Home > Today's Christian
> 2004
> March/April
Faithful Under Fire
Amid the threat of hostile attacks, Christian chaplains provide spiritual support to soldiers on Iraq's frontlines.
By Sara Horn
 1 of 2
The toughest thing Chaplain (Colonel) Doug Carver has faced since arriving in Baghdad less than a year ago was seeing the dead body of a soldier he had just shaken hands with less than 30 minutes before. The sight of 18 black body bags, victims of a recent Chinook helicopter crash, being loaded onto a C–130 is still fresh in the mind of Chaplain (Major) Dan Wackerhagen. Chaplain (Captain) Eddie Cook will never forget holding a young soldier from his battalion as he died from a mortal wound to the head, the first death for his unit.
These chaplains, like the men and women they minister to, have had to face death head–on since Operation Iraqi Freedom began one year ago. It is hard and sometimes frightening, but these Christian ministers all credit God for getting them through.
"You never know Jesus until He's all you've got," said Carver, the highest–ranking chaplain currently in Iraq, stationed at the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Baghdad. He oversees more than 350 chaplains and 350 chaplain assistants throughout the country. "I haven't had my wife here, my children; just an army cot in a corner," he reflected. "Finding that quiet place has been hard."
Along the way, numerous challenges have arisen. For Carver, putting the chemical gear on every time there was a missile attack threat in the early days of the war was almost claustrophobic.
"You're sitting in your bunker elbow to elbow with soldiers who are looking to you for strength," Carver said. "I was telling my wife how suiting up was starting to get to me, and she says, 'I'm going to pray that when you put it on that God will sing to you.' The next attack we had, I'm running to get my gear on and I hear the words to the hymn 'In the Garden' in my mind. I felt peace the entire time."
"My faith continually is made stronger by the soldiers that are here, the spirit they have, and the willingness with which they sacrifice."
—Chaplain Dan Wackerhagen
For Chaplain Wackerhagen, the war also has been a family affair.
"My son got called up about the same time I did," he said, speaking of his 19–year–old who joined the National Guard to help pay for college and is now in Fallujah, Iraq. "We were actually three tents away from each other here at BIAP [Baghdad International Airport] for about 10 days at the beginning of the war. I saw him [later] as he was heading home for a two–week leave. I didn't want to hear a whole lot about the battles he's been in, though. I'm still his dad." Nevertheless, they did trade war stories.
Wackerhagen is responsible for spiritual activities at Baghdad International Airport, overseeing 35 chaplains and 60 various chapel services for tens of thousands of soldiers who live there or pass through. But he quickly points out that the soldiers he's in charge of ministering to also have ministered to him.
Browse More Today's Christian
Home | People of Faith | Stories of Hope | Today's Culture
Build Your Faith | Laughing Matters | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try Today's Christian Woman Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.
If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift
Order a gift subscription!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
