Those original four chaplains were written up on the front page of the Chronicle Herald yesterday in Halifax (the paper has sent a team to profile different aspects of soldiers lives)
BZ to Trinity and the trainers......they are now seeing their efforts bear fruit.
When the troops just need someone to talk to
Military padres helping soldiers cope after a week of unspeakable losses
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian troops in Afghanistan are struggling to cope with the deaths of eight soldiers in four days.
Two soldiers were killed and a third was seriously wounded when their Coyote reconnaissance vehicle hit a roadside bomb and flipped Wednesday 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city. Another six died Sunday when their light armoured vehicle detonated a massive pressure-activated bomb in the Maywand district of Kandahar province.
"Under the circumstances, morale is good," said Maj. Malcolm Berry, the senior Canadian chaplain in Afghanistan. "We’ve been hit hard, but look where we are."
Soldiers are turning increasingly to their padres, looking to make some sense of the recent killings.
"We are seeing a significant amount of people and I would say, as the days and weeks go on, we will see even more," Maj. Berry said Thursday.
The best way for troops to deal with the grief of losing their friends is to talk among themselves, he said.
"We want them to get the story out that metabolizes the experience for them."
Canadian soldiers are resilient, due to the deep bond they feel with each other and the training they’ve received, he said.
It will be difficult for some of them to face two ramp ceremonies for fallen soldiers in quick succession, Maj. Berry said. But it’s something that has to be done.
The recent spate of attacks won’t stop the five Canadian padres here from trying to get outside the wire as much as possible.
"We’re combat chaplains," Maj. Berry said. "We have to be out there. That’s where the soldiers are."
Padres regularly don flak jackets and leave Kandahar Airfield in convoys of armoured vehicles to talk to soldiers in the field.
"All of our chaplains are covering our ministry in the forward observation bases at the pointy end where the soldiers need to have ministry and they need to have care," he said.
"Right now, up to 70 per cent of our time is spent rotating through the forward operating bases."
That’s a change from what happened with chaplains who accompanied the last rotation of Canadian troops, said Maj. Berry, an Anglican priest.
"They went to the (forward operating bases) periodically. But essentially it was one chaplain, the battle group chaplain, who was always out. In this team, we’re sharing the load with one another and we’re all doing our bit to be out there with the soldiers."
Based in CFB Gagetown, N.B., Maj. Berry is the first Canadian primary reservist ever to lead a chaplaincy team in combat.
"It’s a huge opportunity."
He left his civilian job as the archdeacon of Moncton to come to Afghanistan.
"The impetus is there are a lot of Maritimers here. There are a lot of reservists on this tour."
As a fellow reservist, Maj. Berry said he can identify with the issues those soldiers may face, including all of the pressures at home and leaving their jobs, not knowing if they’ll be open on return to Canada.
Chaplains are one of the few people here in uniform who do not wear pistols or carry rifles.
"That’s probably the weapon," Maj. Berry said, holding up an epaulet that bears an image of the cross.
"Chaplains cannot bear arms. We are there, essentially, for the spiritual well-being of the soldiers."
For more than a month, the Canadian battle group has been involved in Operation Achilles, the International Security Assistance Force’s push to drive the Taliban out of northern Helmand province.
Since 2002, 53 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan.
( clambie@herald.ca)
