thedrifter
04-09-07, 08:56 AM
Priest tells of time as Marine chaplain in Iraq
By Rick Ducat - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 7, 2007 17:53:07 EDT
CHICAGO — Finding God can be difficult amid the carnage of Iraq’s war-torn deserts, and the Rev. John Hannigan didn’t have anything fancy.
The chapel was a dusty tent. The altar was a battered ammo box atop an olive drab cot. Baptisms were conducted with bottled water over a garbage can so not to waste the precious liquid.
“You would just use anything you could get your hands on,” the 56-year-old Catholic Marine Corps chaplain said.
Hannigan, originally from Chicago’s South Side, returned from his second tour of Iraq in January. He was the sole Catholic chaplain serving more than 20,000 members of the Army, Navy and Marines stationed at 52 camps in Iraq.
Hannigan was born in the Englewood neighborhood. He became a priest at age 26 after attending Quigley Preparatory Seminary in the Chicago Archdiocese.
“I always wanted to be a Marine and a priest, but I wanted to be a priest more so,” he said.
Hannigan has served as a priest in several south suburban parishes, including St. Mary’s in Riverdale, St. Jude’s in South Holland, St. James in Sauk Village, St. Agnes in Chicago Heights and St. Julie Billiart in Tinley Park.
But in 1990, Hannigan decided it was time to enlist.
“I just got to the point where I went, ‘If I’m going to do so, it’s time to do so,’ ” he said. “It’s a great, priestly ministry.”
Hannigan said this is because many soldiers in combat zones especially need spiritual guidance or simply someone to talk to.
“You’re with people who, up until this point, maybe thought they were airtight, watertight, invincible, and now they’re seeing their buddies get killed and wounded,” he said. “Now all of a sudden they see death face-to-face, so it makes them start thinking about the life after this life and religion.”
Hannigan rose to the rank of Navy commander and has served as a chaplain in Djibouti; Okinawa, Japan; and across the United States. His first tour of Iraq began in February 2005 and lasted seven months. His second tour lasted a full year.
Hannigan’s last tour put him in the Anbar province in western Iraq.
Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous places in Iraq, Anbar is roughly the size of South Carolina. It is northwest of Baghdad and west of the Euphrates River.
Hannigan was based in Camp Ripper in the al Asad region of Anbar. He said Ripper is so named because troops constantly are “ripping” through it — all soldiers must report to the camp for briefings whether they’re entering or leaving the area.
“It’s kind of like the front desk at a hotel,” he said.
Hannigan’s typical day usually began at 5 a.m. with a briefing of the latest news, dangers and enemy activity. Afterward, he’d gather his clothes, supplies for Mass and other gear for journeys to camps.
Hannigan said he traveled the entire length and breadth of Anbar via helicopters and road convoys every four to five weeks, causing his commanding officer to joke that he was “the most widely traveled man in the province.”
“It’s very desolate ... it’s just all sand and rock,” he said. “Between November and March, it rained ... maybe 10 times, and each time it was like 10 or 15 minutes.”
Temperatures also fluctuated wildly, soaring above 120 degrees during the day and plummeting to below 30 degrees at night.
Hannigan jokingly refers to Iraq’s scorching heat as “sweater weather” compared with his time in Africa.
“It got to be 158 degrees [in Djibouti],” he said. “The birds would fall out of the sky dead. I saw that twice.”
Ellie
By Rick Ducat - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 7, 2007 17:53:07 EDT
CHICAGO — Finding God can be difficult amid the carnage of Iraq’s war-torn deserts, and the Rev. John Hannigan didn’t have anything fancy.
The chapel was a dusty tent. The altar was a battered ammo box atop an olive drab cot. Baptisms were conducted with bottled water over a garbage can so not to waste the precious liquid.
“You would just use anything you could get your hands on,” the 56-year-old Catholic Marine Corps chaplain said.
Hannigan, originally from Chicago’s South Side, returned from his second tour of Iraq in January. He was the sole Catholic chaplain serving more than 20,000 members of the Army, Navy and Marines stationed at 52 camps in Iraq.
Hannigan was born in the Englewood neighborhood. He became a priest at age 26 after attending Quigley Preparatory Seminary in the Chicago Archdiocese.
“I always wanted to be a Marine and a priest, but I wanted to be a priest more so,” he said.
Hannigan has served as a priest in several south suburban parishes, including St. Mary’s in Riverdale, St. Jude’s in South Holland, St. James in Sauk Village, St. Agnes in Chicago Heights and St. Julie Billiart in Tinley Park.
But in 1990, Hannigan decided it was time to enlist.
“I just got to the point where I went, ‘If I’m going to do so, it’s time to do so,’ ” he said. “It’s a great, priestly ministry.”
Hannigan said this is because many soldiers in combat zones especially need spiritual guidance or simply someone to talk to.
“You’re with people who, up until this point, maybe thought they were airtight, watertight, invincible, and now they’re seeing their buddies get killed and wounded,” he said. “Now all of a sudden they see death face-to-face, so it makes them start thinking about the life after this life and religion.”
Hannigan rose to the rank of Navy commander and has served as a chaplain in Djibouti; Okinawa, Japan; and across the United States. His first tour of Iraq began in February 2005 and lasted seven months. His second tour lasted a full year.
Hannigan’s last tour put him in the Anbar province in western Iraq.
Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous places in Iraq, Anbar is roughly the size of South Carolina. It is northwest of Baghdad and west of the Euphrates River.
Hannigan was based in Camp Ripper in the al Asad region of Anbar. He said Ripper is so named because troops constantly are “ripping” through it — all soldiers must report to the camp for briefings whether they’re entering or leaving the area.
“It’s kind of like the front desk at a hotel,” he said.
Hannigan’s typical day usually began at 5 a.m. with a briefing of the latest news, dangers and enemy activity. Afterward, he’d gather his clothes, supplies for Mass and other gear for journeys to camps.
Hannigan said he traveled the entire length and breadth of Anbar via helicopters and road convoys every four to five weeks, causing his commanding officer to joke that he was “the most widely traveled man in the province.”
“It’s very desolate ... it’s just all sand and rock,” he said. “Between November and March, it rained ... maybe 10 times, and each time it was like 10 or 15 minutes.”
Temperatures also fluctuated wildly, soaring above 120 degrees during the day and plummeting to below 30 degrees at night.
Hannigan jokingly refers to Iraq’s scorching heat as “sweater weather” compared with his time in Africa.
“It got to be 158 degrees [in Djibouti],” he said. “The birds would fall out of the sky dead. I saw that twice.”
Ellie