I Will Go With You Into The Dark: Short Stories of the Alaska State Trooper Chaplaincy

By Debra Waltman

The Waltmans are both tireless advocates for the chaplaincy program, and I thank them for the open communication and supporting efforts they have continuously demonstrated over the years. Major D. Casanovas, Deputy Director, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage, Alaska

***

The example set by Chaplains Boyd and Debra Waltman brings great credit to themselves and the Alaska State Troopers. Investigator Sherry Ferno, Alaska Bureau of Investigation, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage, Alaska

***

Chaplains Boyd and Debra Waltman demonstrated compassion and unwavering dedication and are true testaments of service to others before self. Casandra Byrne, former Executive Secretary to the Commissioner of Public Safety, Anchorage, Alaska

***

In Alaska's cache of treasures, AST Chaplains Boyd and Debra Waltman and the AST Chaplaincy Program are shining gems, lifting up Alaska's finest law enforcement officers, their families, partner agencies, and the communities they serve. Jennifer Burkmire, Executive Director, The Children's Place CAC, Retired, Wasilla, Alaska

***

Anyone desiring to serve as a law enforcement chaplains should read this book. Chaplain Boyd Waltman, Advisor Alaska State Trooper Chaplaincy

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publication Consultants
• Release date: Jul 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781594335389

Debra Waltman

Debra Manning Waltman was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Alaska in 1981 with her husband, Boyd, and their two sons. Debra was employed by the Federal Government in various agencies, including the FBI. She retired in 2008. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Sciences degree in Human Services/Psychological Studies. Both she and her husband, Boyd, are ordained ministers with the Association of Faith Churches and Ministers International, and reside in Alaska. Their nonprofit organization, Northern Lights Faith Ministries, Inc., was established in 1997 in order to assist law enforcement. Boyd and Debra currently serve as advisors to the Alaska State Trooper Chaplaincy.

Book preview

were.

Stories from the Field

Not from the Movie Deliverance

It was minus 20° or more, and I was taking a newly recruited Alaska State Trooper Chaplain to the Palmer and Mat West Posts, called B Detachment. B Detachment includes Alaska State Trooper Posts in Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, and Glennallen, Alaska, commonly known as the Mat-Su Valley (short for Matanuska-Susitna Valley). This area is one of the busiest for our Alaska State Troopers (AST).

After introducing our new chaplain to the staff at the AST Posts in Wasilla and Palmer, dispatch called saying a chaplain was needed–an unexpected death.

We received directions from Dispatch and arrived at the home. It looked more like a barn. I mentioned to the new chaplain before we went inside, Well, this should give you a good idea of chaplaincy work. As we entered the house, we had to step over the deceased, who was covered with a blanket and lying right inside the door. We were told by the AST the deceased was a male about 40 years old and lived with his mother. Apparently, her son had gone outside to chop some wood for the stove when he had a heart attack. They said we could find his mother in the kitchen; she was in a wheelchair. The mother had seen him fall and somehow wheeled herself outside through the snow to the woodpile and pulled him inside the door. We were both amazed, wondering how she managed to get herself through the deep, ice crusted snow and drag him inside the house in her wheelchair. She was over 80 years old.

There were joists across the ceiling so that the mother’s 30 or more feral cats could walk back and forth overhead as they pleased. Dirt and grease mounded on the counter and stovetop, and the home was dimly lit. There was no insulation in the walls or running water. As I walked through the house, eerie shadows seemed to follow me everywhere. Down the chilly hallway were strange religious symbols carved on the walls. I was uncomfortable.

There was a turkey cooking in the oven and wood smoldering in the stove. Two coroners, emergency services, three AST, and one neighbor congregated with us in the barn-like structure. The body was starting to have an odor, and I wondered, What is the new chaplain thinking?

The mother of the deceased was sitting in her wheelchair with her head down. Her clothing included filthy sweat pants, a coat and gloves, and snow boots. A tired and dirty crocheted hat was pulled down over her ears, and the lines in her face were filled with soot. Our new chaplain immediately walked over to her and asked if he could pray for her. She said that she couldn’t because she was of a certain religion. Being sensitive to this, the chaplain asked if she knew the Lord’s Prayer. She said yes, and they recited it out loud together. The new chaplain was working out perfectly; I was just glad he hadn’t decided to run out the front door!

I assisted the AST, and let the chaplain gain some experience by ministering to the mother. The AST asked me to go into the bedrooms and pull out any ammunition or prescription drugs I might find in the bedroom dressers, because they had found several guns propped up against the wall. Using a flashlight, I proceeded to go through the old wooden dresser drawers and hoped a mouse trap wouldn’t take my finger. I found some boxes of ammunition and a few bottles of prescription drugs. Again, I noted strange religious symbols carved on the bedroom walls. It looked like mother and son were etching and scraping the wood into some type of religious shrine or timeline. I came back to the living area and placed what I had found on the table with the rest of over 20 prescription bottles. AST must collect all prescription drugs in the home and account for every pill. (Several times in the past I had gone back to the Post with AST and helped count pills until the wee hours of the morning.)

Too many people were congregated in the old woman’s house, and I could tell she was getting agitated. At one point she yelled, Everyone, get out of my home! There really were too many people there, so I asked the AST if some people should leave, but everyone was