Purple Heart

16 May

If you get injured in combat you receive a Purple Heart medal. General George Washington himself instituted the tradition of giving this prestigious medal to our wounded Soldiers. I had the privilege of being invited to an awards ceremony for a few Soldiers a few days ago. Just three days after I rode in the medical helicopter, we had another situation where a handful of our men were caught on a mountain by a group of bad guys. Five of our men took cover and returned fire. Air Force jets were called in to give "suppressive fire" to the enemy, and they flew overhead protecting our guys until reinforcements could arrive. They said it was an awesome sight to see those jets flying extremely low over trees and mountains trying to scare the enemy away. All five of the US Soldiers survived, but a few were injured. One was from my Unit. He was flown to my base and stayed in the hospital two days before they flew him to Germany for additional medical treatment. He was in good spirits and doing well when he left. The medical facilities here are pretty good, and those guys deserve a ton of credit for what they do and how many lives they save. In fact, if you walk through the halls of this base hospital (which is pretty large), you will see many of the rooms occupied by local nationals who are either sick or injured themselves. We will treat anyone who needs it -- including the locals and sometimes the bad guys. It reminds me of old episodes of M*A*S*H, where Hawkeye worked on everyone, too.

Anyway I will attach a few shots of the Purple Heart ceremony in the hospital room. The Commanding General and his Sergeant Major delivered all the medals while another member of his staff read the citation out loud. The whole room comes to attention (except those who are in hospital beds!). I felt pretty honored to have been invited. It's one of those awards/medals you really don't want to win!

Recent Thoughts

12 May
I am back on my home base now. The last few days have been busy and somewhat hectic. I wanted to tell you what happened to me the on Monday night, but I have to leave out real names and some details. A US Soldier was wounded critically by "the bad guys" very close to where I was staying last weekend. He was taken to the ER on this FOB and they worked desperately to save his life. They called in a medical helicopter in an effort to fly him out of there and back to the larger base where there are more advanced medical facilities (including surgery). The team there worked on him as well as a local national man who was also wounded in the attack. I was allowed into the ER and close to the bedsides of both of these men. (The Chaplain has special privileges!). The local civilian allowed me to pray for him at his bedside while an interpreter translated my prayer into his native language. I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask the Lord to save and heal this man, and he was receptive to my prayer. I understand that a good Muslim does respect Protestant and Catholic Chaplains as "men of the Book," even though he may reject faith in Jesus Christ. Either way, it was a unique opportunity and I took advantage of it.

But as for our US Soldier... he was wounded critically and they flew him to a larger base. However, the base Commander wanted the Chaplain to go with him. So I quickly packed a few belongings in a bag and hopped on the medical heilcopter with the crew and the wounded Soldier. I sat in the back and watched as three flight members (nurses and EMTs) worked on him... and I prayed the whole way! I figured my role here was to bathe this man in prayer and to ask God for protection, speed, and healing. It was a pretty awesome experience. The pilots fly at night with night vision goggles, which allow them to see everything pretty clearly. I was looking out the window at mountain passes and little villages down below us in the dark. They were hauling butt trying to get to the larger hospital ASAP. We had two blackhawk helicopters (gunships) escorting us at top speed. Kind of like having a police car with his lights on escorting you to the hospital and running all the red lights in town. It was pretty cool!

And the best news is the Soldier made it alive. He is still in critical condition, but has undergone two surgeries already to stabilize him. He will now be flown home to the USA for more medical treatment. His name is "Joe" and I ask that you lift him up in prayer. He will need more surgeries and probably a long recovery, but he is out of the woods and should be OK. Thank you, Lord.

A Rough Night

7 May
It was another rough night last night. A Soldier from another Unit (not mine) was killed around dinner time somewhere in the mountains near where I am visiting. I know his Chaplain and my friend called me and asked if I could go over to his Unit's office and spend some time with his team on this particular FOB. I was happy to go an minister to a group of about 10 Soldiers just sitting around, kind of in shock. I was able to talk about some of the emotions they may be feeling and got a few to open up and talk about their buddy who died. Some even laughed as they remembered fun times with their friend. These guys deal with the bombs, and it was a rocket that exploded that caused his death. It makes everyone stop and reflect on life; on how fragile it is. This kid was about 22 years old with his whole life ahead of him and now he's gone. There were some tears shed, and then I read from Psalm 91 as well as Psalm 23. I asked if I could pray for the team gathered there last night, and everyone bowed their head and closed their eyes. I noticed people coming out of offices to join in the group prayer (who had not been involved in the discussion up to that point!) It was a pretty powerful moment and I know God was there in that room with us. In times of utter fear and panic and, in this case, sorrow, people seem to know they need God. And to think, I was frustrated because we could not catch a flight back to our home base yesterday morning. Yet God had something different in mind for me. I believe God had me stay here for a reason... to minister to those Soldiers in their time of need. It is a reminder to me that when I ask God to use me, He does!

There is a family back home who received the worst news imaginable last night and must be grieving terribly today. Please lift up this family specifically, as well as a prayer for protection for all of our troops in harm's way. I would appreciate that. Thank you.

Tea with the Poles

3 May
I had an interesting experience last night that I wanted to share. I am visiting a FOB operated by the Polish Army. They call that a "Battle Space Owner," and they can vary considerably with the international flavor here. If our troops are on one of their FOBs, then we have to obey their rules of engagement, which sometimes creates interesting situations. Anyway, there is a Polish Catholic Priest here and I went to meet him in the afternoon. Through in interpreter he invited me back for tea after his evening Mass. I was honored for the invitation and went back. I was the only American in the room for the evening tea, and the priest and a handful of other Polish Soldiers --including their Colonel --were sitting around smoking and talking about the day, and/or telling "war stories." For all I know they were talking about me, but since I cannot speak a lick of Polish, I have no idea! One of his Soldiers translated for him, since the priest does not speak any English. It was a weird experience, and a little intimidating, to say the least. But they were all very gracious and polite to me and I carried on a conversation with this Polish priest, while sharing tea, through his interpreter. I asked him if he had any advice for me, someone new to "military ministry"? He told me to (1) be myself and not try to imitate others, (2) to be available for Soldiers at all hours -- in other words, don't turn anyone away because it is after hours or in the middle of the night; (3) to keep in contact with your military commanders as well as your Soldier's families (if possible). And (4), he also said to keep in touch with the One who can "change water into wine." His comrades laughed at his joke, but I didn't think he was kidding. As a fellow Chaplain I understand the importance of keeping your faith strong and staying in prayer and in God's Word as much as possible. I think that should have been #1 on his list. Anyway, it was a nice conversation and I appreciated their hospitality. As you may know, the Polish lost most of their government leaders, President, and military Generals in a plane crash recently. Everyone on board was killed. The Soldiers here do not know what the future holds for them and you can sense the sadness and anxiety in their voices. So do me a favor, please pray for the Polish government, their people, and military. Pray for God's divine guidance and protection on their country and on their Soldiers serving far away from home! Thank you.

My Birthday Promotion

1 May

It has been a great day! Not only is it my birthday, but I also got promoted from 1LT to the rank of CPT (Captain) today as well. What a great memory. I will attach a few pictures of the ceremony, with my commander slapping the new rank on my chest! My wife also made the day very special by taking the time to make a video of family, friends, neighbors, and Sunday school classmates wishing me a Happy Birthday, too. She also ordered me a care package of chips and salsa to be shipped here to me. It arrived yesterday. That was awesome. The care packages from home were filled with love, and were greatly appreciated.

I feel like God has done a work in my life the last 6 weeks or so. I went from being down in the dumps and hating my job, to feeling more confident, needed, and honored by my peers and troops. I have been reading through the Psalms and see some of this in King David's words when he cried out to God to rescue him and protect him, etc. God answers those prayers. He draws close to the broken hearted and loves to come through for us, as author John Eldredge (from Wild at Heart) likes to say. I can attest to that. I thank God for my wife, who helped make my birthday special, and I praise God for all the blessings He has given me--including this deployment!