Wiesbaden Honors 239th Anniversary of the Chaplain Corps

WIESBADEN, Germany (July 29, 2014) -- Nearly 100 Soldiers, civilians and family members gathered at the Little Italy Restaurant on Clay Kaserne to celebrate the 239th anniversary of the U.S. Army Chaplains Corps.

Over the years, more than 25,000 chaplains have served in the U.S. Army as religious leaders for Soldiers and family members. Hundreds of Army chaplains have lost their lives in battle and seven have been awarded the Medal of Honor.

"Chaplains have always had a special relationship with their command teams," said Chaplain (Col.) Carleton W. Birch, chaplain, 5th Signal Command. "It was on this very day in 1775, the Continental Congress authorized chaplains for the Army regiments."

From military installations to deployed combat units, chaplains and chaplain assistants perform their ministries in the most religiously diverse organization in the world.

Chaplain (Col.) Rodney A. Lindsay, chaplain, U.S. Army Europe, spoke briefly to the audience and introduced the event's guest speaker, Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Europe.

After being introduced, Piatt very casually walked away from the podium and engaged the audience without the use of a microphone.

"Hey chaplains, after 239 years, happy birthday," said Piatt. "I know the chaplains who have served in the past and those who are currently serving today are not doing it to be remembered. They are doing it to continue building that moral foundation for us so we may preserve liberty and peace."

"War is mankind's worst creation and it takes a special person to be able to navigate through complexities of warfare," said Piatt. "The best thing we can do to prepare ourselves is to work on our moral navigation."

Piatt shared a few stories with the audience from his time in Afghanistan. One story he shared was about a Soldier who was manning the turret atop a military vehicle, when a young Afghan boy threw a grenade at him.

According to Piatt, after barely avoiding the blast from the grenade, the Soldier instinct fully turned the turret and aimed his weapon at the young Afghan boy, but chose not to fire.

"In ten seconds, he made a decisive decision by not acting," explained Piatt. "All the Soldier kept saying afterward was there were too many friend-lies in the area. Now you won't find that in the doctrinal manual, but you will find it in the values that are built into a U.S. Soldier."

Piatt shared a few more stories of Soldiers using value-based decision making, but revealed later, it was only to highlight why he believed the Chaplain Corps is so vital to the U.S. Army.

"We allow our Soldiers to maneuver through the complexities of warfare and drawl from their own values," said Piatt. "But, sometimes compassion is much stronger than violence and this is where the chaplains play a key role. Occasionally we will lose our moral azimuth and chaplains really help us to get back on track."

As the sound of applause filled the room, one Soldier in particular was especially appreciative for the sentiment offered by Piatt.

"We have been at war for over a decade and there are Soldiers out there who are carrying around a lot of stuff," said Birch. "We are here to help them unload their rucksacks. This is such a nice reminder for chaplains and chaplain assistants, because this is who we are and this is why we serve."