, Mich., made his way to Iraq as a "soldier of Christ," to help defend the Iraqi Christians under threat from the Islamic State. When 60 Minutes producer Jeff Newton met him in February, Felton was engaged in training local Christians to defend their villages. (Watch Felton in action in the video player above.)

"If you look at him, he's literally all tattooed out like a biker," Newton told 60 Minutes Overtime. "But if you look really closely at his tattoos, they're like Jesus Christ crying blood tears out of his eyes and stuff like that--so he's kind of a hardcore Christian."

Christians have been persecuted by IS since it began its rampage across Iraq. Many have been driven from their homes or forced to convert by the terrorist group.

"They're under-funded. They don't have good weapons. They're completely outgunned by the Islamic State," Lara Logan said. "When you're with them, you have this terrible feeling that many of them would be massacred if the Islamic State really turned its attention to taking back those villages."

But help has begun to arrive from a handful of Christians, like Felton, who are traveling to Iraq from abroad. On the day Newton was in Bakufa, Felton was training the men in urban warfare -- how to enter and clear a room, how to check for suicide vests, and how to drag your wounded to safety.

Felton said he is completely committed to helping the Iraqi Christians.

"People say, 'You're crazy for doin' this,'" Felton told Newton. "I think people are crazy for not doing their part, to be honest with you."