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GA06123
Postcards from the edge
Presbyterian Army chaplains tell stories of Iraqi frontlines
By Evan Silverstein
BIRMINGHAM, June 21 * As the war in Iraq rages on, two Presbyterian Army chaplains told the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) about their experiences while serving in the war-torn Gulf nation.
The report came during the Council for Military and V.A. Chaplains luncheon on Tuesday. Those in attendance heard from Army chaplain the Rev. David G. Snyder and reservist chaplain the Rev. Brenson P. Bishop.
Snyder, an Army major, was based in Baghdad at the 86th Combat Support Hospital, the Army's premier medical facility in Iraq. Bishop, an Army colonel, was stationed in Iraq with the First Cavalry unit from Fort Hood, TX. Both ministers served one-year tours of duty. Neither carried a weapon.
"I didn’t think we should go in the first place," said Snyder, a member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery. "I thought the Europeans needed to be behind us. But after going, I really believe that is the place we should be, that we're doing the right thing. The cost is heavy, but I do believe the cost is worth it so that others might be free."
Pictures from their missions in Iraq were beamed onto a large screen in the meeting room.
One photo featured soldiers praying on their knees against a desert landscape. There were images of injured soldiers, and one of a 15-year-old Iraqi girl burned from the waist down after insurgents blew up a gas station near her home. Another picture showed an Army nurse being baptized in a swimming pool that once belonged to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
There were photos of troops handing out Christmas toys to children, an Ash Wednesday service and a photo from a Bible study.
There also was a picture of a woman preparing to vote after an insurgent blew himself up at a polling center, killing a number of people. The terrorist act failed to deter many of the women, Bishop said, including one woman who was with her granddaughters.
Bishop said he asked the woman through an interpreter, "Why are you risking yourself?" She replied, "Chaplain, I'm voting for my granddaughters so they can own property and not be property."
These chaplains, like the men and women to whom they minister, have faced death head-on since the United States invaded Iraqi in March 2003. The two men said life in Iraq is hard and sometimes frightening, but both credited God for getting them through.
"I believe that God is and was very much involved in what we did over there and with what’s going on," Snyder said.
Both said that spiritual and psychological counseling for soldiers was an underlying theme of their mission to serve God and country, and that they believed in their mission to liberate the Arab nation.
"Praise God there's chaplains to represent this church in Christ to bring healing where we can," said Bishop, a member of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery. "Just like we send chaplains into prisons, we don't support the violence. But we are there for people in difficult places to reflect the Kingdom of God."
U.S. troops also are impacted by the media’s coverage of the war, and concerned about public disapproval for the conflict, Snyder said. They are worried about being cast as "baby killers" and "spit on" when they return to the U.S.
"I think they’re worried about what people are thinking back home," he said. "I know when I watched the news over there, I would be in the middle of lots of things and would wonder, 'I was there when this happened, and this is not what I thought happened.' I don’t know why it was reported that way."
Snyder said coalition troops are firmly committed to liberating Iraq, and are ready to fulfill their mission.
"Our soldiers, if you ask them, believe in what they are doing," Snyder said. "They believe they are making a difference. They are highly skilled and trained. They are very focused on their job."
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