Rev. Danny Fisher

Via Hokai over at h~log:

Visit http://www.burmaitcantwait.org.

This from a recent New York Times piece about the war’s toll on our military chaplains:

Just as it has claimed so many other members of the military, the war in Iraq has taken a toll on chaplains. Although they do not engage in combat, chaplains face the perils of war as they move around Iraq to visit troops. None have been killed, but some, like Chaplain [Richard E. Brunk, Jr.] have been wounded. Many report post-traumatic stress disorder and other stress problems.

In the past year, the Army has begun to recognize those problems among chaplains and is ensuring that those suffering from stress disorders receive medical treatment at military hospitals.

The Army’s chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Carver, has mandated that every military installation offer programs to ensure the mental well being of its chaplains. A spiritual center will open this summer at the chaplain training headquarters at Fort Jackson, S.C., and chaplains will be invited to retreats.

“We are doing more for the chaplains because the chaplains are doing more,” said Lt. Col. Ran Dolinger, a spokesman for the chief of chaplains. Because of multiple deployments to combat zones, Colonel Dolinger said, “they just needed more help.”

[...]

The Army has about 2,500 chaplains, with 250 serving in Iraq and Afghanistan at any time. The length of their tours of duty varies.

No battalion goes into a war zone without a chaplain. But a shortage — particularly acute among Roman Catholic priests, mirroring a national trend — has left Army Reserve and Army National Guard units and those stateside stretched thin. In a combat zone, chaplains crisscross hostile terrain to reach soldiers of all faiths.

[...]

Since being stationed as the chaplain for the Fort Hood Mobilization Brigade in January 2007, Chaplain Brunk has counseled soldiers but has not been able to talk to his wife about his own experiences. He withdraws to his quarters on weekends, and said he sometimes felt uncomfortable in large groups, as he was last month when sending several hundred soldiers off to Iraq.

Other chaplains have said they face similar reorientation and stress issues. Maj. Mark Nuckols, an Army reservist, is completing his second yearlong deployment in Iraq. Chaplain Nuckols said in a telephone interview that he ran a retreat outside Baghdad for chaplains.

When he returned to the United States after his first tour of duty, Chaplain Nuckols said, he found it hard to empathize with his Lutheran congregation in Austin, Tex. “I needed time to myself, to decompress and be able to get my head straight,” he said. At first, he said it was hard to compassionately deal with people’s ordinary concerns after counseling soldiers on the battlefield.

Since returning home from her deployment in Kuwait, Lt. Col. Rachel Coggins, 53, a Baptist chaplain, said she had been taking part in an online peer support group for military chaplains.

Chaplain Coggins ministered to thousands of soldiers funneling through Kuwait, either headed for Iraq or on their way home. Earlier, she had been stationed at a military hospital in Germany.

The strains of dealing with so many soldiers and then returning to a new life — her husband had moved the family to Arizona from Georgia — left her emotionally exhausted, she said.

But for her and others, there is no thought of leaving the Army. The mission, they said, is too important.

“It’s the right place to be,” Chaplain Brunk said. “I stand in awe of our soldiers.”

I saw a wonderful film with my dad this evening. Normally, I have lots to say about movies, but all I’ve got for you on this one right now is that it’s wonderful. Take a look at the trailer below, and go–films like this need a little extra help during the blockbuster season, and we won’t get more like them if people don’t go.

Photo by my friend and former roommate, the brilliant musician Tug Haines.