Posted on 09/07/2004 5:21:29 AM PDT by Horatio Gates
SPOKANE - Aug. 21 was to be a special day for the Rev. Tim Vakoc, as the Catholic priest was to participate in the wedding of his niece.
Instead, Vakoc is clinging to life at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after he was wounded while serving as a chaplain in Iraq.
Vakoc, 44, is a Minnesota native who since 2002 has been assigned to Fort Lewis. On May 30, the Humvee he was driving struck a roadside bomb near Mosul. He lost his left eye and suffered a penetrating head wound that damaged multiple lobes of his brain.
The first chaplain to be wounded in Iraq, Vakoc had just finished a church service for troops in the field on what was the 12th anniversary of his ordination.
His recovery has been hampered by a series of meningitis infections, a common ailment for soldiers wounded in Iraq. In late August, the Web site chronicling his progress reported that Vakoc's doctors have determined "that Father Tim will not recover neurologically," and that he might not survive another infection or medical setback.
"We are not giving up hope, but we've got to be realistic," said Jeff Vakoc, the priest's brother, in a telephone interview from the Minneapolis area.
"There is some brain activity, but it's almost like a stroke," Vakoc said. "To get back to any normality would take a miracle."
Father Tim has thousands of people praying for just such a miracle on the Web site maintained by family and friends.
Jeff Vakoc said his brother went on active duty in 1996. He wanted to go to Iraq, and shipped out in November.
"He believed in it, and I think he believed in the cause, too," Jeff Vakoc said. "He saw it as a necessity."
Vakoc is the chaplain for the 44th Corps Support Battalion from Fort Lewis. The 44th provides logistical support to other Fort Lewis-based units working across northern Iraq, including the Army's first Stryker vehicle brigade.
Chaplains provide religious and counseling support to soldiers. More than 200 have been killed in battle in the 227-year history of the Army Chaplain Corps.
Vakoc, who previously served in Bosnia, thought it was important to minister to troops in the field.
"The bottom line in helping these soldiers is to be present to them and walk with them," he told the National Catholic Register in an interview conducted via e-mail shortly before he was wounded. "I brought the sacraments of the Church and the light and love of Christ into the darkness of the situation."
A superior officer told the Catholic newspaper that Vakoc was committed to providing Mass to all the members of the Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade, no matter how far they were scattered in hostile territory.
His military career will end within the next two weeks, when Vakoc retires from the Army, the Web site said. He will return to Minnesota and a long-term care facility.
"Father Tim would have great concern for his family and friends during this time but most especially for his soldiers and their families," the Web site said. "He loved being an Army chaplain and loved being with 'his' soldiers."
Three Hankie PING!
prayers needed!
Prayers for Chaplain Vakoc
Please Jesus, remember one of your faithful priests.
Bump!
Prayers of Chaplain Tim Vakoc are on the way ~ Bump!
Pinging you since you posted the first article.
I have requested a prayer for Father Tim at this Sunday's mass 9/12 at my parish and requested same for the Diocese of Seattle. Would anyone else be able to do that at their places of worship?
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