This is revolting.
I get that not all serving personnel are Christian, nor are all veterans. That is fine - there are good people out there regardless.
Chaplains though, are some of the most amazing people in the services. Always there, with advice, encouragement and good humor. Chapels, if you are lucky enough to have a dedicated one instead of crowding into the mess hall, are places of silent contemplation. They are not something to hide away or be ashamed of.
The idea of a chaplain is to provide Christian pastoral care to Christians. So, it’s absurd they can’t read aloud from the Bible or mention Jesus. This sounds like the Soviet Union.
As a veteran, I had open heart survey at the VA center here in Gainesville, Florida back in 2012. I quit breathing and my heart stopped in intensive care, 2 days after surgery. I was clinically dead but the head cardiac surgeon happened to be on the floor and cut my chest open again and took ten minutes to hand-massage my heart to beating again. My wife was present when this happen and she was ushered into the chapel, along with all the other visitors in the ICU. The chapel was definitely Christian and looked like what it is supposed to be, a small church for families to pray for the loved ones in. My wife found great comfort in being there, even knowing I could die in my ICU bed just down the hallway. I obviously did survive but it took a much longer time than normal to fully recover.
One of the hospital chaplains came by to see me shortly after the surgery. We discussed real-life miracles and he assured me that what the doctor and my medical team did for me to bring me back from the brink of certain death, was a truly a miracle. We prayed together and he gave me great comfort in my time of dire need. He came to see me many times in the five weeks before I was released to my home and I went out of my way to see him when I went back to the VA for my followup appointments.
I don’t know how I would have gotten through this very difficult time in my life without the presence of a loving, dedicated, religious praying chaplain to help me. I cannot understand the order to cover any symbols of Christianity and to stop praying and using the bibles in the VA facilities. My guess, is that the liberals in power are against religion and secularist in their beliefs. Whatever happen to freedom of religion?