Free Republic

        STRIVING FOR BALANCE In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's other commitments: "Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are...

Capt. Dale Goetz of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., was one of five soldiers killed by an improvised bomb on Monday. 3 0 5 Share Before Goetz, the last Army chaplain to die in action was Phillip Nichols, who was killed by a concealed enemy explosive in Vietnam in October of 1970, said Chaplain Carleton Birch, a spokesman for the Army chief of chaplains. The Air Force said none of its chaplains were killed later than 1970. A spokesman for the Navy Chaplain Corps, which also provides clergy to the Marines, didn't immediately return a phone call....

        CATCHING A SECOND WIND Cross country runners and other long distance runners have all relied on a "second wind" to finish their race; the longer the race the more "second winds" will be required. This physiological wind source is a timely aid in propelling an exhausted runner onward to the finish. The phenomenon of the "second wind" has a spiritual principle, too. When the purposes of God seem too distant to continue, God provides a "second wind" to propel his people onward to finish the cause in which they are engaged. Indeed: "They that wait...

Just received. The official message from the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army through the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Navy: Subject: FW: CH (UNCLASSIFIED) Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE It is with my deepest sympathy and utmost respect that I announce to our Chaplain Corps that Chaplain (CPT) Dale A. Goetz was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 30, 2010 while serving as the Battalion Chaplain for 1-66th Armor Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. Dale was one of five Soldiers killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while traveling in a convoy near Kandahar Province. Chaplain Goetz is survived...

          GOLDEN MOMENTS Once upon a time, there was a little boy from "the wrong side of the tracks" who grew up admiring a beautiful house high on the hill overlooking his town. Fortunately, he never lacked for any of the necessities of life. But he hated being "poor." He noticed that people treated him differently. And it pained him to see his parents work so hard just to make ends meet. It just didn't seem right that some should be so favored and others should have so little. But his parents has instilled some...

        ARE YOU TOO BUSY FOR GOD? This means we must commit ourselves to hearing the Lord's voice. How else can we know and do the will of our Heavenly Father? It means that we have a particular commitment to the God-ordained transformation that needs to occur within us so that we may reflect the King of Glory's character. When we decide to be open to the Lord of Heaven, He transforms our lives, and we experience a quietness in our spirit, a confidence in our heart, a dogged determination in our mind, and an increasing...

Retired Archbishop Philip. M. Hannan of New Orleans, still alive at the age of 97, discusses his service in the video above, made in 2007, with the 505th parachute infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne in World War II. Ordained at the North American College in Rome on December 8, 1939, he served with the 82nd Airborne as a chaplain from 1942-46, and was known as the Jumping Padre. He was assigned to be the chaplain of the 505th Regiment with the rank of Captain shortly after the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. He had many adventures during his...

          HIGH FLIGHT John Gillespie Magee, Jr. was a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Shortly before his plane was shot down during World War II, he wrote a poem called "High Flight." The last stanza reads: Up, up the long delirious, burning blueI've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trodThe high untrespassed sanctity of space,Put out my hand and touched the face of God. John Magee was only nineteen years old when he wrote these words. Today this poem is...

        THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND There is a line separating dedication-to-duty from "work-a-holism." Dedication to duty is good, healthy, positive. Workalohism, on the other hand, is negative, harmful and eats away at family relationships. We must know the difference between the two. Let me tell you about a man who was called the Greatest American Soldier of the 20th Century: General George C. Marshall. Born in Uniontown, PA in 1880, he graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1902. As a junior infantry officer in the US Army he served two tours in the Philippines, in several...

        "A CHEERFUL HEART IS GOOD MEDICINE." (Proverbs 17:22) Which came first the chicken or the egg? We may never know the answer to this question, but when it comes to living a fulfilled life, the joy proceeds the good feelings. As a matter of fact, the joy is the antidote to the woes of life. Humor is great medicine. Humor helps us to see the big picture. It provides us with a new context by which to view our situation. It gives us a different vantage point which we can use to reevaluate life. Humor...

        CHOICES An elderly carpenter was about to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was very sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship...

        BE HAPPY "Don't worry. Be happy" I'm sure everyone has heard that song on the radio at one time or another. But I wonder if we ask ourselves, "Are we happy?" I don't mean that we should be constantly ecstatic or exuberant, but HAPPY full of that deep down inner contentment which persists even in the midst of trials and tribulations? Because we are the children of God, God is concerned and cares for us. Whatever our real needs, we can rest assured that God will fulfill them, albeit in His own time and accordance...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq, June 25, 2010 – Army Sgt. Keith D. Wright, a native of Brunswick, Ga., is serving here on his fourth deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Army Sgt. Keith D. Wright, a chaplain assistant for the 3rd Infantry Division’s Special Troops Battalion, is serving on his fourth deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Contingency Operating Base Speicher near Tikrit, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessica Rohr  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A chaplain assistant with the 3rd Infantry Division’s Special Troops Battalion, Wright said he joined the Army to get...

        WHAT MAKES A DAD God took the strength of a mountain, The majesty of a tree, The warmth of a summer sun, The calm of a quiet sea, The generous soul of nature, The comforting arm of night, The wisdom of the ages, The power of the eagle's flight, The joy of a morning in spring, The faith of a mustard seed, The patience of eternity, The depth of a family need, Then God combined these qualities, When there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete, And so, He called it...

        "AND LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS" Matthew 28:20 One morning I stood on the bluffs overlooking the coast at Camp Pendleton. I spied an amphibious naval vessel just off shore. As I stood watching, it came into full view, then disappeared as the early morning fog came and went. The ship was always there, but it was only visible part of the time. It spoke to me of the reality of God's presence. The truth is God is always there, but our changing moods affect our ability to see. It's good days and bad...

        A GREAT MARINE Several years ago as the H & S Battalion Chaplain at MCB, Camp Lejeune, I visited the people in the different work spaces, including the rather large main post office. One day a little conversation took place with a young Marine Lance Corporal. This unplanned encounter has remained with me, and it seems worth passing on... The Lance Corporal was standing by a very large sack of mail. His job, every day, six days a week for many hours was to sort the mail from that large sack and place the letters...

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – Soldiers working as chaplain assistants, equal opportunity professionals and other key military specialties geared toward assisting troops in their times of need are getting certified to not only engage potential victims of suicide, but also train others to be the first line of defense against severe mental distress. One group of 24 Soldiers recently graduated the 5-day "train the trainers" Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, known as ASIST and another class is ongoing here. Some of the Soldiers are stationed at Camp Arifjan, and others came from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sinai to partake in the...

We are indebted to Fr. Donald F. Crosby S.J., a priest at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Concord , CA , for presenting the whole story of the Catholic chaplain in World War II for the first time. His painstaking work of examining 72 separate archives and interviewing 80 living chaplains, as well as grasping the reality of the war as it unfolded in its many campaigns and events has paid off. The reader is given not only an understanding of this war from a Catholic chaplain's perspective, but an exceptionally clear picture of the events as they occurred in...

        Words from Ronald Reagan on Memorial Day President Ronald Reagan's June 6, 1984 speech in front of the U.S. Ranger Monument in Normandy commemorating the Rangers' charge up Pointe du Hoc: "Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these...

U.S. service men and women received good news on Saturday morning when Pope Benedict XVI named current Army chaplain Fr. F. Richard Spencer as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.The head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, welcomed the news of Bishop-elect Spencer's appointment by saying it “represents one more sign of the paternal care of our Holy Father for all of us.”Archbishop Broglio highlighted the bishop-elect's extensive military experience as well as his educational and spiritual formation. “That experience,” the archbishop said, “will certainly contribute to the richness of the...