thedrifter
11-22-08, 07:26 AM
MILITARY: Two Navy chaplains have very different missions
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Editor's note: Reporter Mark Walker is traveling through the Middle East with Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland.
AL ASAD AIRBASE, Iraq ---- One ministers to the fallen, the other to those who could become casualties at any time.
Life ---- and death ---- are the twin concerns of two Navy chaplains in this war-torn region.
Navy Chaplain Scot Sroka has the more somber mission, providing blessings to troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan as their remains make their way back to the United States.
"It's all about dignity and respect," Sroka said during an interview this week at the U.S. Army's Casualty Processing Center, on the edge of the commercial airport at Kuwait City, Kuwait.
"My mission is to help make sure there is a dignified transfer," he said.
Across the border, at this sprawling air base several hundred miles north of Kuwait City, the Rev. Paul Shaughnessy ministers to the living.
He is the chaplain for Camp Pendleton's 4,000-member Regimental Combat Team 5.
The 58-year-old Boston-area native is the only Catholic priest in the region. He celebrates Mass at a chapel at Camp Ripper, where the regimental combat team is based.
During much of the rest of the week, he travels throughout Iraq's Anbar province to celebrate Mass for troops in the field.
His typical message?
"I tell them hell is hot and eternity is a long time," the gregarious Jesuit priest quipped during an interview in his office, where a Boston Red Sox cap and a baseball have a prominent place on his desk.
Shaughnessy, who is nearing the end of his fourth tour of duty, said he emphasizes ethical choices in his pastoral messages.
"They're Marines, so they're already schooled in honor and commitment," he said. "I do my best to reinforce making the right choices about what they do in their everyday life."
Services at Camp Ripper are conducted in a sparsely furnished wooden chapel. In the field, he uses whatever's available.
While Shaughnessy is the only priest in this region, Sroka is the only Navy chaplain assigned to the Marine Corps in Kuwait, where troops stop on their way to or from the wars.
Sroka said he rarely knows the religious preference of the fallen troops brought to the processing center. In his blessings, Sroka said he typically selects passages from Ecclesiastes, John or Revelations.
"It's a short prayer, but an element that we believe is an important part of the process of getting fallen warriors home to their families," said Sroka, who is embedded with two seven-member teams from the U.S. Army's 111th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company.
When a plane arrives carrying a troop killed in action or by accident, team members assist in removing the flag-draped casket from the aircraft.
All those within sight of the plane stop what they are doing in a show of respect as the body is moved to the sterile room where the team conducts its work.
The team makes sure the body enters and exits the building feet first.
"It signifies the soldier walking off the battlefield," said Army Sgt. Ryan Dunn, who heads one of the teams.
The teams follow a strict checklist in preparing the body for the trip back to the U.S., including a meticulous documentation of any personal effects.
The standard calls for getting the remains to Dover, Del., within 72 hours of death and home to the family within seven days.
Sroka said that in the three months he has been working with the team, he has watched its members for signs of stress stemming from their difficult task.
"These soldiers are just amazing people," he said. "They're very professional, and their entire focus is on honoring the men and women who pass through here."
Back at Camp Ripper, Shaughnessy said the Marines he ministers to also are amazing, whether in battle or, as is more common today, working to ensure the peace.
He recalled the fighting in the Anbar city of Ramadi in 2006.
"It was just awful," he said about the battles with the insurgency.
"Today, thank God, this region has been secured and our troops aren't shot at or attacked with IEDs anymore," Shaughnessy said.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Editor's note: Reporter Mark Walker is traveling through the Middle East with Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland.
AL ASAD AIRBASE, Iraq ---- One ministers to the fallen, the other to those who could become casualties at any time.
Life ---- and death ---- are the twin concerns of two Navy chaplains in this war-torn region.
Navy Chaplain Scot Sroka has the more somber mission, providing blessings to troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan as their remains make their way back to the United States.
"It's all about dignity and respect," Sroka said during an interview this week at the U.S. Army's Casualty Processing Center, on the edge of the commercial airport at Kuwait City, Kuwait.
"My mission is to help make sure there is a dignified transfer," he said.
Across the border, at this sprawling air base several hundred miles north of Kuwait City, the Rev. Paul Shaughnessy ministers to the living.
He is the chaplain for Camp Pendleton's 4,000-member Regimental Combat Team 5.
The 58-year-old Boston-area native is the only Catholic priest in the region. He celebrates Mass at a chapel at Camp Ripper, where the regimental combat team is based.
During much of the rest of the week, he travels throughout Iraq's Anbar province to celebrate Mass for troops in the field.
His typical message?
"I tell them hell is hot and eternity is a long time," the gregarious Jesuit priest quipped during an interview in his office, where a Boston Red Sox cap and a baseball have a prominent place on his desk.
Shaughnessy, who is nearing the end of his fourth tour of duty, said he emphasizes ethical choices in his pastoral messages.
"They're Marines, so they're already schooled in honor and commitment," he said. "I do my best to reinforce making the right choices about what they do in their everyday life."
Services at Camp Ripper are conducted in a sparsely furnished wooden chapel. In the field, he uses whatever's available.
While Shaughnessy is the only priest in this region, Sroka is the only Navy chaplain assigned to the Marine Corps in Kuwait, where troops stop on their way to or from the wars.
Sroka said he rarely knows the religious preference of the fallen troops brought to the processing center. In his blessings, Sroka said he typically selects passages from Ecclesiastes, John or Revelations.
"It's a short prayer, but an element that we believe is an important part of the process of getting fallen warriors home to their families," said Sroka, who is embedded with two seven-member teams from the U.S. Army's 111th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company.
When a plane arrives carrying a troop killed in action or by accident, team members assist in removing the flag-draped casket from the aircraft.
All those within sight of the plane stop what they are doing in a show of respect as the body is moved to the sterile room where the team conducts its work.
The team makes sure the body enters and exits the building feet first.
"It signifies the soldier walking off the battlefield," said Army Sgt. Ryan Dunn, who heads one of the teams.
The teams follow a strict checklist in preparing the body for the trip back to the U.S., including a meticulous documentation of any personal effects.
The standard calls for getting the remains to Dover, Del., within 72 hours of death and home to the family within seven days.
Sroka said that in the three months he has been working with the team, he has watched its members for signs of stress stemming from their difficult task.
"These soldiers are just amazing people," he said. "They're very professional, and their entire focus is on honoring the men and women who pass through here."
Back at Camp Ripper, Shaughnessy said the Marines he ministers to also are amazing, whether in battle or, as is more common today, working to ensure the peace.
He recalled the fighting in the Anbar city of Ramadi in 2006.
"It was just awful," he said about the battles with the insurgency.
"Today, thank God, this region has been secured and our troops aren't shot at or attacked with IEDs anymore," Shaughnessy said.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie