An excellent story about how four chaplains paid the ultimate sacrifice on U.S. Warship Dorchester in the North Atlantic, which was attacked in 1943. Read more here:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/veterans-recall-4-chaplains-who-made-ultimate-sacrifice-1.1574592

The article also talks about how "the chaplains brought more than prayer to the battlefield, they brought stability and hope." Do you know of a chaplain who helped you through a difficult time or difficult deployment? Please tell us about it.

Returning from the War Zone: Guide for Families of Military Members

An excellent link that helps families of veterans understand what their loved ones experienced while they were deployed, especially veterans that were in a war zone - which is practically every veteran these days. I think this will also be a helpful guide for our church as we strive to minister to the needs of veterans. We can't minister to veterans if we don't understand them.

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/reintegration/guide-pdf/FamilyGuide.pdf

One of the stats that struck me the most in this guide was the war zone experiences reported by members of the U.S. military in Iraq:

Being attacked or ambushed - 60 %
Receiving incoming fire - 86 % (!)
Being Shot at: 50%
Discharged weapon: 36%
Seeing dead bodies or remains: 63%
Knowing someone seriously injured or killed - 79% (!)

These stats were based on samples of troops serving in Iraq in 2006, a very bad time to be a U.S. Servicemember in Iraq.