Chaplains in the military have a wide variety of chores.

 

They conduct worship services, do counseling, attend to their bereaved brethern - and occasionally need to steer a commanding officer in the right direction.

 

Those were the stories imparted by two chaplains, the retired Navy Chaplain Bradley Thom, and MN Army National Guard Chaplain Steve Timm, who shared time with the 10th annual assembly of Veterans and supporters at Saron Lutheran Wednesday.

 

Many of their stories came from their experiences serving with the Armed Forces in Iraq, a hell on earth for those fighting - and those being fought over.

 

Thom, a 26-year veteran serving the Navy and Marines, recounted, with some humor, a troublesome situation at his base in Fallujah.

 

Hannukah was being observed and his base awaited the arrival by helicopter of the Jewish priest to conduct the services. But the helicopter passed overhead and kept going.

 

He and his office were on the spot. Jewish Marines were coming in from the field and services were to be held.

 

So, they were. Thom remembered the Jewish have candles and wine for their ceremony, so “I raided the Catholic priest’s closet. We got wine and candles.”

 

(Raiding the Catholic priest’s closet for the necessary items drew a chuckle from the crowd.)

 

With some intense listening regarding procedures, Thom and his crew conducted Hannukah services for the Marines.

 

 “We got through the service that night,” he said. “We needed to provide for our own.”   

 

He remembered the 10 p.m. knock on his door as he was stationed on a ship in the Persian Gulf.

 

 It was a bad call, he said.  The eight-year-old daughter of one of his sailors, the ship’s barber, had passed away due to heart conditions back in Mississippi.

 

“But they said she’d be okay,” the sailor wailed. Thom spent the night conforting him and helped make arrangements so the young man could be airlifted back to America to tend to his family.

 

The soldier was a Muslim, and that presented opportunities for Thom to navigate a world of different faith and family tragedy.

 

At 29 Palms, the Marine training base in California, there was a crib death to the child of a Armed member. 

 

“We cared not only for the family, but for the commander,” he said, intending that counseling doesn’t only go to the rank and file, it also goes to the leaders, who often need guidance of their own.

 

“The needs of the Marines are many and diverse,” he said. And with a more diverse world and military, the necessities of serving parallel that.

 

Steve Timm, the Becker resident now serving a Clearwater church, spoke  of his 16-month tour to Fallujah with the Army, in 2006-07.

 

The tour was a continued tangle of enforcing American military values while appreciating those of the country people.

 

“Islam?” he said. “There are different types. You really need to know the religion of the area. What are their holidays and our need to interact with Islam. And to tell our leaders to ‘stay out of that cemetery’.”

 

He carried no weapon but ran the risk of being shot at while serving with ground troops.

 

“I had the helmet and body armor,” he said. His unit, comprised mainly of Minnesota troops, suffered significant causalties.

 

“We gave out 52 purple hearts,” he said. “And there were six KIA - none of them were over 21 years old.”

 

All killed by roadside bombs.

 

A suicide bomber one day hit a mosque nearby. Timm was soon at the scene.

 

“Seeing mothers hold their children as they died. By the grace of God, we were able to bring some comfort.”

 

During their 16 months in Fallujah, their base was rocketed an average of once every three days.

 

Their tour, prolonged by four months because they were needed there, finally ended in July, 2007.

 

 “And there was hope for home. But these troops needed to make home work again. There was a trickiness in that.

 

“We came from dust and death and ugliness in the desert and the soldiers wanted to come home to where the people will ‘love me’. ”

 

The welcoming-back ceremonies were a God-send for the troops. As his convoy left Camp McCoy, WI and approached the Minnesota border, they were met by the beloved Patriot Guard, who escorted them instate.

 

Timm was living in Red Wing at the time. As he approached the community in his personal vehicle, a welcome-home parade greeted him to welcome him back into the loving arms of his home town.

 

“The welcome home is so critical,” he said. “This is how you tell people in uniform that it matters.”

 

Wednesday’s service was graced by the musical presence of Mary Ebanks and her BLHS Chamber Singers and Choir. They led the assembly in The Star Spangled Banner and  a special rendition of The Ground.