Tragedy rises and falls... it comes
and goes... sometimes much of it is present...
sometimes a lot less of it is
present...
At least 73 U.S. Troops killed in
Iraq so far in October. That's out of about 140,000.
Commentators are commenting that this
could become the month of the most deaths
from combat in the war in Iraq...
PoliceOne.com reports 5 law
enforcement officers killed so far in October. That's
out of a total of about 800,000 in
the United States.
An Airman who is working as a turret
gunner raises up into view to try and keep an
Iraqi woman and children out of a
suspected bomb area and he is guarding and he
is killed instantly by a head shot
from a sniper.
A New Hampshire officer is killed by
a man he once helped to save.
Our world is filled with people.
Many of them are good people who mind their own
business and seldom get into trouble
or cause trouble... but among the good people
there are those who are not so
good... and no matter what you do or are doing for
them they are not thankful but rather
are very, very touchy and resentful of anything
that is perceived as against what
they want or believe. Populations are increasing
and more of this attitude and
activity can be expected to come against us.
Iraq is already engaged in a less
than successful effort to bring peace and
democracy there. Factions that do
not agree with one another are set upon
eliminating all opposition and those
who do not agree with them. Iraqi government
seems powerless to stop the slaughter
of their own people and our troops are hard
pressed to stem the killing. Our
troops are trying to make Baghdad safe but our
troops are too few in number to
succeed in anything but an all out war... but they
cannot do that... there would be too
many citizens killed who are not part of the
insurgency. The major problem is
that the Insurgents fighting and the Iraqis who are
not involved in the fighting look
alike and our troops do not get to know the difference
soon enough to stop the right ones
and not kill the wrong ones.
In nations such as ours we do not
call them insurgents... we call them criminals...
Psychopaths... Sociopaths...
insane... lawless... but their actions are criminal. In our
war on evil it is all too often too
hard to tell the difference between the criminal and
the innocent. You cannot tell by
looking. Our law requires that the only way you can
tell is by evidence that is more than
suspicion.
Do soldiers sometimes kill the
innocent ones while they are seeking and fighting
the insurgents? Yes, it does
happen... but seldom intentionally!
Do our law enforcement officers
sometimes kill the innocent while pursuing the
evil ones? Yes, it does happen...
but seldom intentionally!
Can these incidents ever be
completely eliminated? Probably not... if the Peace
Keepers are going to survive the war
of good against evil and preserve or restore
peace when it is broken.
Our view of death in this society is
devastating. It is even more devastating when it
catches us unawares and surprises us
by taking someone who is close to us
unexpectedly, tragically or by
violence in accidental deaths or by intentional violence
at the hands of lawless
perpetrators. Generally the people with whom I deal in death
situations see death as the end...
terrible and evil... devastating.... And I must admit
that the loneliness following the
death of a loved one can be a most trying and
sometimes very difficult time...
sometimes even to people of strong faith. I have
made that journey, personally,
several times and I know. I made it many times when
I had no strong faith to sustain
me... I have made it, personally several times with
those the closest to me and I do not
know how those who have no strong faith
survive it. Some do not survive it.
In this city on Friday morning there
were four death cases during the early morning
hours. I was the only chaplain
available and I was called to handle the needs of
people in two of those cases. This
is one of the duties of a street chaplain that is on
call 24/7. Some calls turn out to be
a blessing to both the chaplain and the people...
but those times are infrequent.
Usually there is much sadness and grief...
Sometimes the grief is terribly
devastating... even more so than usual, if there can
be anything usual in handling such
death cases. The chaplain can do only what
the survivors allow to be done. The
principal duty of the chaplain is to sit or stand
and wait... wait to see what else
needs to be handled after the initial contact with the
grieving survivors. Sometimes the
body of the deceased cannot be handled and
moved or removed for a couple hours
or more... and the deceased remains...
sometimes in a central part of the
home and in plain view of all within the home if
they are allowed to stay there or
enter there.. The pain keeps recurring because of
the unpleasant appearance and
presence of the deceased... and the chaplain is
charged with shadowing the
survivors... trying to comfort them in these less than
desirable conditions... and shield
the investigating officers from interference as well
as assist the investigators in any
way that they might need the chaplain's assistance...
Comforting the bereaved and running
interference for the investigators... sometimes
for hours on end.
For the 78 deaths listed in the
introduction... one or more chaplains were involved in
each one from Iraq and and the
jurisdictions here at home through the many places
of the incident's affectation right
up to the open grave or the interment of the remains
... through the volleys of shots in
the closing salutes... through the fading skirl of the
pipes... through the last trumpeted
note of Taps... and through the ensuing hours...
sometimes many hours of grief and
adjustment for the survivors following the
departure from the place of interment.
Often chaplains are not identified
with the actions of life in the minds of those who
one day will need them... in many
minds they are identified only with death and pain.
One of my first nicknames was "Dr.
Death" because that was the only time some
of those people saw me. They never
came to any of the places where they could
see me in a different light or in a
different duty... So committed chaplains go into the
field with the troops and law
enforcement so that they can see that we are people of
flesh, blood, faith, duty, laughter,
hunger and sometimes anger... so that they might
see that we can be pleasant and
reliable company even in difficult places and trying
events. Chaplains to Peace Keepers
do not just sit in offices waiting for the troops
to come to them. They get out among
the troops. They seek to be supportive of the
Peace Keepers... talking with them...
sometimes being the butt of their jokes that
they make on us just to see how we
will react.
Many times chaplains are tested just
to see if they can be discouraged and if they
will run away. This is an amazing
place to be... among Peace Keepers... when you
are expected to be one who represents
peace and rejects war and all that has to do
with any kind of war... whether it is
a foreign battlefield or on the field with law
enforcement officers... as they do
their assigned duties of preserving, protecting,
patrolling and sometimes fighting.
My Operations Manual For Life states
that the representatives of authority, the
Peace Keepers are God's Servants for
our good... that they are Ministers of
Rightness... that no one need fear
them if the people do right but that those who do
wrong should fear them because they
do not bear and wear the weapon for nothing...
that the Peace Keepers are His
Ministers of Rightness to execute His wrath upon
the wrongdoer. (See Romans 13:1-8)
Chaplains are His Peace Makers to be
among the Peace Keepers for the good
and welfare of the Peace Keeper,
principally, and the citizen secondarily. It is our job
to bring peace and good news to the
Peace Keeper and the citizen when there are
times in their lives that threaten
the peace and well being of either the Peace
Keeper or the citizen. Peace Keepers
are our parish. We are assigned among you
because He very deeply cares for and
about you and your loved ones. So do the
chaplains care very deeply for and
about you. Even when the times are not tough or
difficult, welcome the chaplain among
you. One day that chaplain might turn out to
be the very person carrying the very
help that you need.
As you do all that you do... "BE VERY
CAREFUL OUT THERE!" Be alert, watchful,
suspicious and wary. Do your utmost
to take the very best of care of and for you as
you do your duty. Be attentive to
your spiritual needs. Your spirit needs to be strong
and healthy just as your body needs
to be strong and healthy.
Call or write if I may be of any
assistance.
As it has always been... So it still
is...
"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO
WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN."
Sun tzu
ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS
SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE
OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT,
BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!
WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND
RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE
ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as
you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using
all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and
keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean
to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law
and ethics... it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil
as possible in the process.
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can
and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for
the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace
Keepers,
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified
Police Instructor,
757-431-2190,
chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA
23452
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Copyright: CHAPLAIN CORNER (DRS)
2006. All rights reserved.
May not be duplicated without
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