thedrifter
03-17-03, 11:47 AM
Posted on Mon, Mar. 17, 2003
Finding light as shadows of war loom
In Kuwait, about 40 Marines readying for combat were baptized yesterday.
By Andrea Gerlin
Inquirer Staff Writer
LIVING SUPPORT AREA 1, Northern Kuwait - If the United States sends the Marines into Iraq, there will be a few more Christians in the humvees and armored vehicles that cross the border.
In a Protestant baptism ceremony at this desert post yesterday, about 40 Marines from the four 1,000-man infantry battalions based here stepped forward. During what may have been their last regular worship before war begins, two Baptist ministers dunked them in a makeshift pool fashioned from sandbags, a plastic liner, and 130 gallons of water.
As the prospect that they will enter combat increases, many of the men said that they expected their newfound faith to redeem wayward pasts, comfort and protect them in the dark hours ahead, or ensure their safe return.
"I thought to myself no matter how many sandbags you have, no matter how many bunkers you have, there's always going to be a weapon you can't stop," said Pfc. Jason Trehan of the First Battalion, Fourth Marine Division. "The Lord's weapon will."
For young Marine infantrymen, such as 19-year-old Trehan, a war with Iraq would be their introduction to combat. Depending on the strategy of military planners, they could find themselves on the frontlines undergoing another type of baptism - by fire.
"Their life may end with one artillery shell filled with gas," said Maj. Tom Webber, chaplain of the First Battalion, who performed some of the baptisms.
Away from their usual worldly distractions, the infantrymen have had plenty of time for reflection while aboard ships and in this temporary camp.
Some are staring at mortality for the first time in their lives and finding human frailty, fear and dread beneath the bravado inculcated in them by the Marines' aggressive military culture.
So one by one, they filed up to the baptismal pool in olive drab workout gear. Some had never been baptized before; others were fallen believers who wanted to return to the fold while they could. Personal crises and world events figured equally in their motives.
"I'm a father, and I've got two children back at home," said Cpl. Robert Hankins. "I want to make it back to them so I can watch them grow."
The baptisms were held outside a mess tent that had doubled as a revival hall beforehand. More than 200 Marines attended the earlier service, sitting on the floor in their desert camouflage fatigues, with gas masks and rifles at their sides. Some brought their Bibles; others were handed a "rapid deployment kit" containing a camouflage-covered New Testament.
The service was simple: no altar, no flowers, no program - just the lyrics to hymns projected onto a screen from a laptop computer. The hymns, from the Promise Keepers men's evangelical movement, included "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" - but not "Onward Christian Soldiers."
There were prayers for a Marine who was just diagnosed with appendicitis and about to undergo surgery and for another whose leg was severed as amphibious assault vehicles were being unloaded from a ship in Kuwait City last week. There were thanks for the arrival of those light-armored vehicles and a request from one Marine for "mail, Sir, and Baby Wipes," an increasingly valuable commodity in their austere environment.
The combination of roughing it, being far away from home and their families, and a potentially ugly war has been too much for some Marines to bear. Webber said that the stress on them had been intense, especially for younger men.
One recently graduated infantryman at this site tried to commit suicide in his tent last week by injecting himself with a high dose of the nerve-gas antidote provided to every member of the military in the region.
Officers said that the young Marine left a note explaining that he liked his fellow Marines but was terrified of dying. He was hospitalized and survived, but his future in the military is now uncertain.
His feelings, though extreme, are not unknown to other first-time warriors and are one reason so many of them are turning to religion before going into battle.
"On the way across, some guys were concerned and said, 'I can't see myself coming back,' " Webber said. "I said, 'Why?' They said, 'I'm so fearful of the unknown.' "
A burly martial-arts expert with a square jaw, the chaplain said that he had seen almost everything in 24 years as a minister. But, like the men in his battalion, he is facing combat for the first time. He understands the challenge to their spirits but said his faith had prepared him for whatever lies ahead, even the horror of military planners' worst-case scenarios.
"If there's mass casualties, then I will do my best to be there and my best to assist," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Andrea Gerlin at 215-854-2405 or foreign@phillynews.com.
Sempers,
Roger
Finding light as shadows of war loom
In Kuwait, about 40 Marines readying for combat were baptized yesterday.
By Andrea Gerlin
Inquirer Staff Writer
LIVING SUPPORT AREA 1, Northern Kuwait - If the United States sends the Marines into Iraq, there will be a few more Christians in the humvees and armored vehicles that cross the border.
In a Protestant baptism ceremony at this desert post yesterday, about 40 Marines from the four 1,000-man infantry battalions based here stepped forward. During what may have been their last regular worship before war begins, two Baptist ministers dunked them in a makeshift pool fashioned from sandbags, a plastic liner, and 130 gallons of water.
As the prospect that they will enter combat increases, many of the men said that they expected their newfound faith to redeem wayward pasts, comfort and protect them in the dark hours ahead, or ensure their safe return.
"I thought to myself no matter how many sandbags you have, no matter how many bunkers you have, there's always going to be a weapon you can't stop," said Pfc. Jason Trehan of the First Battalion, Fourth Marine Division. "The Lord's weapon will."
For young Marine infantrymen, such as 19-year-old Trehan, a war with Iraq would be their introduction to combat. Depending on the strategy of military planners, they could find themselves on the frontlines undergoing another type of baptism - by fire.
"Their life may end with one artillery shell filled with gas," said Maj. Tom Webber, chaplain of the First Battalion, who performed some of the baptisms.
Away from their usual worldly distractions, the infantrymen have had plenty of time for reflection while aboard ships and in this temporary camp.
Some are staring at mortality for the first time in their lives and finding human frailty, fear and dread beneath the bravado inculcated in them by the Marines' aggressive military culture.
So one by one, they filed up to the baptismal pool in olive drab workout gear. Some had never been baptized before; others were fallen believers who wanted to return to the fold while they could. Personal crises and world events figured equally in their motives.
"I'm a father, and I've got two children back at home," said Cpl. Robert Hankins. "I want to make it back to them so I can watch them grow."
The baptisms were held outside a mess tent that had doubled as a revival hall beforehand. More than 200 Marines attended the earlier service, sitting on the floor in their desert camouflage fatigues, with gas masks and rifles at their sides. Some brought their Bibles; others were handed a "rapid deployment kit" containing a camouflage-covered New Testament.
The service was simple: no altar, no flowers, no program - just the lyrics to hymns projected onto a screen from a laptop computer. The hymns, from the Promise Keepers men's evangelical movement, included "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" - but not "Onward Christian Soldiers."
There were prayers for a Marine who was just diagnosed with appendicitis and about to undergo surgery and for another whose leg was severed as amphibious assault vehicles were being unloaded from a ship in Kuwait City last week. There were thanks for the arrival of those light-armored vehicles and a request from one Marine for "mail, Sir, and Baby Wipes," an increasingly valuable commodity in their austere environment.
The combination of roughing it, being far away from home and their families, and a potentially ugly war has been too much for some Marines to bear. Webber said that the stress on them had been intense, especially for younger men.
One recently graduated infantryman at this site tried to commit suicide in his tent last week by injecting himself with a high dose of the nerve-gas antidote provided to every member of the military in the region.
Officers said that the young Marine left a note explaining that he liked his fellow Marines but was terrified of dying. He was hospitalized and survived, but his future in the military is now uncertain.
His feelings, though extreme, are not unknown to other first-time warriors and are one reason so many of them are turning to religion before going into battle.
"On the way across, some guys were concerned and said, 'I can't see myself coming back,' " Webber said. "I said, 'Why?' They said, 'I'm so fearful of the unknown.' "
A burly martial-arts expert with a square jaw, the chaplain said that he had seen almost everything in 24 years as a minister. But, like the men in his battalion, he is facing combat for the first time. He understands the challenge to their spirits but said his faith had prepared him for whatever lies ahead, even the horror of military planners' worst-case scenarios.
"If there's mass casualties, then I will do my best to be there and my best to assist," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Andrea Gerlin at 215-854-2405 or foreign@phillynews.com.
Sempers,
Roger