“Where was the Chaplain?”

Chaplain CPT Glenn Palmer, a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and a distinguished pastor and Army chaplain, offers another perspective, with equally hard questions, on the health care offered by Walter Reed Hospital. This entry comes from one of his recent CHAPLAIN’S CORNER letters. Both this post and the previous one share some real energy that comes from a sense of biblical justice: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did to me”. Matthew 26:40

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“Where was the Chaplain?”

That is the question I have been asking myself as the situation at Walter Reed unfolds.
That was the question asked of me when the Abu-Ghraib scandal broke. Our little operating base during OIF I was located a couple of miles down the road from Abu-Ghraib prison. I share with folks who ask me that question that the Chaplain for the section of the prison where the “events” took place was a strong introvert whose 2nd language was English and who when told to stay in the office; did so. That Chaplain failed the soldiers, the inmates, the system and God.

A good, strong, confident Chaplain who loves Soldiers and who loves the Army and practices a random ministry of wandering around can be used by God to make all the difference in the world. A couple of quick examples: In the summer of 2003 when it was 125 degrees I could sense some of our soldier teetering towards the edge in their treatment of detainees during the nightly run to Abu-Ghraib prison. I made it a point to randomly ride on this detainee runs so as to remind our Soldiers of God’s light in a dark place and also to protect tired, angry, overworked young men, transporting IED makers RPG shooters, rapists, and killers; from their own worst instincts.

On one occasion in May of 2003, one of our nightly foot patrols was regularly stopping at a brothel in the neighborhood. The Iraqi prostitutes charged $5.00 a week and provided the condoms. One night before patrol, I showed up at the 1st SGT’s office and said “make this stop now, or I’ll take it higher”. He made it stop.

During our second tour to Iraq, a soldier came to me and shared with me that his platoon leader (2 Lt.) and platoon Sgt. (E-7) upon detaining suspected insurgents would beat detainee’s up until they got one to confess; then let the rest go rather than bring the detainee in for questioning. I approached the Company Commander with this issue. He wasted no time in taking the young platoon leader and the platoon Sgt. to task, threatening them with legal action and the ending of their careers. The Company Commander made the abuse stop. He did the right thing. My experience in Iraq was that the times when someone did the wrong thing was the exception rather than rule. There is no room for the exception however.

At the risk of sounding “holier than thou”, why do I share all this with you?

Because, a good Chaplain, one who gets out of the office and goes with the soldiers and who knows the Soldiers, one who knows the leaders, one who knows what’s going on in the unit and one who practices “incarnational” ministry can be such a strong force for all that is right and good and true and moral; often intercepting, addressing and rectifying dangerous practices at the lowest level possible.

I have been following the scandal surrounding the conditions that some of our wounded Soldiers have been living in at Walter Reed hospital. The unit I went to war with twice suffered 13 KIA and 100 WIA (my Chaplain Assistant being among the WIA). It astounds me to think that any of them would have to live in such unsanitary conditions.

What astounds me even more is that I have not heard a word about the Chaplain in the midst of this situation. Why did it take a news organization breaking the story for something to be done? (I’m glad they did break the story). Why was there not a Chaplain willing to risk losing his or his career over the way these Soldiers were being treated? Why was there not a Chaplain standing on someone’s desk and falling on his or her sword to make sure these Soldiers received the treatment and conditions due someone wounded in the service of his or her country? I don’t know which is worse, that the Chaplain maybe didn’t know or that the Chaplain knew and neither did or said anything.

With one glaring exception I have never had a Commander shoot me, the messenger because he or she did not like the message. Most Commanders know that a good Chaplain and good Chaplain Assistant “on the ground” are moral multipliers and know what’s going on in the unit. Most Commanders want to know if something needs to be fixed. The Army expects the Chaplain to be the voice of reason and conscience and goodness and morality in the unit.

It can be gut wrenching to share serious morale, moral and ethical deficiencies within a unit to the Commander, but it is the “hard right thing to do” and any Chaplain worth his or her salt takes the call to be pastoral, priestly and prophetic seriously and holds them all, with fear and trembling, in delicate tension.

Any Chaplain worth his or her salt is called to love the Army and Soldiers and their families enough to speak the hard truth and to make sure the hard truth is heard and received; “even if the hearer and receiver of that truth has a clear preference for one and only one comfortable answer”. (Paraphrase from Bill Moyer in an address at West Point)

And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did to me”. Matthew 26:40

God be with you all.
Chaplain CPT Glenn Palmer