Putting "Supporting our troops into action"

Music Video

Thanks to Rockie Lynne for his support of our troops and permission to use his song on our web site.

For more information about this patriot go to

www.songsforsoldiers.us

 

 

Checking in to let you know I have started receiving packages here at my new FOB.  I thank you and my Soldiers thank you for your continuing thoughtfulness.  My Soldiers are very familiar with Ralph Gebes as one person that has greatly influenced our unit's morale for the better.

Thank you and Batavia Cares.

 

    v/r

1SG MATTHEW J. SITES

A 5-3 FA

TF HOUNDAWG

 

  

Hello from the 203d ENG BN, FOB Sharana,

E. Paktika, Afghanistan

Task Force “Houndawg”

             

 

     To all my dear Friends and Family,

Hello again from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Sharana in East Paktika, Afghanistan.  This is my fourth newsletter to you, which ends a long dry spell where I have not been apt to write as I have found time tonight.  The past few months since my last newsletter have been very much of an army routine.  When I look back over the time, I mark mere rote routine, which I didn’t at the time think that you would be all that interested in me sharing.  I hope to inform you of a few things that have happened since my last letter to you all.

 

To my grandest delight and spiritual edification, the other day, not too long ago, a newfound friend on Facebook, from Mitchell High School posted the following Psalm on her Profile Page.  With keen enjoyment of the Psalm, I read that verse several times, with keen interest as though I had never read it before.  In light of year 2010, my first full year as a deployed US Army Chaplain, endorsed by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), I found benefit in the Psalmist appeal.

 

Psalm 61:1 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. OF DAVID. Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. 4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah 5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! 7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! 8 So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.

 

This is a great psalm of consolation to Soldiers who are separated from their family, estranged from the comfort zone that they once knew back in hometown America. Here you savor strongly articulated action verbs that are at the heart of communication.  For you Christians who adore Covenant Theology, there are verbal references of kingdom life in the estate of a mighty King!  These verbs:  hear, listen, call, lead, dwell, refuge, heard, given, prolong, endure, enthroned, appoint, sing, and perform.  Because of my enjoyment of this scripture, I felt compelled to share this with my fellow Soldiers, so I have read this Biblical passage in our Battle Update Briefing with all our Units leaders.  I am so honored that my battalion commander allows me about a minute starting the meeting to read scriptures like Psalm 61 and then my prayer for blessings of safety for our many Soldiers who are usually out on missions at this time.

 

The days are quite beautiful, the climate quite bearable.  Except for a terserainstorm complete with funnel clouds, the summer has been a dry, hot season.  Since I have profound lily-white complexion, I am glad that I have not been exposed to excessive sun.  The evenings out here invites off-duty folks to sit outside their huts and engage in hours of conversation.  There are people right now enjoying the cool night air, under a very lovely moon.  In fact I have half a mind to go out with my camera and take a picture of the full wonderfully blazon moon that right now sheds light upon the dark battle space of Afghanistan.  Indeed, I once did capture our moon on camera, but the picture merely looked like a white rounded ball, so the austere breathtaking pose of the illumined orb is meant to be enjoyed in “real” life, not in digits! 

 

I am pleased to say that we are beginning to realize the good news:  we are getting short!  My unit is scheduled to leave the battle space at around September (for security reasons, we can never give precise troop movements).  If this is true, we will fly to Bagram Air Base, Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Europe, and then finally Fort McCoy Wisconsin.  From there we will motor back to our unit in a myriad of places (Georgia, South Dakota, Washington, and Joplin, Kansas City).  Then from there, we will be free to resume life!

 

Interesting that I get comments from people who actually get on Google and try to locate FOB Sharana and it is true, what you see on maps are those contour lines that note great mountainous regions.  It is exactly where you will find where our Soldiers are stationed—in high mountainous elevations (with the exception that FOB Salerno, which is quite low in elevation, has a distinction of orange groves along the roads on the FOB, and the weather is hotter and has a climate likened to Mesa, Arizona. 

 

The Army Chaplain has a great benefit that I have thoroughly enjoyed that other Soldiers do not get to do: that being the responsibility to travel about the battle space and visit the many Soldiers whom I serve.  Consider that I will soon go to FOB Ghazni to visit our Georgia engineers (810th ENG CO).  Sadly, this unit lost one of their fellow Soldiers in an IED (improvised explosive device) detonation while conducting a route clearance mission, which is what our engineer (Sapper) warriors do weekly.  They mount up in vehicles that give new meaning to monster trucks.  Each vehicle is equipped with technology to assist these men to find buried IEDs.  Just like the Hummer was a fad vehicle after the HMMV All-terrain military vehicle took the place of the JEEP, we wonder if people will be able to one day buy their very own fully armored “Husky” all-terrain vehicle for a low-low price of $800,000 (cd/radio extra)!

 

We have been really quite successful as a Battalion as our Companies have gone out and found a very good proportion of these landmines.  It’s too bad that the ones that they don’t get cause great damage and sometimes ostensible injuries.  To date, our Battalion has suffered three warrior deaths, and numerous injuries such as concussions, facial cuts, bruises, and broken bones.  For all these injuries, I have great pride to say that I have had the opportunity to visit with them in the medical clinics.  I have good experiences of praying and consoling Soldiers who languished on stretchers in the clinic with all kinds of wounds suffered while on mission.

 

The Chaplain has profound responsibilities on and off the battlespace, but such duties intensify when a Soldier dies in combat, as we have been forced to bear recently.  I have been instrumental in instilling consolation, hope, and peace in the wake of horrible shock, grief, and painful loss.  All those years in Saint Louis, when I was on staff with the Missouri Funeral Honors Program as a chaplain, I learnt straight away the ministry of consolation and facilitating the healing process.  I have had the duty of leading Soldiers in procession of the flag-draped stretcher from the clinic to the helicopter where the deceased Soldier will receive a hero’s welcome back home.  Then I am tasked to provide a patriotic memorial address in a memorial ceremony, attended by all ranks.  Even today, I had a Soldier come into my office to discuss his anger since the loss of one of our Soldiers killed out on mission.  People here do wrestle with their mortality, and so this intensifies my chief task of giving hope in a place of despair, comfort where there is pain.  I will say that the Lord God, he who I minister in his name, has given me a certain dexterity to surpass my own fallibilities and strong inkling for failure and give men and women such encouragement and strength to overcome the misery of death, dying, and war.

 

I have had my hands full offering relevant and sound counsel for the men and women who share with me that their marriage is failing, that their spouse is unfaithful, the sadness of a child who doesn’t even remember who Dad is.  Last night a 2am, I was aroused from bed to deal with a Soldier who got a text message from his wife announcing her intention to divorce him in favor of another man.  This Soldier lashes out in anger informing her in a texted reply that he would kill himself and she will have to deal with that forever.  After contacting Red Cross, I intervened in this Soldier’s life.  Thankfully, he realized the utter futility of his actions.  I have worked with the unit leadership to develop a care plan to assist this Soldier in dealing with this tumultuous situation.  Last Friday, a Sergeant went up to his platoon leader and punched him, breaking his nose and forcing him to get treated at Bagram AB.  I spoke with him today and he has no idea why he did it, other than his angst and bitter anger toward the “war machine.”  I spent two hours with him today listening to this hurting Soldier, helping him find a path of hope to get through this difficult time.  I have teamed with the behavioral health community so that we can work as a team to offer comprehensive support when catastrophic incidents occur.  To date, we have a great program in place, and we are reaching out as best we can, giving stability to as many Soldiers as can be saved.

 

I am so gratified when a couple of Soldiers came into my office recently solely to ask how one could get right with God.  It is fulfilling to me witnessing God’s appealing love wooing people to come seeking the Lord God after running away like the prodigal son’s failed self-centered mission.  I find Genesis 1:27-28 very powerful to connection to the “Great Commission.”  It is a blessing to proclaim and realize that God’s divine design and purpose for our lives rests in this covenant decree to “GO” everywhere and conquer everything in Jesus’ glorious name!

 

Since July 2009, I have been preaching the book of Exodus, the pattern of God redeeming his people from the bondages of sin and sinfulness.  I just this month preached through Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.  This year has been exciting to plan and lead in over 30 chapel services and numerous Bible studies.  Last week Tuesday, I began a worship service for the Ugandans who have come to serve as escorts.  I so basked in this evening as these men truly love God, and they worship heartedly.  I had a great opportunity to visit Uganda back in 1994, when I studies at Covenant College, and so went with Biblical Professor Dr Krabbendam—what an awesome experience.

 

I shall now close this fourth newsletter asking that you consider the following ideas for prayer.  You can see the great need for God’s hand to move through the world and destroy the work of evil, wherever it is found.  I love praying the Lord’s Prayer, and so I preached this prayer last week at Chapel.  I just love the part of the prayer, “…Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…”  This is quite a telling prayer for God to bring the lifestyle of heaven down to us pitiful creatures on Earth.

 

Pray that I can honor the Lord God in sustained work as his ordained messenger.  I always fear that I will forget the testimony of John the Baptist, when he said, “I am not the Christ…” these are good words for me, the humble chaplain.

 

Pray for sustained ministry with men and women here that God will continue to woo people with his compelling and invincible LOVE.  May it be that I finish this deployment by greatly demonstrating God’s awesome love in good deeds and competent speech.

 

As I close this letter, may this sober letter remind you of our need of a loving savior to strengthen us, we who are faint.  May he take us and place us up in his high tower, so that we may be safe from the slings and arrows of this war-torn world we find ourselves in now. 

 

Thank you for encouraging me with love, joy, peace, goodness, and kindness.  Your gracious gifts to me are visible blessings of God’s invisible glory—seen by us through faith in Jesus Christ.  Nice to say that I will see you soon when we leave Afghanistan.  I cannot wait to visit and enjoy your company.

 

Very best wishes to you of the joys of Christian love, now and always eternal!

 

Love to all,

Bryan

        

 

Mr. Gebes,

 

   Thank you so very much for all you do not only for my soldiers but for all the soldiers deployed. Your contributions are greatly appreciated by all the soldiers here.

 

I want to also personally thank you for all the support you and your staff have given to my soldiers during the past 8 months.

Could you please send me an address so I can send you a certificate just a token of our appreciation the services you provide to soldiers.

 

Thanks,

1SG Joseph W. Jacobs

Sir,

 

  Yes, we do have females in our units, but not very many.  We might have a ratio of 1/100.  We are currently fully stocked on female hygiene products.  The Moral Patches are patches with special sayings or funning pictures or the sort.  They attach to the Velcro on our uniforms, bags, etc.  They can be really crude or just funny.  I won't suggest the real crude ones.  I appreciate any and all that can be helped with.  Thank You very much.

 

SGT Brewer