U.S. military chaplains have been solace in the smoke of the battlefield ever since the days of George Washington

Christian Century, April 19, 2003

* U.S. military chaplains have been solace in the smoke of the battlefield ever since the days of George Washington. The ministry goes way beyond holding religious services and consoling the fearful. "I am not prosecuting the war; I am serving the soldiers," said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Warren Bridgeman, 51, an Episcopal priest and head chaplain at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

"Chaplains are an important link to the civilized world," Bridgeman said. "We remind the soldiers that we are not mercenaries." Military chaplains say they care about what their troops care about: biological and chemical weapons, terrorist retaliation back home, the possibility that the enemy may use women and children as protective shields, and how to process the bombardment of information--and second-guessing--coming to the front by way of e-mail, telephone and the news media.