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At Peace with War
A Chaplain’s Meditations from Afghanistan
Harold Ristau
At Peace with War
A Chaplain’s Meditations from Afghanistan
Copyright © 2012 Harold Ristau. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Wipf & Stock
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199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
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ISBN 13: 978-1-62032-370-0
eISBN 13: 978-1-63087-392-9
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
These journal excerpts are dedicated to all Canadian chaplains who have faithfully served overseas or supported the rear party back home.
“The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten’’
(Calvin Coolidge)
Lest I Forget
Undeserved though I be,
divine compassion shown to me.
Forgetting remains.
Mercy sustains.
Hell reveals.
Heaven conceals.
Undeserved though I stay,
neglecting, recalling, yesterday.
Preface
George Orwell is credited with saying, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.’’ It is easy to judge war while sitting on a couch and listening to reporters expressing their biased opinions through our television sets. Yet this quote reflects to me the necessity of warfare and the military. The legalized application of violence is a necessary evil. Nobody wants war. Nevertheless, sometimes, it is unavoidable. To say that Canadians ought not to fight in a war that has no immediate impact on our national self-interests is clearly selfish. Most of our military personnel realize this. The men, women and families of the Canadian, American, British and other coalition Forces sacrifice themselves daily to do the work of all the citizens of our nations in establishing better lives for those in need. Despite the pessimistic attitudes of many civilians in regards to our foreign affairs, there have been changes for the better. After being deployed twice to Afghanistan, I have witnessed them with my own eyes. Still, these changes come at a cost.
The reflections recorded in this book are derived from the journal that I kept after spending approximately 300 days in theater, working with both the Army and Air Force. As a chaplain I spent several months working in the hospital on the main base on KAF, and also worked with medics on the front line. I have been deployed outside the wire to all sorts of bases: from medium size FOBs consisting of anywhere between one to three hundred troops, to tiny Strong Points or House Platoons in which approximately a dozen Canadians abide. As a Christian chaplain, I cannot but help to filter the world through the eyes of my faith, nor would I want to see it in any other way. Accordingly, these writings do not only offer insights into our Armed Forces’ experience in Afghanistan, they also manifest the devotional reflections of a Lutheran pastor. I have discovered spiritual treasures tucked away in the lives and experiences of the common soldier. These soldiers are a priesthood, practising a vocation as holy as any other. Although some sadly regard them as sub-human killers, I believe that they bring to us insights into a divine language that some lack the courage to hear.
Publishing a journal while our troops are still deployed is a delicate matter for an officer of the Canadian Forces, due to the possibility of breaching security measures that could put at risk the lives of our soldiers. For this reason, I have included only the entries which could not, in any way, jeopardize our ongoing mission in Afghanistan. Furthermore, for the most part, I have not used the real dates or places in order to protect the identity of those that have served, and shared, with me.
Glossary
AO: Area of Operation. Each NATO Force is designated a certain region of the country for which it is responsible.
DFAC: Large cafeterias on KAF.
KAF: Kandahar Air Field. One of the main NATO bases in Afghanistan from which most operations are led.
CoC: Chain of Command. Every member and unit of the military is responsible to a hierarchical arrangement of supervisors and officers.
FOB: Forward Operation Bases. Bases within an area of operation that consist of anywhere from a couple to a few hundred personnel.
IED: Improvised Explosive Device. Massive mines constructed of yellow household jugs of cheap and easily accessible yet dangerous chemicals. The mines are hidden beneath roads, in trees, under bridges or in walls of compounds, and are designed to explode when an individual or vehicle triggers the pressure plate.
CF: Canadian Forces.
CO: Commanding Officer of a military unit.
Padre: A synonym for chaplain. It is Spanish for “Father.’’
SOP: Standard Operating Procedures are military rules.
ROE: Rules of Engagement determine the limits and freedoms of the use of violence. They may change many times during the course of a mission based on developments in the war.
OTW: Outside The Wire. Large bases are surrounded by barbed wire or sand walls. Risk and danger increase significantly on the other side of those barriers.
Ramp Ceremonies: A funeral-like parade commemorating the deceased members of the Armed Forces prior to their shipment home. Before leaving the KAF, public prayers are offered, bagpipes are played and a eulogy is read while the body is carried up the ramp of the aeroplane, offering soldiers a last chance to say goodbye. Normally representatives of all allies are present. During battle seasons, these ceremonies may occur several times in a day.
RPG: Insurgent rockets usually bought from China or the former Soviet Union.
Pashtun: An ethnic group located in South-Western Afghanistan. Pashtuns pay no allegiance to either Afghanistan or Pakistan, and have been labelled “the devils of the desert’’ for their ability to conquer foreign armies with minimal technology. Most of the insurgents, such as the Taliban, belong to this cluster of tribal groups.
SAF: Small Arms Fire.
Theater: Another way of saying “in the battlefield.”
Jirga: Local community meetings in which the decisions made by the majority are binding on the rest.
KIA: Killed in action.
LAV: A military vehicle designed for transporting troops.
War Diary
August 3
Just a few feet outside the building where I sleep lie the graves of two small children. Their bodies are covered with a blanket, but their bones have begun to pierce through the material after having been exposed to the elements over the last six years. When the Canadian soldiers first arrived here, they found the children hanging in this old abandoned school in which we now sleep. With them were dozens of deteriorating corpses of other Afghan children, slaughtered by the Taliban. Their crime? They attended school. Now they are buried on the other side