Atheist Marine became a Warfighter Chaplain

Marine turned chaplain explains roles of religious ministries
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Story by Cpl. Timothy Childers
April 4, 2014

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Captain Bill M. Appleton, currently the chaplain of 1st Marine Logistics Group, began his career, not as a commissioned naval officer, but as a recruit stepping onto the yellow footprints of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in 1976 and at the age of 17.

Appleton, who is from Philadelphia, served for 12 years active and reserve in the Marine Corps until he retired at the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. He accepted admission into the Navy Chaplain Kennedy Program in 1998, after feeling a call to ministry and has remained an active duty chaplain since.

Q: Why did you feel the calling to become a Navy chaplain?

A: “I was good at taking orders, I felt a call for ministry and ‘Aye Aye Sir’ was the only answer I knew. But truthfully, I came in an atheist and became a Christian from the invitation of a young fellow Marine. A year later, when I was stationed in Hawaii, I felt the call to ministry. I didn’t tell anybody because I couldn’t understand why God would call a Marine to be a chaplain. It seemed contradictory, a warfighter becoming a chaplain. Now I understand more fully. Now I can relate to my fellow Marines.
If they want to come and talk with me, they know they are talking to somebody that has at least walked a day in their shoes.”
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