Called To
Serve

UMTV WEB BRIEF #41

AIRS 3/5/03

Faith Over Fear – Intro:

Welcome to UMTV’s Web Brief. I’m Reed Galin.

As the U.S. braces for a possible conflict in Iraq, more and more soldiers are facing the challenges of deployment. Maj. Leon Kircher is one of those soldiers. He’s also a member of the clergy. He knows that war takes more than physical preparation.

Faith Over Fear – Story:

At Kentucky’s Ft. Campbell, these soldiers face a day of drudgery, preparing for their journey to Iraq. They’re enduring smallpox and anthrax vaccinations, writing wills and signing power-of-attorney forms.

And in the backs of all their minds is at least the possibility that they might not come back.

Maj. Leon Kircher / United Methodist chaplain: “If anybody doesn’t want to go to war, it’s a soldier. We would just as soon stay here.”

These are fears that chaplains like Leon Kircher are here to address. A decade ago, the United Methodist minister served with troops in Saudi Arabia. Today, he’s getting ready for another deployment – to stand with these soldiers again during what could be the most terrifying ordeal of their lives.

Maj. Leon Kircher: “That’s what we do. It’s right down in the trenches. There’s no duty in the rear for chaplains. We don’t belong there.”

Nat Sound: “This is a hero from Kosovo, right there.”

These last few days, Kircher has seen more baptisms and Catholic confirmations, more marriages and many more tears, as the troops prepare to leave their families behind.

Kircher himself will say goodbye to a wife and two daughters. They’ve all been through this before … but it doesn’t get easier.

Maj. Leon Kircher: “I think it gets harder, to tell you the truth. For me, it does.”

All this as a nation is divided on whether these soldiers should be leaving at all. Kircher’s own church has publicly opposed war in Iraq.

Maj. Leon Kircher: “Whatever any church says in the world – OK, they can say what they like. But when the soldier goes to war, what matters is his life. And that’s my No. 1 driving force.”

It’s a force Kircher says goes beyond public opinion.

Major Leon Kircher: “I certainly have opinions on it. That’s for sure. But my No. 1 duty is the soldiers.”

Faith Over Fear – Tag:

Kircher’s commanding officer at Ft. Campbell is adamant that chaplains go with all his soldiers into battle. And there is an official form used for any wounded or fallen soldier that asks: “Was this person seen by a chaplain?” Kircher’s goal is to always answer yes.

Special Forces – Intro:

Military chaplains complete the same physical training that all soldiers do, and stand side by side with them in most every situation. But chaplains don’t carry weapons. Their uniforms are marked with small religious symbols, designating the chaplaincy as a “special force” all its own.

Special Forces – Story:

Scranton, Pa.’s Leon Kircher felt a “call” to join the army when he was 17. Sixteen years later, he felt a “call” to become a military chaplain.

Maj. Leon Kircher / United Methodist chaplain: “You can have anywhere from 500 to 1,200 soldiers. It’s a church filled with every denomination or church organization there is in the world.”

And now his congregation, based at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky, is preparing for war. Leaving his home base for the battlefield is nothing new for this 47-year-old veteran. He was with the troops in the 1991 Gulf War.

Maj. Leon Kircher: “I was part of the scud-busting unit, so we were located near airfields in large cities. And it wasn’t so much me holding soldiers as being around some of the civilians who were dying or wounded.”

Chaplains go everywhere soldiers do.

Maj. Leon Kircher: “They’re in the thick of things with the guys. And when they’re loading those helicopters to transport our guys into some bad area, chaplains are going to be on those first few helicopters.”

Ft. Campbell’s chaplains represent the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. Soldiers outnumber these spiritual advisors 500 to 1 ... but Kircher and his colleagues are not daunted by their overwhelming task. They say it just deepens their “calling.”

Maj. Leon Kircher: “We have got to keep these chaplains in there, because of that guy and that man or woman or his family. Otherwise, we’ve just ignored them in the most trying time of their lives.”

Special Forces – Tag:

Chaplain Kircher baptized a number of soldiers during the Gulf War. He expects to do the same on this tour of duty. He advises families left behind to stay near the base, because there are support systems there, and there’s, of course, the strength of sharing common difficulties.

On the next UMTV Web Brief, another kind of support system…a prayer hotline. Those involved say callers have new needs in this post-9/11 world.

“We’re not the hope, but we point them to the hope.”

Thanks for watching. Make it a good week.