Posted on 11/09/2006 4:15:34 PM PST by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — The United States is at a critical point in its history, and the war in Iraq “is not going to stop any time soon,” as the nation heads for its equivalent of a cinematic “Perfect Storm,” the Army’s No. 2 senior chaplain said.
Quoting Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker, Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Douglas L. Carver said the Army’s top uniform officer has said, “We’re not in the middle of the war, we’re at the beginning.” The United States must be prepared for a perfect storm, a gathering of incidents that will test the mettle of the nation’s people, including its men and women in uniform, said Carver, who is the Army’s deputy chief of chaplains.
Speaking to nearly 400 people, mostly soldiers, at a Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast Wednesday, he said those who wear the uniforms of America’s armed forces will continue to be tested and some will sacrifice their lives.
“It’s not going to stop anytime soon,” the chaplain said. “We are at a critical and strategic point in our nation’s history.”
But what sets America apart from the rest of the world is the freedoms enjoyed by its citizens, Carver said.
Tuesday’s voting is an example of how Americans come out and through the election process direct its government what path to take, Carver said. There was no rioting in the streets after the elections. But not everything is rosy.
“Do we have warts? Do we have problems? You bet,” the chaplain said.
As the United States headed to its great Civil War in the 1800s, many issues faced the country, some of which are similar today, Carver said.
President Abraham Lincoln was not popular, without mentioning the lack of popularity of the current person in the White House, President George W. Bush.
America’s northern and southern borders were unprotected, the chaplain said, again not mentioning the current concerns of the boundaries the United States shares with Canada and Mexico and today’s climate of border insecurity.
In 1861, the nation was divided, Carver said, leaving unsaid the current divided nature of America.
Foreign governments were ready to harm the United States in the 1860s. Today, the nation is facing “a volatile Middle East and saber rattling in North Korea and Iran,” the chaplain noted.
As a minister, Carver, an ordained Southern Baptist preacher, talked about the main problems facing America in Iraq.
There is a biblical aura when it comes to the Iraqi situation, something written about in the Book of Daniel, the chaplain said.
It was to what is now Iraq that the Israelites were taken.
Babylon, a place that exists today in Iraq, was mentioned in the Bible, and its leader, Nebuchadnezzar, ruled with an iron fist. Carver said it is strange Saddam Hussein believes he is the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar.
Carver was with the U.S. and coalition forces when they went into Iraq in 2003.
Starting out as a minister of music, he said he wanted to obtain electronic pianos to take with him into Iraq as he and his assistants followed the fighting forces. But the request was denied unless he could find another term to disguise the piano request. So, he requested pastoral instruments and note organizers.
The pianos were provided.
“I’m a Baptist preacher,” Carver said.
And like any good preacher there are always three points to be made in a sermon. His three points, in the combination sermon and lecture, were to look up, wake up and light up.
Looking up means finding God, waking up is accepting what God has set out for an individual and lighting up is to spread what God provides.
It is important that soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen do that for it will help them and those who are in harm’s way with them, Carver said.
No one is perfect, the chaplain said, and that includes chaplains like him, as is humorous piano story shows.
When there are times of despair even he tries to find guidance, not only from God, but from fellow soldiers, Carver said.
He related a story about him sitting in his Pentagon office knowing he had to talk to a chaplain serving in Iraq. What the battle zone chaplain said was not a joke, but a story that was faith uplifting.
There was a tragedy in the unit, and a soldier was fatally wounded. The soldier knew he was going to die, but rather than be vengeful, the dying soldier began to “sing a hymn of faith,” Carver said.
As his buddies carried him away, the GI became weaker and he no longer had the strength to sing the words. The soldier, whose life was ebbing away, began to hum the melody.
Soon, he had no strength even to do that.
The four soldiers carrying their now dead friend then began to sing the hymn he started.
While the quartet was helping the soldier, it was the soldier who helped show them that faith is important on a battlefield, Carver said.
“Being a soldier is a life or death issue,” he said to many in the audience whose eyes were filled with tears. “Don’t miss the opportunity to prepare for your perfect storm.”
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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