Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division; 1 Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and Finnish soldiers attended a Remembrance Day ceremony May 19 at the Korkalovaara Chapel in Rovaniemi, Finland.
The ceremony, observed in Finland on the third Sunday of May to commemorate Fallen Soldiers, featured opening remarks by Finnish Brigadier General Ari Laaksonen. The religious service was jointly conducted by Finnish Senior Chaplain Heikki Korva and U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Jameson Williams, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Chaplain.
“Today was a beautiful opportunity for us to link in with our Finnish counterparts,” said Williams, a Lewisport, Ky native. “Today is a special day for them to remember their fallen. And it was an honor to stand beside them and do that together”
Chaplain Heikki Korva extended an invitation to Chaplain Williams to join them in the service. Consequently, they collaborated as chaplains, delivering the service in both English and Finnish while transcending denominational boundaries, presenting an opportunity to connect with the troops.
U.S. service members are currently in Finland as part of the annual U.S. Army Europe-Africa DEFENDER 24 exercises, with the focus of increasing strategic readiness and seamlessly operate together to maintain a stable and prosperous European and Trans-Atlantic region.
“This experience for 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain has been currently over three nations, both in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, to reassure our partners to build that connection across those forces,” said Williams. “When we are friends that know how to fight together, we do it well.”
“For us, especially in the chaplain corps, we have been working really hard on this idea called multi national religious support interoperability,” Williams continued. “In that way we can work with our Finnish counterparts in order to take care of our Soldiers and their Soldiers with spiritual needs.”
The chaplains collaborated and incorporated each other on their battlefield circulations, representing progress towards narrowing the gap between them, and their aim to continue moving in that direction as they proceed through the Defender exercise.
DEFENDER is the Dynamic Employment of Forces to Europe for NATO Deterrence and Enhanced Readiness, and is a U.S. European Command scheduled, U.S. Army Europe and Africa conducted exercise that consists of Saber Strike, Immediate Response, and Swift Response. DEFENDER 24 is linked to NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercise, and DoD’s Large Scale Global Exercise, taking place from 28 March to 31 May. DEFENDER 24 is the largest U.S. Army exercise in Europe and includes more than 17,000 U.S. and 23,000 multinational service members from more than 20 Allied and partner nations, including Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2024 16:31 |
| Story ID: | 472173 |
| Location: | FI |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Harmony in Service, by SFC Nina Ramon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
