Posted on 06/10/2004 1:45:23 PM PDT by M007
I join in prayer for his complete healing and return to perfect health!
CHAPLAIN-WOUNDED Jun-9-2004 Catholic Army chaplain from Minnesota critically wounded in Iraq
By Julie Carroll Catholic News Service
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Family and friends of Father H. Timothy Vakoc continued to pray in early June for the U.S. Army chaplain from Minnesota who was seriously injured when a bomb exploded near his Humvee in Iraq May 29.
Father Vakoc, 44, lost his left eye and sustained brain damage and possible paralysis on his right side, according to family members. He underwent surgery to relieve brain swelling at a U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, before being flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where, as of the evening of June 8, he remained in a coma in critical but stable condition. He also is being treated for bacterial meningitis.
Though not alert, Father Vakoc has responded to stimuli, according to family members.
In a June 1 letter alerting clergy of the incident, Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis requested prayers for Father Vakoc "as he recuperates and then faces a difficult new challenge for the future."
Archbishop Flynn added: "I have come to admire and respect Father Vakoc greatly over the past several years. I believe he is an extraordinary person -- friendly, outgoing, generous, dedicated."
Father Vakoc was driving an armored Humvee to his barracks after saying Mass for U.S. soldiers when the roadside bomb detonated. Two soldiers traveling with him were not harmed.
"Tim took the brunt of the blast," said his brother, Jeff Vakoc of Brooklyn Park. "(The soldiers) did first aid on him and determined they couldn't wait for the medics or they would have lost him, so they drove him back on two flat tires to the base, and he was flown to Baghdad from there," he said.
Vakoc said his younger brother couldn't always tell him where he was or what he was doing in Iraq in their communications by phone and e-mail, but the priest never expressed concern for his own safety.
"I think he felt that God had put him there and that was what he was supposed to be doing," said Vakoc. "There's got to be a reason he's alive. I've got to believe that there's a purpose."
Father Vakoc joined the Army eight years ago and had served in Iraq for nine months. He was injured on the 12th anniversary of his ordination as a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
"This wasn't the first time he had been in harm's way," said Dana Fath Strande of St. Paul, a friend of the priest. His military service also took him to Germany, Korea and Bosnia, she said.
"He was (in Iraq) because that's where the soldiers were, and that's where they needed him," said Strande. "He was ready to go."
Father Vakoc, who was the best man at Strande's wedding and godfather to her 2-year-old daughter, Amara Dolore, asked for Strande's prayers before he left for Iraq, she said. Father Vakoc stayed in touch with Strande and her husband, Michael, by e-mail and occasional phone calls.
In one e-mail, dated Jan. 30, Father Vakoc wrote about how he prayed with the company of a pilot who had died when his plane crashed in the Tigris River.
"He journeyed with these soldiers in their living and in their dying to the point of accompanying their remains onto the airplane," Strande said.
Father Vakoc's duties in Iraq included counseling soldiers, ministering to Catholics and soldiers of all faiths, escorting the bodies of fallen soldiers, speaking with soldiers' family members and keeping up morale.
In an e-mail interview with the National Catholic Register newspaper shortly before his injury, Father Vakoc called his work in Iraq a "ministry of intentional presence."
"I live with (the soldiers), work with them, eat with them, care for them, listen to them, counsel them," he said. "The soldiers know if you are real and genuinely care or not. The soldiers see me out there with them, and that makes a difference."
After a memorial Mass for a soldier who had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Father Vakoc told the Register: "The bottom line in helping these soldiers through the grieving process is to be present to them and walk with them. I prayed with the soldiers, I prayed for the soldiers who died, I brought the sacraments of the church and the light and love of Christ into the darkness of the situations."
Father Vakoc, who graduated from Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park in 1978 and then from St. Cloud State University, served as associate pastor at St. John Neumann in Eagan from 1993 to 1996 before joining the Army.
He was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., when he was called up for active duty in Iraq in September 2003.
One of 117 Catholic priests on active duty assigned to the Army, Father Vakoc is the only priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis serving in Iraq, according to Father Philip Hill, chief of staff of the Army Chief of Chaplains. He is the first Army chaplain to be seriously injured in Iraq, he said.
Father Hill said other chaplains serving in Iraq have expressed concern for Father Vakoc, but have not expressed an increased concern for their own safety. "They just simply charge on and keep working," he said.
Chaplains follow the same safety rules as other Army soldiers, Father Hill said. They travel in convoys and wear flak jackets and helmets at all times. But unlike other Army soldiers, chaplains are unarmed. Each chaplain is assigned an armed soldier, who is responsible for the chaplain's protection.
Father Hill said the soldiers in Father Vakoc's unit are praying for him.
"They miss him dramatically for the life he gave to their spiritual lives," he said. "That's a tremendous compliment for any priest -- that he becomes essential or in any way influential in a person's spiritual development, and that's where Tim is."
Updates on Father Vakoc's condition are available on the Web at: www.caringbridge.org/mn/timvakoc.
END
Prayers for Father Tim.
Prayers offered for Chaplain Timothy Vakoc.
I'm continuing in prayer for Chaplain Timothy Vakoc.
Prayers for Father Tim.
May God place his healing hands on this good chaplain,Father Tim. May his doctors be wise as they treat him.
Have mercy on this and all of your servants sowing seeds of healing, courage, and truth in Iraq dear God.
Joining in prayer for Chaplain Timothy Vakoc
Prayers for Chaplain Timothy Vakoc.
Add my prayers to the many for this brave America
Thank you for your prayers for Father Tim. He is still not out of the woods.
Most Recent Hospital Information:
Patient Room: Evening of June 12: Tim’s biggest challenge at this time is fighting the bacterial meningitis infection. This infection is causing Tim a fever, as well as additional brain swelling. Again, Tim was not responsive today and is now considered to be in a coma. The lumbar shunt that we spoke of in yesterday’s report has been removed as it was not performing well. Another cranial shunt was put in. The antibiotics given so far have not been effective. There is some concern regarding tissue behind where the left eye was. Tim is not out of the woods yet. Please pray for his immune system to strengthen, for the antibiotics to work to fight this infection, for the swelling of the brain to go down, for the health of the tissue behind the left eye and for the health of his lungs. Fr. Tim remains in ICU. His condition is critical, guarded, and with stable vitals.
Thank you for remembering him. God Bless You All.
Healing prayers for Father Timothy Vakoc.
Prayers going out for Father Tim.
Prayers on the way.
My families prayers continue to be with Father Tim.
Patient Room: Tuesday morning June 15: Tim’s biggest challenge at this time is fighting the bacterial meningitis infection. This infection is causing Tim a fever, as well as additional brain swelling. Tim remains in a coma and his fever continues to fluctuate between 100-102 degrees. The tracheotomy did not happen on Monday due to swelling. They will try it today with Tim under anesthesia. We are asking for you to pray for the antibiotics to work so the infection can be eliminated, his fever to come down, tissue to be revitalized, and for Tim to wake up. A priest had mentioned at mass this past Sunday that this Friday is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He stated that the pope had designated it as the feast for priests. For those who are so inclined, please pray for the graces of this feast to reign on Tim. Fr. Tim remains in ICU. His condition is critical, guarded, and with stable vitals.
Heavenly Father, we return to give You thanks that You have sustained Your servant unto this time ... continue, we pray, to touch him. Direct these antibiotics to exactly where they are needed and cause them to be effective, that Fr. Tim might soon awaken and prosper. Surround him with the prayers of Your people and the comfort of Your presence, in the Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.