Photo By Chief Petty Officer Michael Lindsey | Cmdr. Phil Pelikan (left), command chaplain for 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and...... read more read more
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - Chaplains serving in southern Afghanistan met at Camp Leatherneck to celebrate the Chaplain Corps' 234th birthday. Twenty chaplains from four countries, assigned to camps and Forwarding Operating Bases throughout southern Afghanistan participated in the day's events.
The birthday celebration was a full day event of spiritual rejuvenation and training that culminated in a dinner celebration.
Before the morning praise and worship began, Lt. Gregg Hazlett, command chaplain for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 and event organizer, stated that he wanted the chaplains to take something akin to a souvenir from the day's eventsback with them.
"When you go on a trip, back in the states, you often buy souvenirs to commemorate the trip; something to show friends. Our hope is that this day's events will be a souvenir you take from Afghanistan. That it will be a day you remember fondly as a time we shared with the Lord," said Hazlett.
After praise and worship the spiritual retreat began, a time of meditative reflection and renewal for the chaplains who have been working day in and day out for their troops while forward deployed. Cmdr. Bruce Boyle, command chaplain for Marine Aircraft Group 40, led the spiritual retreat.
Boyle led the chaplains through a series of meditative reflections based upon their shared, passionate love of God, which included topics such as: sources of positive and negative motivation, yielding complete control to God and each person's source of true spiritual sacrifice. For the meditative reflections, Boyle presented a topic and the chaplains discussed it based on personal experiences. Afterward, they took a few minutes in silence to meditate on the discussion.
"Sometimes circumstances and events happen and pass us by so quickly that we need to take time to reflect on those things and meditate on them, in the Biblical sense, in order to come to a better understanding of how those experiences have impacted us, and we have grown from them in light of our experience with God," said Cmdr. Phil Pelikan, command chaplain for 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Emotions related to feelings of sincere service could be seen on the chaplain's faces and heard in their voices as they shared personal life experiences.
"The point of this is to encourage one another as chaplains, and brothers in the Lord," said Boyle.
"Self-care is good, spending time with the Lord, reading your Bible and praying, but doing it corporately with other chaplains like we did is wonderful. I felt recharged and rejuvenated," said Hazlett.
After lunch at the camp dining facility, the chaplains sat down for training on stress management, a relevant topic for spiritual leaders among military members serving in a combat zone. The training was co-chaired by Lt. Kevin Nasky, command psychiatrist for 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and Pelikan.
"Mental health is spiritual health, and spiritual health is mental health," said Nasky.
The day culminated with a dinner banquet and cake cutting. British and Estonian chaplains assigned to nearby Camp Bastion, as well as Col. Abdull Salam Haqani, a mullah assigned to the Afghan national army, accompanied the Navy chaplains for dinner on Camp Leatherneck.
Guest speaker at the dinner, Col. Preston McLaughlin, chief of staff, Marine Brigade-Afghanistan, recounted memorable experiences with chaplains throughout his career, and heroic and courageous actions of chaplains throughout the history of the chaplain corps during his speech. McLaughlin highlighted his speech with a reading of the citation for Navy Chaplain and Medal of Honor recipient, Fr. Vincent R. Capodanno.
"Disregarding the intense enemy small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rights to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded. When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and with calm vigor he continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines," said McLaughlin reading from Capodanno's citation.
McLaughlin culminated his speech, "[As chaplains you] truly carry your ministry wherever the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors or Airman are. No greater impact is made on the troops than being right there with them. You have a very illustrious corps, you have great men and women who continue to serve in the same spirit as [Capodanno] did. We wish you a very happy 234th birthday and thank you for the opportunity to come see you tonight."
| Date Taken: | 11.20.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2009 19:48 |
| Story ID: | 42522 |
| Location: | CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF |
| Web Views: | 649 |
| Downloads: | 434 |
This work, Camp Leatherneck Hosts Chaplain Corp Birthday Celebration, by SCPO Ryan Wilber, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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