Memorial Day Remembrance

Remember. Who we are and who we want to be grows out of who we have been.

The war against evil has been waged as long as history has been remembered. Those who seek to harm others for selfish gain or sometimes out of pure desire for power or even as pure manifestations of hatred seem to always be with us. Between the forces of evil and destruction stand those who put on the uniform of service who apply force as necessary but always with honor and integrity obedient to higher values and in service to all people and to peace. Evil must never be tolerated. It often cannot be reason with. Compromise with evil has never proven effective. Often the price is great.

2500 years ago a huge force of Persians (from the area of modern day Iran) sought to invade and destroy Greek civilization (the cradle and birthplace of western civilization and western values of liberty). A small force of 300 Spartans and some 700 Thespians stood in the gap at Thermopylae to slow the advance and allow the Greeks time to muster for defense. They were slaughtered to the last man. But their sacrifice was key to the preservation of Greek culture from destruction by Persian forces. It has made all the difference. For out of the long tree of history planted in Greece arose the values of liberty and freedom. Buried in the words of great Greek thinkers, concepts such as these would spring to life as they were rediscovered and developed during the enlightenment and would give birth to the founding principles of our nation.

Remembrance. Why have we fought? Why do we fight? And what is worth fighting for? And what can happen when a civilization is unwilling to pay the price for its own defense?

Very soon I will transfer to Arlington National Cemetery where I will place many brothers in arms in their final resting places. It will be a profound privilege to honor those who have sacrificed of their lives to defend our nation and the principles upon which it is founded. Most of those funerals will be veterans of the greatest generation which fought against the tyrannies threatening the world in World War II. And perhaps there will be fellow warriors from this generations struggle to lay to rest. I am grateful for them all and for the sacrifice of all, living and dead, for their country. I am honored to counted amongst their company in some small way. They remind us of who we are, who we have been, and most importantly: who we should be.

Air Show 2007

F22 Raptor


Sheeeew! The Airshow is over! And the base heaves a sigh of relief, for a great deal of very hard work goes into preparing for the Andrews Airshow each year. This is my second time running point for the Chapel staff for the Airshow here at Andrews, and we ramped it up this year. Our team worked to prepare for disaster response in case of an accident, which thankfully was not called upon. We worked to host representatives of the various Chaplain Services as they were present to visit with show attendees. And our team put together a worship service on the flightline. Then closing out, up bright and early reporting at 0600 this morning for a FOD walk picking up debris from the flightline so that the various aircraft could safely depart. I have a day of rest tomorrow, for which I am truly thankful.

Once again the Airshow was a great success. Friday was somewhat chilly and threatened rain, but it never developed. Saturday and Sunday were perfect. Sometimes cloudy, but very temperate. And the performances were top notch once again.

Several highlights stood out to me. This being the 60th anniversary of the Air Force, there were many vintage aircraft flying, some pictured here. The best was the new F22 Raptor demonstrating its phenomenal maneuverability. Truly an impressive aircraft. Andrews was the second base to have this flying demonstration. The Thunderbirds closed out the days with their impressive acrobatic maneuvers. A must see if you ever have the chance.

Sunday morning, our team held a combined Protestant service in one of the Hangers. Our Senior Protestant chaplain preached and out newest team member put the service together and sang a great duet. It was truly a blessing to see many guests from the airshow and several service members here from other locations joining with our regulars for worship.

I also want to extend my thanks to the Army Chaplain Corp Recruiting service and to the Air Force Reserve Chaplain Recruiting service. We set up a booth representing the work chaplains do and these two groups had representatives there meeting people and describing the work of chaplains to those visiting the airshow. We had our own 316th Wing Chaplain display and gave out a pile of free books and literature that we had worked to secure. I have to thank the 316th CES squadron too for exceptional support in securing chairs for our worship space and the 316th Services squadron for loaning us a gator to remove our worship items following the service. Andrews demonstrates the meaning of "team" at every corner.






Flash and thunder. The birds are in the house - the Joint Service Open House 2007 that is.













The first Air Force demonstration teams... yesteryear still flies.











Nice example of precision flying. As much as I love jets, I grew up on stories of WWII prop planes. I love to watch these guys in action.











The Navy was in the house. F-18 Super Hornet buzzes the field.












Yes, those are people hanging from that helicopter.












Gotta love it. Watching this WWII bomber fly over Andrews, made me feel as if I had been transported back to our not so distant past. Here is a bird that helped liberate Europe from the Nazis. Inspiring as we fight a different kind of war for the same liberty.










Thunderboldts in a cloudless sky. Early WWII fighter. P-47













B-25 (Billie) Mitchel medium bomber. Another instrument in the defense of liberty in the hands of those who are named the greatest generation. May our own generation defend liberty with such honor and dedication.

This is the class of plane flown off the Carrier USS Hornet in the response bombing raid against Tokyo only months after December 11 showing the Japanese War machine it was not safe from US war power.




The P-51 taught us what can happen when you have Air Superiority and dominance.

I hope we don't forget it.

A True Honor

Sometimes, one is handed an opportunity that touches one's spirit in humility. Serving as a minister of God and as a chaplain offers many opportunities to serve. I am touched every time someone opens up to me and allows me to have some influence in their lives.

While I was deployed I remembering hearing of a fellow Air Force officer who was killed at my location some time in the past during a rocket attack. Yesterday, I baptized his grandson, who was named in his honor. Not only have I served with him here and in my deployed location, but the family is also from my church body, the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod. The day was a special day for me as I was able to meet many people in the family including his widow, his mom and dad, his daughter and other family. His parents had traveled from Minnesota and his wife's family had traveled from Washington State for the baptism. It was a true privilege and honor to provide this service to his family.

Reflecting on military service

My family's trip back to Tennessee, the first in two years, had us comparing our new lives in the military with the life of parish ministry. We found ourselves missing our friends and the area we lived in. DC has some great advantages in things to see and do, but the county surrounding our base is in a high crime area and there are serious doubts about the quality of the schools. We are blessed to have some great teachers for our daughter in school now, but I hear of concerns from folks with older children. But there are huge benefits too. Living on base is like living in Maybury on the Andy Giffith Show.

Last night our neighbors came over in mass to help us celebrate my wife's 40th birthday. A big surprise for her, as she thought I was too busy and had forgotten. One of our neighbors was conspicuously absent, and upon investigation, we found she is in the hospital with complications regarding her pregnancy. We were able to round up the calvary to support her family, even as the neighborhood is celebrating and rejoicing in the arrival at home of another child who a month ago was on a heart and lung machine. We miss our friends, but we have made some great new ones. The neighborhood is overflowing with children, a huge blessing for our own children to have someone their own age to spend time with.

Work continues to be a blessing. The pace is stiff. And speaking of stiff, we had unit PT Wednesday and I decided to see what I can do with a mile and a half. My time is down from last year and I was stiff and sore following, which tells me in the six weeks I have until my PT test I have some training to do. If Stallone can get in shape for his latest Rocky movie, I can do this too as an old man! ;)

I'm going to have to contend though we loosing a few days out from PT. I'm going to get to experience military medicine next week as I have wisdom teeth cut out. The down side is I still have stuff that has to be done, so I suspect I'll be making my way into my office to accomplish a few things, though on some good pain killers I hope. But it is all good.

I was also blessed this week to speak with a friend who is still serving in Iraq where I was deployed. I rejoiced in his promotion and his being able to come home for some time with his family. And O, if you read this, the fudge is on the way. My wife and I shipped him and his unit 15 pounds of homemade fudge. The fudge she sent over last fall left a lasting impression with some folks.