Originally posted by paromer:
God bless priests who serve in the military. They offer spiritual support for the men and women of the armed services.
God bless military chaplains of all denominations. They are a close-knit group with great respect for one another and for the religious traditions of their fellow men and women, Christian and non-Christian alike. They regularly meet the spiritual needs of all denominations and are specially trained to do so. There is an expectation that chaplains, regardless of denomination, will minister to the spiritual needs of all those w/in their command. If you have never been in the military, particularly in time of war, you can't possibly understand how unimportant it can be that the person giving you spiritual succor has a Star of David on his lapel, rather than a Cross, or vice-versa.
As a young officer in Viet Nam 35 yrs ago, I learned that soldiers in battle zones are very aware of God, but much less particular about who talks about Him than we are. I have watched a priest recite the Kaddish into the ear of a dying Jewish soldier, a minister recite the Act of Contrition for a Catholic, and a rabbi pray the 23rd Psalm for a Protestant soldier. I have no doubt that each of them felt closer to the God Whom they were about to meet because of these ministrations by one who did not believe as they did, but respected their spiritual needs.
February 3 of this year marked the 60th anniversary of the WWII sinking of the USS Dorchester, when Lieutenants George Fox, a Methodist minister; Alexander Goode, a Jewish rabbi; John Washington, a Catholic priest; and Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister, all members of the Army Chaplain Corps, handed
their life jackets to others - never asking to Whom anyone prayed or what form the prayers took - and stood, arm-in-arm, on the deck, praying aloud together as the ship sank, taking them to their eternal repose. May their memory be
eternal.
Their sacrifice was dramatic but no more heroic than that made by many other chaplains and chaplains' assistants of every denomination and sect in the military of the US and every other nation.
Many years,
Neil
