(Army) Chaplain Shares Experiences With Students

www.countypress.com ^ | 12/03/2003 | By Susan L. Serbin

[Tribune7]

It is a story played out in thousands of American homes.

A member of the family is serving the country in some distant land. That is true for the immediate family of Rev. Wylie Johnson, and his extended family at Springfield Baptist Church.

Home for a two-week leave over the Thanksgiving holiday, Johnson, a chaplain in the U.S. Army, will be with yet another "family" in Afghanistan come Christmas.

Johnson was called up in his role as chaplain last April when the war with Iraq was on the front burner. Though not in Iraq, Johnson has been cycling through several assignments for eight months, attached specifically to airborne divisions and Special Forces. He has found himself as close as Fort Campbell, Ky., and as far as Kandahar, Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

"When I wake up, I spend the first 30 seconds asking myself, where in the world am I?" Johnson told students at Springfield High School.

[Tribune7]

Springfield Pa. is suburban Philly.

[Prof Engineer]

ping

[LiteKeeper]

Hooah to an old friend

LiteKeeper
Chaplain, US Army, retired

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you for this post, Tribune7.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearing the end of a two-week leave, Major Johnson spent a day prior to Thanksgiving break with students. His youngest daughter, Suzanna, a senior, is a student of Tom Brientnall, who felt Johnson's firsthand experience would broaden the knowledge of his American Government classes...

 

... Johnson explained the role of a chaplain is as a military pastor to soldiers, and a guarantor of the right to free expression religious beliefs. He also gave pictorial context to conditions in which servicemen in Afghanistan live and operate....

"You may be passionately antiwar," he said, seeing only two hands raised in a group of more than 100. "I'm passionately antiwar, but I support the military. It is an honorable profession before God."

 

...Fairly good, Johnson said of the film, "Black Hawk Down." But he clearly stated any portrayal of soldiers as "bloodthirsty" is off the mark. He also stressed to the students the courage and bravery of soldiers who were "only a few years older than you."

When questioned about what he does, Johnson responded, "I routinely help soldiers with personal problems in life."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ping. Y

[blackie]

(Army) Chaplain Shares Experiences With Students ~ Bump!

[McGavin999]

These trips to the schools give the kids a rare glimpse into another world. They are invaluable.

[Tribune7]

My pleasure.

[Tribune7]

ping

[Wneighbor]

Thanks for the ping PE.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Temple Owl]

Good story. Thanks for the ping.

[windchime]

Bump!

[MEG33]

Good story.

[xzins]

Wylie and I know each other. We worked together in Germany.

AND he has one of my old battalions.

Small world. He's a really GOOD guy!

[xzins]

Lite, same thing.

We worked together in Germany. I think we were together in Basic course, too. (Might've been advanced.)

[Tribune7]

Hey, if you guys should see him let him know he's a subject on FR.

[Tribune7]

ping

[VOA]

Bump for military chaplains!

[VOA]

bump