DIGIJOURNAL 023--19 JULY 2007

DATELINE: 19JUL07 PATROL BASE PALIWODA

A LETTER TO JOSHUA

My Beloved Son,

It seems like I have been thinking about you more than usual. I think about you because of this separation and the effect that it has on you and us. Boys your age normally have a difficult time communicating their feelings about “daddy” being gone. Perhaps you think that I love the Army more than you or that I enjoy being away. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Every day that passes finds me loving you even more. I wish I had a job that I loved that did not keep me away from home for so long. I wish I had a job where all I had to do would be to take you to school and then play with you when we returned home. Unfortunately and fortunately, God has called me to minister to the military. Since He has called me, I pray and have faith that He will help our family navigate during these difficult times.

I want you to know that I have resolved to come back a better father. I need to play with you more. I should never refuse an opportunity to spend time with you.

Soon, boy, before you know it, you will be a man. But I will always remember you as my little boy with a great laugh and piercing blue eyes. The little boy who, thankfully, has so much of his mother in him. The little boy who makes me proud when he holds my hand and calls me Daddy.

I love you,
Daddy

Gratia et Veritas,
Warhorse Archangel


SUPPORT SPOTLIGHT
WATERMARK CHURCH, Dallas, TX
This congregation has a military ministry that has sent numerous boxes, sermons, Bible studies, and other items to our soldiers. They have taken the time to write our soldiers, telling them of their support. It seems like their boxes seem to arrive at times when we are feeling down. Some would call that luck; I call it providence. Thank you Watermark.


CHAPLAIN'S BOOKSHELF

COMBAT
Warriors: Portraits from the Battlefield
by Max Hastings

Mr. Hastings, a noted English military historian, compiles the life stories of sixteen war heroes from various nations during the 19th and 20th centuries. Written for the laymen as well as the serious scholar, Mr. Hastings takes care to point out not only the battlefield successes of these 15 men and 1 woman but also their post-war struggles. The author, in addition to the historical facts, also gives us some of the underlying psychological tensions involved with the characters. A great book…I could not put it down.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10
by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson

Marcus Luttrell is a native Texan who grew up wanting to be a Navy Seal. The first half of the book deals with the harrowing experience of Seal training, with the second half describing the mission of Operation Redwing in Afghanistan. The strength of the book comes from the telling of ethical dilemmas that arise in combat and how soldiers prepare for and confront them. He highlights how training must be as difficult as possible in peacetime so that military personnel can face the challenges of combat.

Brave Men, Gentle Heroes: American Fathers and Sons in World War II and Vietnam
by Michael Takiff

Michael Takiff has put together this marvelous collection of stories and interviews of fathers who served in WWII and sons who served in Vietnam. The value it has for military families is the honest portrayal of the lessons learned and burdens shared by military personnel who deploy and return home from combat. It helps the reader get a more developed picture of what these heroes face before, during, and after war. It also shows that many of these men can return home as better husbands and fathers as they begin to reflect on what has happened to them.

CULTURE
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

Dr. Hosseini, who spent his childhood in Afghanistan until his family was forced to flee during the Soviet occupation, has not only written the first English novel by a native Afghan but, more importantly, a great novel that combines evil, betrayal, redemption, and hope. In The Kite Runner, Dr. Hosseini chronicles the lives of two boys who grow up in the Afghan capital of Kabul, with one staying after the occupation while one flees to America. The book humanizes the Afghan and, by extension, the Arab peoples by getting behind the disjointed stares we often see out on patrol and instead telling their stories and their dreams. A great work of fiction that forces us to re-examine some of the prejudices we might hold against the culture of this part of the world.

A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khalid Hosseini

This is the second and most recent book by Dr. Hoseini. It takes place in the same setting as The Kite Runner, but now telling the story of two Afghan women whose lives become entwined during the Soviet occupation and subsequent Taliban takeover. It is an unflinching glimpse of life behind the veil for two women, one modern and one pre-modern, and how they cope with life’s challenges while developing into their own identities.

The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street
by Naguib Mahfouz

Many scholars consider Mr. Mahfouz, an Egyptian and Nobel Prize winner, the first Arab novelist. The Cairo Trilogy tells the tale of an upper middle-class Egyptian family whose tranquil existence collides with the forces tearing at the modern Arab world. A fictional narrative of the larger cultural and religious issues that afflict the region, Mr. Mahfouz brings out the human inconsistencies of his characters as they pursue various lives to deal with the forces that threaten to consume them.

HOMEFRONT
Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families
by Keith Armstrong, Suzanne Best, and Paula Domenici

This is a book of lists compiled by three mental health care professionals. By using a quasi-PowerPoint style instead of a narrative, the strength of the book comes from the way it lays out in detail the reactions families can expect from their returning family members and themselves. The authors also list all the resources available to the family to address particular issues. Another good aspect of this book is that it stresses not only negative but positive things can come out of a deployment.

The Homefront Club: The Hardheaded Woman’s Guide to Raising a Military Family
by Jacey Eckhart

I highly recommend this very readable and funny book. Ms. Eckhart grew up as the daughter of an Air Force fighter pilot swearing that she would never marry anyone in the military. At age 20 she promptly married the only Navy guy she ever dated. Ms. Eckhart uses humor to address serious topics such as dealing with loss, raising children, and when to stay in or get out of the military. She sheds light on the changing culture of the military and the different expectations it has for wives and children. In a perfect world, every FRG leader and every wife would receive this book prior to a deployment.