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WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2009 – Readers of Mark Bowden’s “Black Hawk Down” can put the book aside when they’ve had enough of their mind’s reaction of the brutal 1993 battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. But Chaplain (Maj.) Jeff Struecker isn’t that lucky. The decorated Army Ranger was charged with leading the ground assault force on all the targets that the task force hit in Somalia. “I had been shot at and seen many dead warriors [before Mogadishu],” Struecker said. “I never experienced anything like the violence and the overwhelming sense of desperation like I experienced in Somalia. After losing one of...

FORT HOOD, Texas – Mourners were asked to pray for the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, and an Army chaplain exhorted his congregation on Sunday to draw together even if the gunman's motives may never be fully known. "Lord, all those around us search for motive, search for meaning, search for something, someone to blame. That is so frustrating," Col. Frank Jackson told a group of about 120 people gathered at the post's chapel. "Today, we pause to hear from you. So Lord, as we pray together, we focus on things we know."

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 7, 2009) — American society may be less religious than it was a few generations ago, but its religious diversity has greatly increased. That change has dramatically impacted the Army, which must now offer religious services not only for Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants but also for a wide variety of different Christian denominations and minority faiths. That’s far different from what Lt. Col. John Bjarnason, Fort Leonard Wood’s family life chaplain, saw when he joined the Army in 1969. “We have a wide range of all kinds of different choices for our trainees to...

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 7, 2009) — Shortly before Army personnel nationwide conducted a moment of silence for the 13 soldiers and others killed by an Army psychiatrist Friday afternoon at Fort Hood in Texas, an Army chaplain assigned to family life issues at Fort Leonard Wood explained how the Army tries to help soldiers and families. “Our military is grieving now this great loss at Fort Hood,” said Lt. Col. John Bjarnason. “We feel very sad for the families that have lost a dear one there.” Bjarnason, 64, entered the Army during the Vietnam era, returned to active...

          WHY DO WE STILL HAVE SCARS? One of the greatest truths we can know in life is that God is always able and willing to forgive us for our shortcomings. All we have to do is ask for His forgiveness. And if God is willing, then we too, should forgive ourselves. Yet one of the greatest ironies concerning forgiveness is that the painful memories the scars of our past remain with us. We may wonder, "What's the sense in receiving forgiveness if the scars from the painful memory remain?" Maybe the question should be,...

          GETTING UNDERWAY A young Ensign, who had just completed his first overseas deployment, was given the opportunity to "show his stuff" by getting his ship underway. As he yelled out commands with great confidence, sailors were running everywhere. In no time, the ship came out of the channel, headed for home. It was accomplished so well that he set a new record for getting a destroyer underway. He wasn't surprised when a seaman approached him with a message from his CO. . . he was surprised to find that it was a radio message....

All Army chaplains wear the same uniform, and...answer to the same calling: to provide comfort and to relieve the suffering of American soldiers. But one chaplain stands out from the crowd. Thomas Dyer is the first and only Buddhist chaplain in the history of the U.S. Army. Dyer will be deployed to the Middle East in December along with the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment. Although his faith is grounded in pacifism, the 43-year-old Dyer says war has become a necessary part of peace. "My teacher has concluded that without the military, without civil protection, the world would enter into a...

More than a year after he was forced to disown his Chicago pastor, President Obama has begun to attend services led by a Christian chaplain who views Islam as a violent faith. Mr Obama has been an irregular church attender since becoming President, but has expressed a fondness for Carey Cash, the navy chaplain at the Camp David presidential retreat who has been criticised for proselytising in the military and his mistrust of Islam. The White House insists that the Rev Cash, the great-nephew of the singer Johnny Cash, has not become Mr Obama’s new pastor, but it appears that...

Corporal Cristo Ancor Cabello Santana Madrid, Spain, Oct 14, 2009 / 04:35 pm (CNA).- Corporal Cristo Ancor Cabello Santana, the lastest Spanish soldier to die in Afghanistan, fulfilled his wish to be baptized before dying. Cabello had asked the chaplain at the Herat Base to baptize him and was planning on receiving the sacrament last weekend before being wounded in a Taliban attack. The chaplain wanted to use a baptismal shell being sent from Madrid to administer the sacrament, but Cabello told him he already had one from when he made a pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain. The chaplain used...

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is long gone; Rick Warren, just an Inauguration Day memory. The hordes of ministers around town who were hoping they'd somehow wind up with the first family in their pews have (mostly) given up. The president has been pastorless for quite a while now. Well, sort of. Seventy miles from Washington's prying eyes, Barack Obama has been attending church from time to time at Camp David, where services are led by a 39-year-old Navy chaplain with a famous last name, a compelling life story and a fervent belief in a God who works miracles. Carey Cash,...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Oct. 9, 2009 – An Army chaplain deployed to Iraq is determined to provide spiritual and emotional support to all soldiers under his care. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Michael J. King makes a strawberry soda float, while Army Maj. Kellard N. Townsend and Army Staff Sgt. Caroline A. Keller watch at the 17th Fires Brigade chaplain-sponsored, morale-building event, “Thunderbolt Floats,” in Iraq, Oct 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Samantha Ciaramitaro  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “As a civilian pastor, I can’t go to your office to check up on you, but as an...

American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taleban. Many feel that they are risking their lives — and that colleagues have died — for a futile mission and an Afghan population that does nothing to help them, the chaplains told The Times in their makeshift chapel on this fortress-like base in a dusty, brown valley southwest of Kabul. “The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being...

          "PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT" Just a children's song remembered from a Sunday School class long ago: "Red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world." But it expresses a profound truth. One that might change the world if we took it seriously. Sort of like the lesson in the poem a friend sent me yesterday. It's worth more than a second reading. It may reveal ... or remind you... of more truth than you expect! "We pray for the children who put chocolate...

          ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? This warning label (among about a half dozen warning labels) appears on my son's baby carriage: Do not fold carriage with baby inside! It may seem funny to state something so obvious, but I suppose to cover themselves against lawsuits from people who couldn't figure out to first remove the baby, they put on the warning label. The Prophet Micah gives us easy-to-follow instructions for a good life that seem so obvious and elementary we wonder, is that all we have to do to live happily and peacefully? The answer is...

          RESERVATIONS! Recently, someone stopped by my office, handed me two sheets of paper, and said something to the effect of, "You're always sharing something with people; here's something for you." Then he was gone. Like so many encounters we have along life's way, this one was brief. But it left a lasting impression. And brightened my whole day. The article is definitely a "keeper." Originally written by Jonathan Lee for the Washington Post, it is entitled "Reservations of an Airline Agent." I've abbreviated it due to limited space, but the point is unchanged. Enjoy!...

          DISAPPOINTMENTS Disappointments come to all of us; and the more I see of life, the more convinced I am that one of the most important lessons anyone can learn is how to handle these disappointments. One of the great disappointments in my youth happened during my sophomore year in high school when I was running for class president. The class elected a cute brunette cheerleader. Another popular girl, another of the cheerleaders, came in second. And I trailed the field with only four votes. That was quite a blow to a cocky young boy...

          "PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT" Just a children's song remembered from a Sunday School class long ago: "Red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world." But it expresses a profound truth. One that might change the world if we took it seriously. Sort of like the lesson in the poem a friend sent me yesterday. It's worth more than a second reading. It may reveal ... or remind you... of more truth than you expect! "We pray for the children who put chocolate...

          GOLDEN MOMENTS Once upon a time, there was a little boy from "the wrong side of the tracks" who grew up admiring a beautiful house high on the hill overlooking his town. Fortunately, he never lacked for any of the necessities of life. But he hated being "poor." He noticed that people treated him differently. And it pained him to see his parents work so hard just to make ends meet. It just didn't seem right that some should be so favored and others should have so little. But his parents has instilled some...

Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno Washington D.C., Aug 18, 2009 / 06:12 am (CNA).- Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno, a U.S. Navy chaplain whose heroic ministry to U.S. Marines in Vietnam won him the nickname “the Grunt Padre” and a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, will be remembered with a Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the evening of September 3.The organization CatholicMil.org, which is dedicated to supporting Catholics in the U.S. armed forces, told CNA that Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for Military Services will celebrate the Mass in the Crypt...

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan., Aug. 17, 2009 – Ten years ago, when he was a battalion commander at Fort Sill, Okla., then–Army Col. Jim Davis received a call that the Army had a new chaplain for his soldiers -- and he was Muslim. Chaplain (Maj.) Dawud Agbere and his family pose outside of their home in Normandy Village on Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Aug. 11, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Prudence Siebert  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 400 soldiers with 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery, although mostly Christian, trusted Chaplain Dawud Agbere right away, said Davis, now an assistant professor...

Who was Rev. Emmeran M. Bliemel?

          THE POWER OF LOVE What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things. This story will keep you singing! Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. Karen and her spouse found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael would sing to his sister in...

          YOU’RE THE ONE Lees tells the story proudly now. With an ending is one that few would ever predicted when he was in high school. He remembers the turning point as though it were yesterday. Just a chance encounter and an offhand comment... but it changed his life forever. He had slipped quietly into the back of a classroom to wait for a friend that day. The last thing he wanted was to be noticed. But the teacher asked him to go to the board and work out a problem. Les pointed out that...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877) Friar Peterson!

          WORDPOWER! During the invasion of Salerno, Allied forces employed propaganda on a scale they had never tried before. Artillery was used to fire shells, each containing thousands of leaflets, encouraging the Germans to surrender and promising them humane treatment if they did. The shells would open about 300 feet in the air and rain down the leaflets on German troops. One British Major made no secret of his anger at having to fire leaflets at the enemy instead of high explosives. In a short while, however, he changed his mind. For days his men...

          CONCRETE LOVE "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:3 The story is told of a child psychologist who spent many hours constructing a new driveway at his home. Just after he smoothed the surface of the freshly poured concrete, his small children chased a ball across the driveway, leaving deep footprints. The man yelled after them with a torrent of angry words. His shocked wife said, "You're a psychologist who's supposed...

          THE TREE OF LIFE "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him." (John 3:16,17). One night I was watching a movie. At the end, the cowboy turned and put the name of his girlfriend in the window of his car for all to see. Then he put his arm around her and pulled her...

A chaplain from Walter Reed. A doctor from Walter Reed. The owner of a new hair salon. An architect. On a Metro train, in one terrifying instant and its aftermath, their lives became forever intertwined. This is their story. He heard the familiar whine of a Metro train approaching the platform, and Tom Baker decided to run for it. The next train was scheduled to arrive at Takoma Station in two minutes, another in six minutes and yet another in 10. But it was the first Monday of summer, and Baker had left work early with a weightlifting routine to...

ARLINGTON, Va., July 14, 2009 – Chaplains have myriad reasons for serving their country, but recognition usually isn’t one of them. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Rebekah Montgomery will be recognized as the Military Chaplains Association’s Chaplain of the Year July 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. S. Patrick McCollum  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Chaplains are often in the position where we love to serve so much, it’s always a surprise to be rewarded for it,” said Army Chaplain (Capt.) Rebekah Montgomery, who will receive the Chaplain of the Year award from the Military Chaplains Association on July...

          KEEPING THE FAITH The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He...

WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama is still looking for a church home more than a year after resigning from the Chicago church led by his controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the first family has yet to join a church because Obama doesn't want his attendance to disrupt other people's worship. Gibbs says Obama enjoys services led by Camp David's chaplain on weekends the family spends at the presidential retreat, but they're not members there. In 2009, the Obamas have only attended Sunday church services twice in Washington. Two days before the inauguration,...

          DON’T BLAME CHANGING TIMES Most of us have learned to cope with, if not exactly embrace, the technological revolution that has completely restructured our world over the past two decades. Words like "Internet," "e-mail" and even "distance learning" may not be in your dictionary yet, but they soon will be. And that dictionary probably won't be paper like the ones most of us learned to use; instead, it will be part of the "spellchecker" on a computer hard drive, or perhaps on a single "CD-ROM" that contains thousands of pages of information. Despite my...

LOS ANGELES, June 30 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Police Department, hoping to improve relations with Muslims, has appointed the force's first Islamic chaplain, police officials said. Pakistan-born Sheik Qazi Asad, 47, will become a reserve chaplain at the North Hollywood station, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. "We need to establish very good communication ... where both parties are talking to each other," Asad told the Times. "This is just opening up the door." Asad, a U.S. citizen, has spent a decade working to improve relations between police and Muslim communities in Los Angeles County. The LAPD hopes he'll...

For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new - and uncontroversial - church home. Obama has even sampled a few himself, attending services at 19th Street Baptist on the weekend before his inauguration and celebrating Easter at St. John's Episcopal Church.

          LIFEBOAT One of the great World War II films was LIFEBOAT, about the ordeal faced by survivors of a passenger ship that was sunk by a Nazi U-Boat in the middle of the Atlantic. The film details their struggle for survival in a small lifeboat, fighting the elements, thirst and then fighting against each other. Each person has their own ideas about how to navigate the little boat: they argue about who should be in charge; and they find little things to fight over even when they run out of things to fight over....

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 26, 2009) -- Several Walter Reed Army Medical Center staffers survived the deadliest accident in Washington Metrorail's 33-year history Monday. Maj. David Bottoms, a Walter Reed chaplain and Col. Thomas Baker, chief of pathology, said they were both riding in the first car of the train that slammed into another stopped train during Monday's rush-hour commute home. "I was reading and listening to my iPod, and I noticed the front end of the car was buckling and it was coming toward us. It looked like a wave ... it stopped three seats in front of...

A Catholic priest who was critically injured while deployed with his Fort Lewis unit died Saturday, more than five years after his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Iraq. The Rev. Tim Vakoc becomes the first chaplain to die of wounds sustained during the war in Iraq. The former major from Minnesota – known to most as Father Tim – suffered brain damage and lost an eye from the May 30, 2004, attack. He had most recently lived at a nursing home in New Hope, Minn. “He was a great man of God,” said Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek, who...

NEW HOPE, Minnesota, JUNE 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Father Timothy Vakoc, an Army chaplain who was injured in Iraq in 2004, passed away Saturday at the age of 49. The priest's personalized CaringBridge Web site reported that he was "surrounded by family and friends who prayed him into heaven" at St. Therese nursing home in New Hope He was wounded on May 29, the 12th anniversary of his priestly ordination, when his humvee was struck by roadside bomb while returning from celebrating Mass for the soldiers in Mosul. The chaplain was transported through Germany back to Washington D.C., having lost an...

ST. PAUL (AP) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 Father Tim Vakoc, who was critically wounded in a roadside bomb attack near Mosul, Iraq in May 2004. CBS Close numSlides of totalImages Related StoriesFamily Fights VA For Pulling Chaplain's Benefits (11/14/2007) Priest Wounded In Iraq Continues Recovery (8/29/2006) Related LinksRead More Minnesota News A Minnesota priest who was gravely wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq five years ago has died, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis confirmed Sunday. The Rev. Tim Vakoc was 49. He died at a nursing home in suburban New Hope about 8...

          WHAT MAKES A DAD! God took the strength of a mountain, The majesty of a tree, The warmth of a summer sun, The calm of a quiet sea, The generous soul of nature, The comforting arm of night, The wisdom of the ages, The power of the eagle's flight, The joy of a morning in spring, The faith of a mustard seed, The patience of eternity, The depth of a family need, Then God combined these qualities, When there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete, And so, He called...

~ Flag Day, June 14 ~ Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Click Betsy Ross The History of Flag Day Red Skelton ~ Pledge of Allegiance (spoken) Red Skelton ~ Pledge of Allegiance (written) Star Spangled Banner Ragged Old Flag Old Glory This Ain’t No Rag, It’s A Flag You're A Grand Old Flag Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

          ROBIN WILLIAMS: Human Being In January 1997 my family and I PCS-ed from Camp Lejeune to Okinawa. On the trip from the east coast to LA where we would board the Freedom Bird, we decided to take a few days for sightseeing in San Francisco. We stayed at the BOQ in Naval Station, Treasure Island. One night my wife sent me to the convenience store for some milk. On the way I saw one of the old boat hangars lit up. There was a beehive of activity around the huge building, with cars and...

Last week, the FBI arrested four members of a would-be terrorist cell in New York. While the arrests eliminated the immediate threat from this particular group, it highlighted a much bigger threat: the spawning of terrorism in American prisons. The four men, allegedly angered by the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan, had planned to bomb several synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down a military plane using a Stinger missile. Happily, the plastic explosives and the Stinger missile they planned on using were fake. The FBI, acting on a tip from another member of their mosque, penetrated the cell, sold...

wind is blowing steadily at about 25 knots. It’s like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. The weather forecaster says there are gusts up to 35 knots. The wind is sending a steady stream of sand and dust whipping across the flightline into the faces of airmen and soldiers alike. There is silence, except for the wind. Yet, we stand at attention in two straight lines, beginning at the ramp of a C-130 Hercules. We’re waiting to render honors. We ignore the heat, the wind and the sand. We are humbled by the presence of one of our...

Navy chaplain Lt. Shane Dillman, convicted of rape, as well as various fraternization and adultery charges, left the court building at Norfolk Naval Station in handcuffs Monday to begin serving his sentence. Capt. Moira Modzelewski, the military judge who presided over the case, sentenced the lieutenant to 10 years' confinement and dismissal from the service. Her ruling must be affirmed by Rear Adm. Richard O'Hanlon, commander of the Naval Air Force Atlantic. Dillman, who was stationed on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, admitted last week to multiple affairs with young enlisted women, but he pleaded not guilty to rape, one...

          PROMISE YOURSELF Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind to speak of health, happiness, and prosperity to every person that you meet; to make all your friends aware of the special qualities within them; to look at the sunny side of every thing and let your optimism work to make your dreams come true; to think, work for, and expect only the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own; to forget past mistakes and press on towards...

          Words from Ronald Reagan on Memorial Day President Ronald Reagan's June 6, 1984 speech in front of the U.S. Ranger Monument in Normandy commemorating the Rangers' charge up Pointe du Hoc: "Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take...

As I noted yesterday and many times in the past, the four Muslims caught trying to blow up New York synagogues and U.S. planes converted to Islam in prison, where the Muslim chaplaincy is controlled by CAIR, ISNA, and an alphabet soup of extremists and jihadists. Today, Bill Warner points out that the men met at Masjid Al-Ikhlas, a Newburgh, New York mosque, whose imam is Salahuddin Muhammad, a New York prison chaplain. Hello . . .? Yet, authorities refuse to do anything to this guy. And they continue to refuse to overhaul the Muslim prison chaplain system and who...

Hot&sunny, ops 24/7, bad guys regrouping. The brawl will begin again...probably tonight. bad guys redistributing ammo&moving for new cover. We're on the edge of town&hear the imam's rail against us...morale extremely high...extra intensity, friends on the line. senior nco's and officers here, feel the pull. They've trained everyone on the line...Today at the Div. Chaplain office. He waded into Ar Ramadi during the firefight three days ago...to provide ministry at the aid station...where he was needed. Second, coordinating Holy Week Services. A)worry about large numbers in one place. B)organists in short supply and no organ.C)We are going to worship..we need...

          EXAMPLE The most valuable gift you can give another is a good example. "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." (John: 13:15) In his autobiography, Armand Hammer known as much for his humanitarian efforts as for being chairman and CEO of Occidental Petroleum, an advisor to presidents from Roosevelt to Reagan, and an industrialist reveals the roots of his giving spirit: "My father had become a prominent and greatly love figure in the area. . .It was an almost ecstatic experience for me to...