Caregiving for the Enemy: The Raw Truth

By Stephanie Chandler D.Min.

This book contains strategies for navigating the battlefield of caregiving, especially when the caregiver becomes the casualty of war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636309699

Book preview

1

The Chaplain as Caregiver

I want to begin my story of caregiving by actually shifting focus away from personal caregiving itself to a profession, where the idea of caring for the enemy is in no way a metaphor or figure of speech but is a quite literal reality—military chaplaincy. While the contexts are different, caregiving and chaplaincy overlap in many crucial ways; and upon examining the heart and the service of chaplains, we can learn quite a bit about the spirit of caregiving as well. Furthermore, we can cling to real-life examples of people who have made the ultimate sacrifice to truly love and care for their enemies.

I, personally, have found my own path to chaplaincy through caregiving; and for me, it is difficult then to completely sever the two. Many of the postures of caregiving that are necessary to care for the enemy I have learned and honed my calling as a chaplain. I’m starting, then, by presenting some stories of incredible chaplains whom I admire, as well as my own story of being called to chaplaincy and finding myself in the caregiving role.

Oftentimes, society will overlook an important group of men and women that serve from the heart. They are an unstoppable force against the anxieties, troubles, and fears attributed to caring for someone. They are identified as chaplains of the United States Armed Forces. Their faithful service to the lives of those they encounter is undeniably difficult but can also be rewarding.

A military chaplain is not armed with weaponries for battle but is armed with the spiritual fortitude to care for those in battle. Their weaponry consists of faith, the Word of God, and the will to act—even while facing the possibility of seeing death. For instance, Command Sergeant Major James H. Collins in the article, No Greater Glory: The Four Chaplains and the Sinking of the USAT Dorchester, reminds us of the story of four chaplains. Though they were each distinguishable in their faith (a Catholic, a Jew, and two Protestants), they were among the finest examples of courage to God, man, and country. Each chaplain—John P. Washington, Alexander D. Goode, George L. Fox, and Clarke V. Poling—was drawn to the United States Armed Forces by the tragedy at Pearl Harbor.

On January 29, 1943, the USAT Dorchester departed St. John’s, Newfoundland, for its fifth north Atlantic voyage, hitting bad weather almost as soon as it entered open water. Its passengers were 597 soldiers and 171 civilians bound for airbases in Greenland. First Sergeant Warish was the senior noncommissioned officer aboard. German authorities had become aware of the convoy and sent four U-Boats to take stations along the route. One of those was U-233, commanded by twenty-six year old Lieutenant Commander Karl-Jürg Wächter floated on the surface and followed the convoy through the fog on February 3, 1943. Aboard U-233, torpedo man Erich Pässler prepared to fire three torpedoes. Within minutes, the three deadly fish were in the water heading toward the shadow creeping past at a distance of 1,000 yards. One of the torpedoes ripped into the Dorchester’s starboard side. The ensuing explosion rent a hole near the engine room from below the waterline to the top deck. The lights went out, steam pipes split, and bunks collapsed like cards one on top of another. The sounds of screaming and the smell of gunpowder and ammonia filled the air. The initial explosion killed dozens outright, and a wave of cold water entering the ship quickly drowned dozens more. Nearly one-third those aboard died in the first moments of the disaster.

Elsewhere on the top deck, one of the chaplains, Father Washington gave absolution to soldiers as they went over the side. He was urged to go over the side with the men, instead, Chaplain Washington remained aboard. Another soldier in terror repeated, I can’t find my life jacket. Chaplain Fox responded, here’s one soldier and removed his life jacket and put it on the soldier. In another instance, Navy Lieutenant John Mahoney cursed himself for leaving his gloves in his quarters. Chaplain Goode stopped him from returning for the gloves, saying, Don’t bother Mahoney. I have another pair. You can have these. Goode then removed the gloves from his hands and gave them to Mahoney. Many of the survivors reported similar encounters with one or more of the chaplains. They seemed to be everywhere on the deck until the very end, calming the men, organizing an orderly evacuation of the ship, and helped guide wounded men to safety. They helped as many as they could into lifeboats. Many survivors also reported that the four chaplains locked arms and prayed in different languages in unison, including Jewish prayers in Hebrew and Catholic prayers in Latin as the ship sank. On December 19, 1944, all four chaplains were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross.¹

Military chaplains have served in every war throughout the history of our country. Even as bullets are being shot from the enemies’ territory, chaplains are risking their lives to provide spiritual care to troops on the battlefield. Per the Geneva Convention, chaplains are considered noncombatant, which allows them to enter and leave prisoners-of-war (POW) camps at any time and prohibits them from carrying weapons. Chaplains are considered to be agents of peace in the midst of war. Not only do they serve those who are called friendlies, but their duties include serving the enemies as well.

In giving the same care to the enemy forces, the chaplains have to check their own moral compass in fulfilling their service to the Lord. They know and understand that there is a commitment to the call of God on their life. But what allows them to move forward in the service is God’s Word. Take, for instance, this passage: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16 KJV). The term whosoever includes any person, friend, or foe that requires the service of a chaplain. More importantly, this scripture is a reminder of God’s love for everyone.

Furthermore, God’s expressed desire is that not anyone should perish but that everyone comes to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). His desire places chaplains in the perfect position to extend and illustrate his love to all human beings; For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36 KJV). Be it a time for war or not, everyone should have an opportunity to give their lives to Christ and receive solace in the knowledge that God loves them.

In the early 2000s, U-233 First Officer Gerhard Buske was brought to Washington, DC, to speak at the Immortal Chaplains Foundation sixtieth-anniversary ceremony. Buske said:

We ought to love when others hate; we ought to forgive when others are violent. I wish that we can say the truth to correct errors; we can bring faith where doubt threatens; we can awaken hope where despair exists; we can light up a light where darkness reigns; that we can bring joy where sorrows dominate. That is what we should do in this time of human conflict, where hate and revenge will never create peace.

These words came from the heart of a man that was once an enemy, representing the lessons learned from the four chaplains. The chaplains shone light in the darkness upon witnesses that can never be forgotten in their hearts. Because they surrendered their lives to Christ and cared about the souls of others, in the midst of chaos, they died in service to him and gave hope to those who may have lost it during the attack.

There are too many wartime chaplains to mention in this book; however, I would like to point out another chaplain who demonstrated the point of this topic. In the book, Days of Anguish, Days of Hope, the author gives an account of US Air Force Chaplain Robert Preston Taylor’s life as a POW. The journey took place in March 1941, when 76,000 American soldiers surrendered to the Japanese in the Bataan Peninsula during World War II. I am also reminded of the Geneva Convention, chapter 4, article 33, which