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Jim Bramlett
Nov 11, 2004
Dear friends:
In the editorial section of my local newspaper this morning was a column by Army Lt. Colonel Michael McGurk, in Iraq, about some children there, and a chaplain. Below is a touching excerpt:
_______________________One of the chaplains from Baghdad had been out on a tactical mission, visiting the soldiers. On the way back in, the chaplain asked the soldiers if they wanted to stop by the small Post Exchange for supplies. The soldiers jumped at the chance.
While walking to the Post Exchange the soldiers and the chaplain were approached by several small children. You have seen these children, as have I. In the streets of Vietnam, Korea, Somalia and Haiti. Large eyes and a shy smile. They speak the English patois of the street: "You want gum G.I.?" "Give me candy?"
There is an unwritten law that chaplains always have candy. One of the children approached the chaplain, and looked at the cross on the chaplain's helmet, where the rank is found on other officers.
In a quiet voice the child asked, "Christian?" The chaplain answered, "Yes," and the child asked again, "Messiah?" and the chaplain said, "Yes, I believe in the Messiah."
The child then reached under the thin T-shirt and pulled out a cross, showed it to the chaplain, then quickly kissed it and put it away, making the universal sign to be quiet to the chaplain. The chaplain smiled and nodded in understanding. The child wanted us to know they were Christian too, but in Baghdad, such a proclamation too often invites death or a beating.
Why are we here? It is not to bring Christianity to Iraq. But it is to bring freedom: freedom to follow whatever religion you practice, or none at all. Freedom to walk the streets of Baghdad and to live in peace.
Why are we here?
I think of the men who died on the beaches of Omaha, and the children of Baghdad, and I can't answer why others are here.
But I know why I'm here.
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