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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Chaplains is checking into a report by Knight Ridder Newspapers that an Army chaplain in Iraq withheld clean bathing water from U.S. soldiers who did not first agree to hear a sermon and be baptized. The allegation against Chaplain Josh Llano, 32, of Houston, has drawn heated responses from religious, civil libertarian and atheist groups who say the practice amounts to religious coercion. Army officials said that so far their investigation hasn't shown that to be true. "Neither the Army nor the Army Chief of Chaplains approves of religious coercion,...

<p>LANDSTUHL, Germany -- Pfc. Jessica Lynch doesn't know that a full scholarship to any college in West Virginia awaits her homecoming. Or that her night rescue from an Iraqi hospital has made her a symbol of American daring-do and the cover girl on U.S. magazine racks.</p>

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--The battlefields of Iraq have become more of a mission field than Capt. Eddie Cook ever imagined. Opportunities to share God's grace have uplifted even this firm believer -- who serves as chaplain and a master-rated parachutist in the 3rd Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division's 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment -- and helped him bring many fellow soldiers to Christ. When 80 mph winds threatened to topple his battalion one day, his fellow soldiers shouted out to him to pray. Standing in the middle of the besieged tent, Cook prayed silently for the sandstorm to stop. When...

COMFORT, Texas (BP)--The parents of a dead American soldier are taking comfort knowing their son accepted Christ and was baptized days before he was killed. Army Spc. James Kiehl, 22, was one of the soldiers found dead during the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch. He had been listed as missing in action since their convoy, part of the 507th Maintenance Company based in Fort Bliss, Texas, was ambushed. For days his parents in the small town of Comfort, Texas, had hoped their son would come home alive. Upon word of his death, they were reassured knowing he had been...

During wartime, questions confront Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Sholtes: A Carson City mother whose son is in Kuwait wants to know what to expect if anything happens to her 21-year-old during the war. A Marine at the Mountain Warfare Training Center north of Bridgeport is called to the side of his best friend’s wife. His friend, a Marine, has been killed, and he wants to know how to support his friend’s widow and her children, his godchildren. When the war comes home to the small, tight-knit communities that surround the Mountain Warfare Training Center, Sholtes works to bring them comfort....

Enemy Within May Complicate War Posted April 1, 2003 By Scott L. Wheeler Muslims constitute an estimated 2 percent of the 400,000 soldiers serving in the U.S. Army. Perimeter guards were in place to protect resting U.S. troops awaiting deployment orders that soon would send them rappelling from hovering helicopters to the ground assault that distinguishes the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. With the perimeter secured, the officers of the 1st Brigade were getting some of the sleep they knew would be in short supply once they were dropped into combat. But shortly after 1:00 a.m. local time,...

ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN It was Friday evening and Rabbi Maurice Kaprow, deputy chaplain of the US Navy's Sixth Fleet, led a small congregation aboard this aircraft carrier in a Kabbalat Shabbat service. As we reached the verse in "Lecha Dodi" translated as "whose shelter of peace is spread over us," a jet returning from an operation in northern Iraq slammed down on the flight deck above us, sending a rumble through the chapel. Kaprow, a Conservative rabbi from Florida, had just arrived aboard for a three-week stint during which he plans to hold Shabbat services, Friday night...

Marines Push North Along 'Ambush Alley' By ELLEN KNICKMEYER .c The Associated Press SOUTH-CENTRAL IRAQ (AP) - Thousands of Marines pushed north toward Baghdad in ``seek and destroy'' missions Sunday, trying to open the route to the Iraqi capital and stop days of attacks along a stretch that has become known as ``Ambush Alley.'' Charging into previously unsecured areas, the Marines tried to provoke attacks in order to find Iraqi fighters and defeat them. A chaplain traveling with them handed out humanitarian packages to distrustful Iraqi civilians encountered along the way. Army supply trucks appeared on the Marine route north...

WITH THE 3-7TH CAVALRY - On the eve of their return to the front lines south of Baghdad, soldiers with the 3rd Infantry Division's battle-hardened 3-7th Cavalry Squadron ate a hot meal, loaded up fresh supplies and ammunition, and mapped out their next mission. In breaks from their work, they shared their feelings about being in combat - most for the first time - and the images and moments in Iraq that have changed their lives. From a troop commander to a fuel-truck driver, they spoke of their families, their faith, and their will to survive in what for many...

The shooting had long since stopped by the time Richard Kent arrived for his tour of peacekeeping duty in Bosnia. But what the American soldier saw in an abandoned warehouse in a village called Kravica still haunts his dreams. Eight years before Kent's arrival, Serbian forces crammed a thousand Bosnian Muslim men into the warehouse, where, according to the United Nations' official report, they were "killed by small arms fire and grenades. Visiting the Kravica warehouse several months later, United Nations personnel were able to see hair, blood and human tissue caked to the inside walls of this building." By...

WASHINGTON (December 6, 2002 3:39 p.m. EST) - Navy officials designated a Roman Catholic priest who is not a doctor as a flight surgeon simply to give him a plum assignment, according to military records filed in a federal lawsuit. The attorney for a group of evangelical chaplains, who are suing the Navy for discrimination, says the deception on behalf of the Rev. John W. Lyle was a scheme to get Lyle transferred from the reserves to better-paying active duty. "There's no justifiable reason for this except to advance this person's promotion," said Arthur Schulcz, the chaplains' lawyer. The evangelical...

A Michigan city is facing a possible lawsuit if a volunteer chaplain -- who believes homosexuality is a sin -- is removed from his duties.Last Monday night during its regular meeting, several members of the Ferndale City Council said they supported removing Pastor Tom Hansen as the city's volunteer police chaplain. Hansen was blasted at the meeting by members of the homosexual activist group Soulforce for having publicly expressed his religious view on homosexuality.According to the Daily Tribune in Oakland County, Michigan, Hansen -- pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church -- stated his belief that the homosexual lifestyle is in...

The California atheist who sued to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance now wants to kick the House and Senate chaplains out of Congress. Michael A. Newdow, a lawyer and emergency room doctor, this week filed suit in federal district court in Washington contending that it is unconstitutional for taxpayer-funded chaplains to pray in Congress and minister to lawmakers. He wants the court to prohibit the House and Senate from employing spiritual chaplains, who are paid by Congress to lead prayers, counsel members and perform other religious tasks. Chaplains make as much as $147,000 per year.

html> "Duffy">   CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO VIEW SUB-PAGESHogan on Duffy Home Visit our new Photo Gallery           Francis P. Duffy1871 - 1932 What are the qualities that a man must have to become a military chaplain? Piety, altruism, stamina and, above all, courage. Father Duffy had all of these qualities combined with an Irish sense of humor. Most people who met him liked him, and all solders who meet him respected him. Between him and the Doughboys of the 69th there was a bond of love, formed under fire and in common danger which can...