WASHINGTON -- U.S. Army chaplains conduct church services, provide emotional and spiritual care for Soldiers, families and others. To serve as a chaplain is often considered noble. For a handful of chaplains who serve inside the walls of Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia, these duties extend to organizing and facilitating up to 20 daily funerals, as well as providing ongoing pastoral care to the families of the deceased.
The latter are the duties performed by Chap. (Lt. Col.) Grace Hollis, the cemetery's senior U.S. Army chaplain.
The position of "chaplain" has existed before the writing of the U.S. Constitution. Congress did not formally make service in the chaplaincy an official position until July 29, 1775.
More than 240 years later, Hollis said that the cemetery's chaplains' work helps bring families a sense of closure.
Hollis, who has been at her post for one year, said that she felt a calling to do Christian service and it led her to attend The Interdenominational Theological Center, where she later received a master's degree. After graduation, she was "blessed" to get an internship at a mental institution, she said.
In 1998, she became a military chaplain following encouragement from another military chaplain.
Some 16 years later, she leads a cadre of chaplains at Arlington National Cemetery, who each year interact with hundreds of families who have lost loved ones.
"It's an honor," she said, sharing sentiments of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall-based chaplains who were featured in a July 21 Pentagram article. "You get joy when you are able to hear a family member say that you have a done a great job in honoring their family member. You get a lot of joy when you are able to walk with people during that difficult time in their life. It's an honor when you get embraced by the family members."
The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)'s Regimental Chaplain, Maj. John Scott, shares the "honor" sentiment of Hollis.
"I think people might expect it to be depressing and things like that," said Scott, who served with Hollis as a chaplain for two years at the Arlington National Cemetery. "And it is difficult, but because of having the honors of what Arlington means to the family, it really is an honor for me."
A TOUGH BUSINESS
Being a chaplain whose sole responsibility is to organize and eulogize the dead is a tough job--and it is for multiple reasons.
Hollis said she, along with her staff of six Army chaplains, conduct about 20 funerals a day. This number can fluctuate depending on the season, according to Hollis. There are more funerals in the summer than in the winter, she said.
Over the last couple of weeks, the National Capital Region has experienced high heat and humidity. She said the heat has been troublesome for the chaplains performing outdoor services. Thick, wool-blend uniforms are great for trapping heat. Despite this, Hollis and her team of chaplains have to carry on with their mission: honoring those who have fallen.
"It can be very taxing," she said. "[But] we make sure we hydrate."
She also added that funerals can be very unpredictable.
"Sometimes a family minister may be scheduled to conduct a service, but may not show up," she said.
Hollis and Scott said that each funeral service is customized for the individual who is being buried. This takes special skill and insight, according to Hollis.
"I have to make sure that I capture the essence of the individuals, acknowledge the service they have rendered while at the same time trying to bring peace and solace to those who are grieving in a matter of seven minutes, so it's not as easy as people think it is," she said. "It takes a lot of wisdom and insight."
Scott--whose job requires him to provide resources and spiritual support to Soldiers who perform ceremonial roles at the funerals--said that doing funerals is particularly hard when you are burying someone young or who was on active duty. Hollis agreed. She said that it can be difficult seeing the family members of the deceased struggle to cope with the reality that their loved ones aren't coming back anymore.
Once, when Scott served as a chaplain at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, he was conducting a funeral service for a 40-year-old woman who had died of cancer. It is customary for chaplains to present family members with a folded flag and this one time it wasn't the same.
"Well, one of the flags that I presented was to a girl that was like 18 months old," said Scott, who rarely officiates funerals now. She didn't know, of course, at 18 months, what was going on, she was sitting on her grandma's leg, but you still present her that flag in a formal presentation and just that thought of that little girl of not ever knowing her mom is pretty difficult," Scott explained, tears welling up in his eyes.
STRENGTH, SELF CARE
Hollis said that it is in these times that she has to remain focused, because she has a purpose and that is to bring honor and dignity to the deceased.
Hollis and Scott both ascribe to a Christian worldview, which means they believe that death will come to all and that this life is not the only one.
"I know that there is more to this life," Hollis said. "This is not the end."
But how should chaplains care for themselves when they are in such high demand?
Former chaplain Kristi Pappas, who served with Hollis at Walter Reed National Medical Center, said that chaplains forget to take care of themselves because they are busy trying to care for other people.
Pappas, now a survivor outreach services support coordinator, said self-care is critical in order to continue to do the job effectively.
"It can wear on you," explained Pappas. "If you don't do self-care, you can get secondary illnesses, aches and pains. It can have a physical effect on you. For some people, if you are [encountering tragedy] a lot of times, it can cause you to go into depression."
She added that chaplains are not the only ones who endure a lot. The Soldiers who perform funeral-related services, such as pall bearers, also endure the realities of dealing daily with death.
"Young Soldiers are doing all kinds of funerals--they are doing retirees, they are doing active duty, and they are doing children. It can wear on you, especially when you are looking at the precision they have to do," said Pappas. "One of the first things you learn in the chaplaincy, is that you can mess almost anything up--you cannot mess a funeral up."
The importance of self-care, often referred to as resiliency, is vital. Building resiliency, the American Psychological Association suggests: that one can write about their experiences, be attentive to your own feelings, engage in activities that you consider to be relaxing, to name a few.
"Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events," according to the APA website.
For Hollis, her faith helps her to be resilient.
"I do rely on and trust the fact that God has called me to do this," Hollis told Lifezette, an online publication. "And He has equipped me--and that's what gives me strength, to be able to stand there and honor them [the Soldiers] the way that we do."
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