June 27, 2008

Faith sustains soldiers, families during wartime

Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register

FT.CAMPBELL, KY. Army Capt. Alex Graziano sits in the Catholic chaplain’s office at Soldier’s Chapel in Fort Campbell, Ky., his weathered hands clasping a camouflage bandana with Psalm 91 inscribed on it. “… I shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day…” it reads.

“These terms are very tangible to me,” he said. The strength Graziano draws from the psalm carried him through many security missions during his two deployments to Iraq. “That peace of mind is huge when you have a whole bunch of craziness staring you in the face.”

Graziano, 29, a lifelong Catholic who “didn’t go to church very much growing up,” said that since he met his wife seven years ago and joined the Army, his faith has become “a massive part of my life.”

Praying with his fellow soldiers before a mission helped “turn the anxiety switch off,” Graziano said. He says his faith assures him that “if something were to happen, I will go to a better place. For a soldier in combat that’s not an abstract thought, it’s a reality.”

No matter how much the war in Iraq is debated by American politicians and citizens, it remains an abstract idea to many who are not physically or emotionally invested in it. For soldiers, their families and the chaplains who serve them, however, it is a very real part of daily life.

While Catholics, from local peace activists all the way to Pope Benedict, have spoken out against the Iraq war and questioned its motives, Catholic soldiers at Fort Campbell remain unwaveringly committed to the cause. “I would personally like to finish the job we started,” said Graziano. If that means leaving his wife and 6-month-old son behind to serve another tour of duty in Iraq, he said, he will eagerly accept the challenge.

Mission focused
The Catholic soldiers of the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division have largely reconciled their faith with their call of duty, said Father Ed Steiner, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville, where about one-third of the 3,000 households have military ties. “They are so convinced of the righteousness, in the most positive sense, of what they are doing.”

For soldiers in combat, “the concern is completing the mission, and staying focused to come back safe and sound,” according to Maj. Edward Ohm, the Catholic installation chaplain at Fort Campbell, who has served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

The soldiers “are there to do a job to the best of their ability,” Father Ohm said. “Politics stays outside the chapel doors.”

Father Ohm’s mission, whether on the ground with troops overseas or serving soldiers and their families back on post at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border on the edge of the Diocese of Nashville, is to spread the Gospel message and bring comfort to those facing the anxieties of war.

“I usually hear a lot in my pipeline, and I don’t hear much talk about the politics of war,” Father Ohm said. “It’s always mission focused,” he reiterated.

Father Ohm is one of about 100 Catholic priests serving the entire Army, of 320 slots available. Since there are so few priests to serve so many troops who are so spread out, in Afghanistan Father Ohm would sometimes fly to four separate bases on Sunday and spend 90 minutes at each one, saying Mass and hearing confessions. “We were often attacked,” he said. “You took a chance getting in and out.”

The fact that he or the troops he serves could be “here today and gone tomorrow” is not just a cliché for Father Ohm. “You step out, put your faith in God and hopefully you’re able to survive the day,” he said.

Our faith, our rock

Back at home, soldiers and military families may not be facing imminent danger, but they still need the support of their local church to sustain them. “Military families really look to the church to be a constant in their lives,” said Father Steiner.

Finding a Catholic church “is the first thing we’re concerned with when we move,” said Ann Dunleavy, wife of Lt. Col. John Dunleavy, who is currently on his third deployment to Iraq. For her, her husband and their four children, their Catholic faith “is absolutely the rock of our existence,” she said.

“Being extremely active in the church brings much comfort in times of uncertainty,” she said. “During the good and the bad times our faith sustains us.”

In addition to embracing their local Catholic church, Dunleavy and her family “embrace the entire lifestyle of the military,” she said. They live, attend school, and go to Mass on post. “We do everything as a military community,” she said.

The military community of the 101st Airborne is not just contained to the post, but spills out into nearby towns of Hopkinsville, Ky. and Clarksville, Tenn. In Clarksville, “we’ve learned to deal with the rhythms of deployment,” Father Steiner said. Additionally, “whenever you plan anything, the idea of the military is always in the back of your mind.”
Father Steiner says Mass on post or visits at least once a month to give the installation chaplain some time off, and visits the hospital as needed to comfort wounded soldiers or, more often, welcome new babies.

Father Steiner, along with Father Ohm, guided Bishop David Choby around the Army base earlier this month, including a tour of the hospital. During his day-long visit, Bishop Choby also met with the Ft. Campbell command chaplain, watched a demonstration of the Air Assault School obstacle course, toured the museum, celebrated Mass, and ate dinner with the Ft. Campbell Catholic community.
“I appreciate very much what you and your families go through as military,” Bishop Choby, whose father was a World War II veteran, told those gathered for the evening Mass.

The soldiers were thankful for Bishop Choby’s visit, as well, even presenting him with an engraved plaque commemorating the day. Those who have recently returned from deployment are especially grateful to have access to a priest and receive the sacraments, Father Steiner said, because during deployment, “they’re lucky if they see a priest once a month.”

Father Steiner realizes how important his presence is to his military parishioners, and oftentimes, that is enough. “Eighty percent of my ministry to the military is just being there,” he said.

Quietly standing in the crowd during the monthly memorial services on post, Father Steiner always sees parishioners there in uniform who were friends with someone who was killed. “If there’s a severe injury or death” of a Fort Campbell soldier, Father Steiner said, “the dominoes are somehow going to cross our property.”

Since coming to Immaculate Conception five years ago, Father Steiner has grown to “dearly love” working with military families. If he were re-assigned, “I would really miss my ministry to them because the church is so important to them.”

Photos by Theresa Laurence

Photo 1: Army Cpt. Alex Graziano, who recently returned from a second deployment to Iraq, always carried with him this bandana, inscribed with Psalm 91. The psalm’s words offered comfort and strength during combat, he said.

Photo 2: Bishop David Choby greets Lt. Col. Tom Kunk, who recently returned from Iraq, after celebrating Mass at Ft. Campbell’s Soldier’s Chapel on June 10. With less than 100 Catholic chaplains serving the entire Army, it is not uncommon for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to go a month or more without seeing a priest.

Photo 3: Ann Dunleavy, wife of Lt. Col. John Dunleavy, who is currently on his third tour of duty to Iraq, sings a hymn with her youngest daughter, Mary Katherine, at Ft. Campbell’s Soldier’s Chapel during the Mass celebrated by Bishop Choby. Dunleavy said that her family’s strong Catholic faith “brings much comfort in times of uncertainty.”