NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Navy Chaplain Carey Cash saw firsthand the beginning of the war in Iraq. He worked among the men of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Baghdad, who were charged to seize the presidential palace and faced what Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North called, "the worst day of fighting for U.S. Marines."

According to W Publishing Group, Cash's new book about the Marines and how God brought them miraculously through the eight-hour battle with only one Marine casualty also relates how, as the 1st Battalion's chaplain, Lieutenant Cash saw God transform lives.

Cash baptized 57 new Christians (Marines and Sailors) during the war in Iraq.

His book, "A Table in the Presence," relates the story of his experiences during Operation Iraqi Freedom and his belief that the civilian population in Iraq is ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Contrary to what they were told, Cash said the troops discovered the Iraqi people were not leery or hostile to Christians.

"Every time I had interactions with Iraqi civilians, it was the exact opposite," Cash told Agape Press. He said he found Iraqis who apparently loved and welcomed the Americans. For himself and the Marines he accompanied, the chaplain said, "the specter of Christian-hating Islamic people" was simply not in evidence among the ordinary citizens.

Anti-American sentiment was obvious among Iraqi insurgents and Saddam loyalists, Cash said. "Certainly when you talk about the Republican Guard and the Bath party, I think that, yes, that was there," he said.

But he said most people seemed burdened under the yolk of Islam and open to Christianity.