Crucial time, crucial work for military chaplains

Crucial time, crucial work
Posted By Scott Fontaine on September 8, 2009


They often are too injured to serve with their unit by the time they arrive at Fort Lewis. Their war wounds from Iraq and Afghanistan have inevitably left them with lots of questions: about life, about morality, about spirituality.

Many go to Maj. Dale Forrester, the unit's chaplain since 2008.

"When you have a traumatic experience, questions about faith naturally pop up," said Forrester, who turns 63 this month. "The first one is always: Where is God in this? Is there a God?

"Now we're starting to talk about great, overarching issues, and they're all rational questions: If there is a God, does He care? If He cares, why me? How do I interpret what's happened? What is the meaning of life? Why is there death and injury if there's a good God out there? Why did my buddy die? And why was I spared?"

Forrester is the first to admit he doesn't have all the answers. But the north California native, who describes himself as a "moderately conservative evangelical Protestant," tries to help the unit's soldiers work through their issues.

A big one is the guilt of waging war.

"I've had soldiers tell me, ‘Chaplain, I can never go to heaven," he said. "You have no idea the things I've seen, the things I've done.' And to be able to talk to that soldier, and help him understand God better, they are then able to forgive themselves."
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Crucial time crucial work