From a Chaplain serving in Iraq

[Schmoe]

Got this on email from a friend and if your anti-military, do yourself a favor and don't read it:


Hot and sunny on Good Friday... quiet in Fallujah and Ar Ramadi. The
Coalition has announced a pause in offensive operations. Humanitarian
aid is being searched and then allowed into the city of Fallujah. Defensive
operations continue 24/7. It is all war, all the time. The bad guys are
regrouping. So are the Marines. The brawl will begin again... probably
tonight. All intel points to the bad guys redistributing ammo, enlisting
kids in the fight and moving for new cover. Convoys are limited... danger
of ambush is high. Life in Blue Diamond continues, with an edge.

Imagine a place the size of Lakeland Shores with 5 times the population.
One asphalt street, two dirt roads. Due to the siege..no sanitation service for
three day..that includes pumping satellites... We are on the edge of the town...
we see the minarets of the city and we hear the imams sermons as they rail
against us... good thing few here understand Arabic, cause I can tell you the
preachers weren't teaching the golden rule today.

Morale, sky high... extra intensity... friends are on the line. The senior nco's
and officers here, feel the pull the most. They have served with or trained
everyone on the line... The Corps is a small community. This is very personal.
If a person can do something to help the outcome of the fight... they'll find a
way. It's that kind of day... all for one, one for all.

I divide the day; Holy Week service planning, convoy prayers, and COC
intercessory prayers. First, I go to the DIV Chaplain office to meet with the
command Chaplain, Chaplain Divine... the fighting Irishman. What a man.
RC Christians... be proud... you've got a great priest here. He spares nothing
to get to his marines. He loves marines and he loves God. He waded into
Ar Ramadi during the fire fight, three days ago... to provide ministry at the
aid station... came back weary but satisfied he was where he was needed.
He's on the road, to all the FOB's ministering to marines. I had the privilege
of praying for him, this morning. If he goes down the morale in this Division
would take a huge hit. They love him.

Second, I work to coordinate Good Friday, Easter Sunrise and Protestant
Easter Service. Having services in a war zone is a little different. A) We
have to worry about getting large numbers of people in one place. One mortar
round into the right place and you could kill a lot of marines. B) Organists
are in sort supply and we don't have an organ. Music? C) We are going to
worship and it will be well attended... We need Easter... because we live in
the valley of the shadow of death... we need the resurrection.

Third, twice a day I go to the 'Cave'... the combat operations center... which
is housed in a former palace... poorly lit and the hub of fighting the battle... I
stand in the corner and pray for each person/position and those they represent.
I don't know many of them, but God does. I pray for wisdom, strength, mercy,
endurance and God's presence for each warrior all those they serve or
represent. I cover the Cave and the battlefield as I look at live imagery
projected on the wall.

I don't know how the marines do it... but the COC is loaded with strack
looking marines. The senior NCOs all look like NFL lineman. The junior
officers look like marathon runners and the mid-grade officers look like NFL
halfbacks... the senior officers are lean, tanned and serious... deadly serious.
The place exudes the warrior spirit. If you are a civilian I can't explain it and
won't apologize for it. If you are a veteran you don't need to have it explained...
the warrior spirit. These marines are in a street fight. They don't have the word
'lose' in their vocabulary. They've been bloodied and their anger is up. The
intensity in the COC is contagious.

This is a tribe of warriors. They exist to close with and destroy the enemy.
They have their tribal mores, rituals and rites. Their enemy has desecrated
members of the tribe and taunted the marines. They've asked for a fight. The
marines are in full pursuit and absolutely determined to annihilate their foe.
I'm sure that sounds harsh to politically correct ears and those for whom
this type of violence is anachronistic. It does not sound foreign here... it is
status quo. We are in a violent land, with an evil element and they are having
violence visited upon them. There is no room here for half measures. This is
a test of wills... one side will prevail. That is clearly understood and never
discussed... it is obvious. We aren't playing paintball... we are at war.

Fourth, Convoy prayers... convoys go out of here regularly. I hunt them
down... pass out a small card with a convoy prayer on it and then gather
whoever wants to pray and we pray. The number of prayers is going up,
hourly, as the ambushes continue. Here's how intense it has become...

Today's standard preconvoy brief now includes the following: "If you drive
into the kill zone... two options... drive through and on, or reverse and drive
out. Do not stop. If you are blocked into the kill zone... displace from the
vehicle, find cover, fix the target, engage, maneuver and destroy the hostile
forces.

Target selection rules have changed. Avoid civilians, if possible. Hostile
forces are now using civilians as shields. We are not interested in losing
more marines. If you can avoid putting civilians in your line of fire, avoid
it. If not,fire to take out the hostile forces." Implication? Chilling... we've
entered a new dimension. We are fighting an enemy who respects no laws
of humanity, knows no rules of land warfare and gives no quarter. How do
we fight, without become barbarians ourselves?

Fifth, ministry of presence... in a place this small... I walk from shop to
shop and just say, 'hi'. Can't tell you the number of times someone says...
"Hey, chappy... it's great to have you here." Something about seeing a
chaplain is calming to folks this close to the fight.

Good Friday in Ar Ramadi..while you're having lunch, I'll lead the evening
Good Friday service. We will remember our Savior who willingly laid down
His life that we might live... and we'll be thinking about young marines and
soldiers who are willingly putting their lives on the line so Iraqis can be free...
no greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for his brother...

Good Friday to you,
John

[ April 14, 2004, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]

 

[Whimsey]

Thanks Schmoe, Great post. I'm sure our resident "liberal" friends on this site will find away to blame Bush. Heck the sun rose in the East today, it must be Bush's fault

.

Whimsey

 

[TR3-2001SE]

Thanks for this!

 

[Pablo]

You mean the sun doesn't rise in east?

A chaplain's viewpoint. Wow. Maybe many had this attitude in Vietnam. Look at the troop numbers in Vietnam. HUGE. We let our troops down. We will NOT repeat this mistake.

 

[Last_Z]

 

[Al]

Thanks for the info

 

[flynavydiesel]

That was awesome, makes me proud to serve. We need to ensure that we as a country take that attitude and we will not lose this long a battle.

 

[VeeDubb]

Thanks for the post.
It's great to get real info about the front rather than from the media. These chaplains have all my respect; putting their own butts on the line to help others.

 

[tom slick]

chaplins always amaze me and i whold them in high reguard. they are willing to go into combat armed with nothing but a bible/tora/koran and little else. they could be in a peaceful, safe church back home. they make due with next to nothing trying to make servicemembers just a bit more comfortable.

 

[MolaKule]

Here's another letterr from the front.

quote:

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From the Col.
Two ltrs from 'out east'....


Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004
Subject: News from the Front, Fallujah

"Been a while since I've sent you an update. Hope things are going well for you and the family.

Don't believe what you hear on the news. Lots going on, but we are winning and winning big on all fronts. What you are seeing now are the death throes of two groups of evil people; one in the West and one in the South. Desperate men take desperate action.

The situation in the West is improving, Marines are hunting down and eliminating foreigners, smugglers, jihadis, and other assorted lawbreakers. Fallujah is cordoned off, nothing going in or out without USMC approval. The camp I'm in has been shelled three times in the last 24 hours. So far, no casualties. The bad guys are trying to do anything in their power to distract us from Fallujah. Give it a couple weeks and everything will calm down again. The Marines are going into an area that the 82nd Airborne Division never went into. A lot of really bad men fled to that area and used it as a sanctuary. We will clean it out.

The situation in the South isn't as bad as it sounds on the news. Most of the Shia population is waiting for us to come back in and flush the system, they are not backing the Mahdi Army. If you notice, there aren't more than a thousand demonstrators/thugs in any of the cities (including Najaf). Sadr's boys (aka the Mahdi Army) are a bunch of 20 something petty criminals and thugs that are out roaming the streets. The Salvadorians kicked the crap out of them in Najaf on Saturday. We are responding to all of the various groups, but in a manner that ensures that we don't alienate that 99+% of the population that supports us in the South. Give it some time and we will have a much stronger hand than we did even a few weeks ago."

This one is from the pointed end of the bayonet. The author is a rifle company commander waiting to attack into Fallujah. He is writing to his Dad, a retired Marine. The email came via the retired Marine circuit. All names have been removed. The author is obviously a bright young man and the type we want to see commanding a Marine rifle company. His words are most impressive. Of prime interest, he is thinking about his Marines, not himself. Also of special interest, he puts his finger on Fallujah as a safe haven for terrorists and "foreigners".

"Dad,

Things have been busy here. You know I can't say much about it. However, I do know two things. One, POTUS (President of the United States) has given us the green light to do whatever we needed to do to win this thing so we have that going for us. Too, and my opinion only, this battle is going to have far reaching effects on not only the war here in Iraq but in the overall war on terrorism. We have to be very precise in our application of combat power. We cannot kill a lot of innocent folks (though they are few and far between in Fallujah). There will be no shock and awe. There will be plenty of bloodshed at the lowest levels. This battle is the Marine Corps' Belleau Wood for this war. 2/1 and 1/5 will be leading the way. We have to find a way to kill the bad guys only. The Fallujahans are fired up and ready for a fight (or so they think). A lot of terrorists and foreign fighters are holed up in Fallujah. It has been a sanctuary for them. If they have not left town they are going to die. I'm hoping they stay and fight.

This way we won't have to track them down one by one. This battle is going to be talked about for a long time. The Marine Corps will either reaffirm its place in history as one of the greatest fighting organizations in the world or we will die trying. The Marines are fired up. I'm nervous for them though because I know how much is riding on this fight (the war in Iraq, the view of the war at home, the length of the war on terror and the reputation of the Marine Corps to name a few). However, every time I've been nervous during my career about the outcome of events when young Marines were involved they have ALWAYS exceeded my expectations. I'm praying this is one of those times."

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