DISPATCH 004--18 OCT 2006

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.” Job 42:5

A prophet under trial and tribulation wrote these words after a lengthy testing of faith. Job, who was the most faithful man of his generation, witnesses all that he owned, all that he cherished, and even his own health vanish before his eyes. The eyes that had wept for his family, looked away from friends who betrayed him, and even angrily accused God of abandonment, eventually saw the Lord intimately and completely.


Seeing God in forsaken places has always been a difficult task. This is going to be the theme of my dispatches as I send you news of your loved ones and the good work that they are doing. While it is difficult to see God in combat, He always appears with a blazing clarity. As we are slowly getting to our final destinations, we see the fatigue in the faces of the soldiers we are replacing. Their faces speak of their overwhelming desire to just get home to their loved ones, to tread softly during these last few weeks so that they will not lose anyone, and to teach us the things that we need to know to not only survive in combat but to also help the Iraqi people.

I have heard that there has been some frustration over not being able to send mail to our soldiers. There was a good reason to not send out an address. We did not know how long our brief stay was going to be in Kuwait, so by the time that any mail would have arrived to our last location we would probably would have left. The mail would then have been sent back or placed in storage. The mail system in the Iraqi theater is obviously much different that what happens in the states. All mail must come in to central locations, sorted, and then shipped out via combat patrols to the outlying FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). The postal detachments and our own first sergeants and logistical soldiers put their lives on the line in order for us to receive the mail and packages that we love. The chain of command, like all commands, realize how important it is for our soldiers to receive mail, and they will continue to do all that they can to make sure our mail arrives in a timely manner.

We are slowly moving out to our locations where we will remain for the foreseeable future. Some of us are flying and some are going by combat patrol. I came by combat patrol, which allowed me to get a good view of a part of our area of operation. Most of us are near a river, which means we get both the much appreciated views of foliage and trees but also the commensurate amount of bugs. I am always motivated by the professionalism and eagerness of our soldiers. They want to get in country so they can begin to do what they joined the Army to do—to close with and destroy the bad guys while helping the good guys.

Soon we will begin learning from the unit we are replacing. We are very fortunate in that this unit has been very successful in gaining and maintaining friends while eliminating enemies. From soldier level all the way up to command our counterparts want to see us survive and succeed. MAJ Junot, our battalion executive officer, has stressed to all of us that the unit we are replacing is smarter than us, and we need to do all that we can to learn from them.

Besides mail, our soldiers should have both internet and phone connectivity at every FOB. I have been stressing to them the importance of calling home. Most of our soldiers should be able to make that call or send an email home by the end of the week.

Today we are also welcoming a visiting priest to the FOB where I am located. For our Roman Catholic soldiers, we have five priests in theater. Since there are so few priests relative to the number of Catholics in the Army, these priests become a much sought after resource. I would ask all folks to keep these priests in our prayers, for they are on the road or in the air more than possibly every other soldier in theater. The only serious chaplain casualty has been to one of our priests, CH Vakoc, during OIF II. It is our goal to get a priest to our soldiers once every two weeks. Due to mission constraints, we might not always get to do this, but we will not cease in trying to accomplish it.

What follows is a list of ideas to help our soldiers stay in touch with their families. SFC Andy Smith from E Co supplied most of the ideas. He knows how to stay connected to his family because of the practical experience he gained while being deployed three out of the last four years. His motto is—invest your time in memories, not stuff. The list is in no particular order. My hope is that we might be able to assemble daddy and mommy kits that folks back home could mail to our soldiers in the field along with the list of ideas. As with any suggestion that I might have, each family, each parent has a unique outlook and parenting style, so please feel free to disregard any idea or reshape it to fit your situation.

1. Many children, especially young children, like stickers. Send your soldier a bunch of stickers of your child’s favorite character or superhero. The soldier can then place these stickers on the letters and envelopes of the mail he sends home to his children.
   
2. Make collages of your child playing with their deployed parent and place them at your child’s eye level in their room. It is important that they not just be pictures of the parent but of the parent and child doing some of the things they like together.
   
3. Send some children’s books and blank CDs to your soldier. The soldier can then record himself reading the book on either audio or video. He can then send the recording and the book home to the child for the mom or dad to turn the pages while the children listen to the book being read.
   
4. Find a place in the house (refrigerator, porch, etc.) where there are some items that your child could stand next to in order to gauge their height. Every day take a digital picture of the child and email it to their deployed parent. This way mommy or daddy could see how the children are growing and changing.
   
5. Have the deployed soldier record prayers he would say with the children. At bed time when the time comes that is usually when daddy or mommy would say their prayers the at home parent could play the recorded prayer.
   
6. Have the deployed soldier write letters home to the children. It is important that the children receive their own letter. It is vital that the soldier remind his children how much he loves them, how proud he is of them, and gives them a blessing. The greatest source of pain I see in some of the soldiers over here does not involve the war but instead is the fact that they did not hear words of love and encouragement from mom and dad, but especially dad.
   
7. Have the soldier make a secret code card and write coded letters to the children.
   
8. Have the soldier draw mazes or other games on the letters he sends home.
   
9. As a special treat a couple times a week, let children use one of daddy’s shirts as a nightgown or sleep-shirt. (I have also heard of wives wrapping their favorite pillow with one of their husband’s t-shirts).
   
10. Read a book together. Have one copy sent to the soldier and another at home. Read and discuss what you thought was “cool” about the story.
    
11. Send paintings and projects the child has done to the deployed soldier. The soldier could put them up in his room and take a picture of his living space. The child will then see that their stuff is in daddy’s room.
    
12. For tracking the deployment, get a fishbowl and fill it with 365 marbles. Have the child take a marble out of the fishbowl every morning. Another method is to have the child pick out their own deployment calendar. They could mark off the days that daddy or mommy is away. This way when the child is especially frustrated with the deployment you can show them how far they have gone and (hopefully) how little they have left.
    

The last subject SFC Smith and I discussed was the topic of the danger that mommy or daddy faces in Iraq. Everyone has their own preference. I chose to tell my children that I was going to be in danger and that I could get killed. However, I stressed to them that I would love them no matter where I was and that God would protect both them and me. If I did not come home it was because the mission God had for me was done, and it was time for me to go home.

The last two things I will leave you with is the Warhorse Prayer and a prayer for us while we are away. Our Chaplain Assistant, CPL Crnkovich, wrote the Warhorse Prayer. For those unfamiliar with 3-8 lingo, the words in italics represent battalion and company knick-names and words of the 3-8 Motto.

Please know that I am keeping you, our soldiers, and our leaders in my daily prayers. Please do not hesitate to write if you have any questions.

The Warhorse Prayer

Most Holy God, we ask that as Your Warhorse rides into battle, it may be for the cause of righteousness and truth; to bring about peace in a warring land, and love to a region filled with sorrow and hate.

Give us the sight of Hawks, dear God, so that we may see and know our enemy.

We ask that You in Your infinite Wisdom, Assassinate the lies and half truths propagated by our enemies to the people of this land;

Also, Lord, we beseech that You give us the tenacity of Bulldogs, to hang on to the mission at hand and never give up the fight until its end;

Mighty God, wreak havoc and Chaos upon the enemies’ strategy of death and destruction, in order that we may bring about Your peace;

Ready our lances, O Lord, that we may be your Dragoons and charge into the fray with fearlessness and valor;

Help us, O King, to Ride the Rough sands and keep our eyes ever upon You and Your holy ways;

We ask also Lord, that You reign mighty Fury upon our foes, in order to further the cause of freedom;

Finally, Lord, we ask that You arm us with the sword of Honor, to keep us right and good for all the duties we must accomplish; and the shield of Courage to lend us the strength to do our all when You call us forth into war.

All of this, we ask in Your Holy and Eternal Name,

Amen.

--CPL Paul Crnkovich

On separation from loved ones...
Give them peace to know that I am unharmed.
Give them hope to know I will return.
Give them patience to wait and courage to endure the waiting.
Give them strength so that they will not grow weary.
--Stephen Lawhead

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,
Chaplain Kevin Wainwright