Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Chaplain leaves Army unit, says he can't deal with horrors of war
Chicago Tribune ^ | Apr. 19, 2003 | RAY QUINTANILLA

Posted on 04/20/2003 11:48:12 AM PDT by Servant of the Nine

Baghdad, Iraq The 500 soldiers in the Army's 2-70th Battalion have broken through Iraqi strongholds a dozen times with their tanks and other armored assault vehicles. It's not a unit for the faint of heart.

When the battles are over, officers regularly tell their soldiers they can turn to the battalion's chaplain for counseling to deal with what they have seen on the battlefield or what they have done.
But what happens when it's the chaplain who says he can't deal with the horrors of war and quits the battlefield?

Word of the chaplain's abrupt departure this week hit the battalion hard.
Plans for an Easter Sunday service have been canceled. The chaplain, Capt. Glenn Palmer, faces disciplinary action, but that's the last thing on anyone's mind. He sits at the Baghdad airport, hoping to catch the next military flight back to Fort Riley, Kan., where the unit is based.

"Look, being a chaplain is not an easy job," said Lt. Col. Jeff Ingram, the battalion's senior officer and a veteran of U.S. interventions in Kosovo and Bosnia.
"We have very young soldiers seeing ugly things they shouldn't be seeing," he said. "These young guys .‘.‘. need someone with a deep religious background to listen to them, because soldiers are dying. I am sorry they don't have it anymore."
Ingram said he is trying to understand exactly why the chaplain decided to leave.

A spokeswoman for Fort Riley said Col. Daniel Paul, the base's command chaplain, said Palmer had e-mailed him Thursday saying he had been transferred temporarily to the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, but would be going back to the 2-70th Battalion "in a few days." But the spokeswoman said Palmer was "not coming back here (to the fort)."

In his 19 years of service, Ingram said he has never heard of this happening. Nor have any of the senior noncommissioned officers, many of whom have more than 20 years of service in U.S. military conflicts.

"No one wants to be here," said Sgt. Maj. Vias Williams, a veteran of Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Bosnia over the last 27 years. "I can understand the man wants to go home. Apparently, war is a little too much for him, and he doesn't want to see this every day."

Dr. Leonard Grado, the unit's physician and a major, said he and Palmer are here to help soldiers. "I can't sugarcoat it," Grado, 46, of Fort Leavenworth, Kan., explained. "Both of us have professional oaths to uphold. I am here to address the soldiers' physical needs, and the chaplain is here to address the spiritual needs. Both of those needs are very important."

Among the enlisted personnel, the concern has turned to 50 soldiers undergoing counseling. Others are simply confused that the man who was a constant source of encouragement has quit.
Pvt. Kurt Singer, 20, of Richardton, N.D., saw a soldier die in the back seat of his Humvee as they sped away from Iraqi machine-gun fire. Singer said the chaplain helped him cope with feelings of confusion, anger and depression after the attack.
"I was really feeling messed up," said Singer. "I had to have someone to tell, because I wasn't prepared. The chaplain talked me through it, and I will always be grateful."

Others noted the difficulties wartime chaplains face.
"You see some really ugly things out here," said Staff Sgt. Juan Cruz, of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. " .‘.‘. Think about it -- it's pretty serious when the man who is supposed to help us can't deal with it himself."

Senior officials here say chaplains receive extensive training to help them prepare for battlefield conditions, and it will be difficult to find another one while the battalion is in Iraq.

"It hit us as a total surprise," said the battalion's Maj. Eric Wick. "It couldn't have happened at a worse time."

Sgt. Thomas Abney of Poplar Bluff, Mo., the chaplain's assistant, was the last one to speak to Palmer. Abney had been at the side of the shaken Lutheran minister as he gave last rites to a soldier killed as the tank unit pushed toward Baghdad.
When they arrived at a field medical hospital, Abney recalled, medics unzipped a black vinyl body bag of the 20-year-old. Palmer kneeled down, and prayed over the body.
"It was an emotional moment for him," Abney said. "The chaplain is basically a good man with a good heart.

"Before he left, (the chaplain) told me he was sorry."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Kansas; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2ndof70th; army; chaplain; ftriley; iraq; iraqifreedom; kansas
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
I won't make any comment this day.

So9

1 posted on 04/20/2003 11:48:12 AM PDT by Servant of the Nine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
I won't either.May God be with our forces and bring them comfort in this time of need.War is hell.
2 posted on 04/20/2003 11:53:51 AM PDT by MEG33
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
Dr. Leonard Grado, the unit's physician and a major, said he and Palmer are here to help soldiers. "I can't sugarcoat it," Grado, 46, of Fort Leavenworth, Kan., explained. "Both of us have professional oaths to uphold.

This pretty much says it all - he took an oath when he accepted his commission, and he willfully broke that oath, leaving the soldiers in his charge to fend for themselves.

May his judge in this world grant him justice, and his Judge in the next world grant him mercy.

3 posted on 04/20/2003 11:59:01 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Horry County Chairman, Republicans for Sharpton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
I'm sorry that this particular chaplain couldn't take the stress.

Get someone tougher in there, fast! The troops need their chaplain.

4 posted on 04/20/2003 12:01:13 PM PDT by LibKill (MOAB, the greatest advance in Foreign Relations since the cat-o'-nine-tails!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MEG33
I'm sorry to hear this news, since the military is so desperately in need of Chaplains. We cannot imagine the spiritual pressures from Satan's minions that are visited upon Chaplains - much less any ministers. In addition to praying that The Lord will send more shepherds into the Armed Forces, let us pray for this man.
5 posted on 04/20/2003 12:02:01 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (This tagline intentionally left blank)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: COBOL2Java
Amen
6 posted on 04/20/2003 12:02:43 PM PDT by MEG33
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: Servant of the Nine
The meek shall inherit.....Tums.
8 posted on 04/20/2003 12:04:27 PM PDT by Consort (Use only un-hyphenated words when posting.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
Unfreaking believable.....


Semper Fi
9 posted on 04/20/2003 12:05:49 PM PDT by river rat (War works......It brings Peace... Give war a chance to destroy Jihadists...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
Nobody messes with the chaplin in the Armed forces. And when a chaplin does something like this he/she is failing the very thing God intended them to do. Give comfort and healing to those brave souls that have/about to depart and to give aid and comfort to the rest who call for their help. This Chaplin turned his back on his fellow GIs.
10 posted on 04/20/2003 12:06:52 PM PDT by crz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
2-70 what?

Infantry? Armor? Nothing personal, but --as a vet of the mech side of the Army -- the media's inability to get unit names right is driving me nuts.

11 posted on 04/20/2003 12:11:17 PM PDT by AlaninSA (Minnesota Golden Gophers...2002/2003 NCAA Hockey champs! Back to Back!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
It's discouraging to think that a man of faith couldn't get his strength from God to carry out his mission. Maybe he's in the wrong business.
12 posted on 04/20/2003 12:17:01 PM PDT by Calpublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AlaninSA
2nd Battalion, 70th Armor
"Thunderbolts"

So9

13 posted on 04/20/2003 12:18:08 PM PDT by Servant of the Nine (We are the Hegemon. We can do anything we damned well please.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
As hard as it may have been ( and I am sure it was) to the chaplain, the troops have it harder. This can pull the morale low, if the man they are to look up to cracks under pressure.... God have mercy on our troops!
14 posted on 04/20/2003 12:20:28 PM PDT by Minty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
"I wanna kill, I wanna kill"

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant [exceptin' Alice]

15 posted on 04/20/2003 12:22:58 PM PDT by hillary's_fat_a**
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Calpublican
It's discouraging to think that a man of faith couldn't get his strength from God to carry out his mission. Maybe he's in the wrong business.

True, but I have to give him credit for admitting he couldn't hack it as opposed to sticking it out and not doing the job well or with the right attitude. We have several chaplain friends, including the Army chief chaplain for the Pacific Rim. It's not an easy job and takes a certain personality, a lot of faith, and tremendous abilities in counseling, empathy, etc.

16 posted on 04/20/2003 12:23:22 PM PDT by Spyder (Just another day in Paradise)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Nine
bttt
17 posted on 04/20/2003 12:26:44 PM PDT by firewalk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Spyder
It has to be a difficult job, but doesn't the military screen these men to make sure they have the fortitude? How about having them serve a stint in a big-city emergency room. That should weed out the constitutionally challenged.
18 posted on 04/20/2003 12:33:03 PM PDT by Calpublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Calpublican
It sounds like the guy was doing a good job at first but cracked under the pressure. The chaplain corps is fairly competitive as far as promotions and getting booted if not promoted as I recall (though they're desperate for priests). It's probably hard to predict with precision who's going to cut it and who isn't. From all appearances in the story this guy was good at first (and probably would have been good for a 3-week stint in an inner city ER for that matter) but beyond that he cracked.
19 posted on 04/20/2003 12:38:53 PM PDT by Spyder (Just another day in Paradise)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: COBOL2Java
Amen to every word you said!
20 posted on 04/20/2003 12:39:02 PM PDT by PleaseNoMore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson