God's Warriors

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Oddly enough, when I was in the Air Force I had very little contact with chaplains. I wasn't much of a church-goer for a very long time, much to my regret these days. I think I went to church less than a handful of times in over 24 years. Yes, I'm making up for that these days, thanks to The Missus Herself.

That being said, I have always had a lot of respect for the clergy. I think Mom and Dad (mostly Mom) made sure of that. Truth be told, many of the men of the cloth I met over the years were good men and good pastors. Church was just something I wasn't ready for until I was in my mid-40s. (Not that my faith in the Lord ever lapsed. Let's just say that I had some odd ideas about religion for a very long time.)

Now I say "men," I have met one very good female pastor in my travels, she was the pastor at my Dad's funeral. My Mom, being something of a traditionalist, didn't think women should be pastors. The pastor at my Dad's funeral was the pastor of my Mom's church (mine as well when I was nobbut a lad) and she hadn't been to services in ages. After my Dad's funeral Mom returned to church. She still didn't think women should be pastors but was willing to admit that this particular pastor was very, very good at what she did.

The military clergy have always impressed me. Ministering to young men and women in peace and in war is not an easy job. I cannot imagine the agony they feel when having to give someone Last Rites who has yet to hit 30 years of age. I have written of these men before (apologies but until fairly recently they were all men) here, here, and here.

I've known three really good military chaplains since I retired, I count two of them as good friends and the other baptized my youngest granddaughter aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) out in Sandy Eggo a few years back (which I wrote of here). He not only baptized my granddaughter but provided some very good religious guidance to my son-in-law during one of his many deployments. A fine man of God right there.

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These men and women minister to those who are at war in a very meaningful way. In perhaps the toughest times any of those fine folks will ever see, the chaplain is there to comfort and guide. Sometimes though, the chaplains themselves are caught in the middle of battle and become casualties themselves. Here is the story of one of those fine men.

Father Henry Timothy "Tim" Vakoc, Major, US Army
January 8, 1960 – June 20, 2009

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A good man, gone too soon.