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thedrifter
04-12-07, 11:07 AM
In Uniform: Military shows chaplain another side

April 12, 2007
By Bob Rakow Correspondent

As an Armed Forces chaplain, the Rev. Robert Barry is a noncombatant, but he certainly has witnessed the horrors of war.

Barry, the campus minister at Saint Xavier University and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, recently was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his outstanding non-combat achievement and service.

The medal recognizes Barry for providing sacramental and pastoral care to more than 1,000 wounded and ill American soldiers and Marines at the Landsthul Regional Medical Center, a trauma hospital in Germany thatcares for large numbers of the sick and wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Barry, a wing chaplain for the Air Force’s 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield downplayed the award.

“I am not sure I deserve the honor because I think that the prayer, faith and hope in God exhibited by the doctors, nurses, staff, soldiers and Marines far outstrips mine. They are the ones who deserve the honors,” said Barry, a Dominican priest, who lives at the order’s priory in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.

Barry has spent that the past two summers at Landsthul Regional Medical Center and will return for a third tour of duty later this year. His ministry includes offering moral support to overworked physicians and nurses as well as praying with soldiers, some who are badly wounded.

“It’s not uncommon to see the doctors and nurses in tears,” said Barry, who has served in the military for nearly 20 years. Soldiers usually welcome Barry’s prayers as well.

“Very few of them will wave you off,” said Barry, who was ordained in 1973.

The amount of time Barry has spent on active duty increased significantly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was stationed in Washington, D.C., soon after the attacks and also has been deployed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

“I’ve got a lot of time in active duty over the years,” he said. When he’s not on active duty, Barry teaches religious studies courses at Saint Xavier, where he has been an instructor since 2003.

Ellie