Posted on 08/19/2006 11:43:23 AM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — Perhaps the saddest moment Roger Rodriquez remembers from his year tour with an infantry unit in Afghanistan is leading a memorial service for two soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device.
“It was hardest for the (soldiers’) platoon. You know soldiers form friendships and when one of their group dies it’s emotional,” the captain chaplain said. Doing a memorial service around incidents in which soldiers are killed in action “is the most difficult thing to do,” the Baptist minister said.
During his year in Afghanistan serving with soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii, five were killed, all by IEDs, and six were wounded, some losing limbs, Rodriquez said.
When the first two fatalities happened, he was home. Even then he visited with the next of kin.
A chaplain’s duty is to the soldiers and their families, he said.
He is now preparing to go into harm’s way again a little more than a year after returning from Afghanistan, where he served from 2004 to 2005.
The chaplain arrived on this Southeastern Arizona post in mid-July and was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion.
According to 11th Signal Brigade officials, the 86th is deploying to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A small group of the battalion’s soldiers left last week. Two larger groups, with about 100 GIs each, will depart in the next few days. Rodriquez and his chaplain’s assistant, Spc. Joel Boettner, are scheduled to leave on the next flight.
Preparing and working with soldiers
Soldiers have to be physically and mentally prepared, as do their families.
In Rodriquez’s case, his wife Jodi and their three teenage daughters, Sarah, Hannah and Tabitha, know he has a soldier’s duty and a minister’s spiritual mission to accomplish.
He said with a laugh that he asked for an assignment to Fort Huachuca thinking he would get some time before having to deploy.
But there was a surprise waiting him when he reported. He had to start gearing up for deployment. “We were hoping to get some rest. But the Lord’s will be done,” the chaplain said.
Recognizing no soldier is truly safe in a combat zone, the chaplain said he hopes his experience in Afghanistan will give the 86th’s soldiers a feeling that the person taking care of their spiritual needs is a person who, as the current clich/ goes, has “been here, done that.”
A chaplain is the person a soldier can go to for spiritual reasons or to talk about anything, without any religious pressure. “It’s important for soldiers. A soldier has feelings, he has emotions,” Rodriquez said.
In Afghanistan, some infantry soldiers questioned themselves if they were doing the right thing.
“The trigger-pullers wondered if killing another person was right, they wondered about repercussions from God,” the chaplain said.
Then there are other concerns, such as how the family may be doing, missing special days with their loved ones and thoughts about an ill parent. Married and single soldiers have problems.
Whenever something happens on the home front that is bad, a chaplain delivers the “red X message,” the captain said.
Whenever he sees a soldier who looks down in the mouth, Rodriquez said he would keep an eye on that person. If that mood continues for more than a day, he will approach the GI and start talking.
Sometimes a soldier may want to go home on emergency leave but the circumstances may not allow it. That can depress a person’s morale, making it difficult for everyone.
Gaining soldiers’ confidence
It’s important for chaplains to gain the confidence of soldiers in the unit they are assigned to, Rodriquez said. He went out on dismounted patrols in Afghanistan, some lasting for days.
As a chaplain, he is not allowed to carry a weapon. But it didn’t mean the enemy didn’t shoot at him.
Originally from Oroville, Calif., Rodriquez earned his divinity degree from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
He worked in civilian ministries until he became a chaplain five years ago. It was time, he said, especially since his twin brother, Rory, already was a chaplain. Rory is three minutes older and a rank higher — a major.
During the upcoming deployment, Rodriquez expects to meet up with Rory in Iraq, where he is serving his first combat tour.
Calling himself a dedicated listener, one who lets soldiers express themselves without being preached to, Rodriquez said GIs expect everyone, including chaplains to keep up, especially when it comes to physical training.
To gain the soldiers’ trust means doing what they do. “I can keep up with them in PT,” the chaplain said, as a smile appeared on his face.
But equally important is for him to ensure his personal faith is strong so he can provide additional strength to his flock — soldiers in the field.
“I get along with God,” Rodriquez said.
Getting along with God and being able to help soldiers means being able “to bend the ear, to listen,” he said as he cupped his ear with his hand.
Chaplains must know when to pray, to sing, preach, teach and counsel, the captain said. Services can be formal or simple. “If there is a building, a service can be held inside. If not, the hood of a Humvee or a pile of rocks will do,” he said.
Soldiers want straight talk, the captain said. They know the missions they are doing are important.
“I believe most soldiers want to serve the country and God,” he said.
In the field overseas
GIs don’t ask for much in the field. They want some clean sheets, hot showers and hot chow, Rodriquez said.
In Afghanistan he called a pup tent home for three months, when temperatures reached 130 degrees.
Saying he lost his appetite and 20 pounds during that time, and soldiers were concerned about his health. “They would say, ‘Chaplain you need to eat,’ ” Rodriquez said.
Although the unit he was attached to lost five soldiers, there were times when he saw God work in mysterious ways. During one week, a mortar a day was fired at a small forward operating base. The first six hit outside the base. The seventh landed inside the compound, hissing and rapidly moving along the ground as soldiers scattered.
“It didn’t go off,” Rodriquez said. If it had, he said, there would have been many casualties.
Another story he related was about the battalion commander who placed himself in a vehicle in a certain part of a convoy and sat in a specific area when he went on mounted patrol.
One day, the battalion commander canceled his trip with a patrol. The vehicle he would have been in was hit in the location he would have been sitting.
Why no one was killed or wounded in either attack can only be credited to God looking out for the soldiers, the chaplain said.
While he is a Protestant, Rodriquez said he will be providing spiritual assistance to any soldier, regardless of their faith. His kit includes rosaries for Catholics, the Koran for Muslims and other special items.
When he announces a service, it mentions it will be Protestant. But he found soldiers of all faiths coming.
And when he can, he’s been known to do PowerPoint preaching.
With a laugh, he said he sees himself as a “mean, lean, green preaching machine.”
So, like he did in Afghanistan, Rodriquez said he will talk and joke with the 86th’s soldiers, play cards and games with them, and provide whatever solace he can in their times of need.
“You love the soldier, they’ll love you. You take care of the soldier, they’ll take care of you,” he said.
herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
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