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Soldiers find faith in the face of fire

May-23-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune

MOSUL, Iraq – Gathered together in the renovated shell of an old Iraqi Army pistol range, a few dozen Fort Lewis soldiers and civilian military workers joined in singing Hymn No. 212 from the Baptist Hymnal.

“Souls in danger, look above, Jesus completely saves.

He will lift you by his love, out of the angry waves.

Love lifted me, love lifted me

When nothing else could help, love lifted me.”

It was a declaration of religious faith and an acknowledgement that they can’t go it alone. And on a day when they would learn two of their Stryker Brigade comrades had been killed overnight, they could use the lift they get each week at Transformation Chapel.

Sitting in church on Sunday morning provides a spiritual sanctuary but not a physical one for these men and women who deployed from Tacoma in October. Twice last fall, enemy mortar rounds struck near the chapel during services, peppering the side of the building with shrapnel and breaking eight window panes. Sheets of plywood with cutout crosses now cover those gaps.

Sgt. Anita Shaw is still amazed that no glass shards fell on worshippers inside. She says it was “God’s way of showing off.”

“You know he’s here to protect you,” said Shaw, who works in the 25th Brigade Support Battalion’s supply shop. “Even though you always have your buddy on your left and your buddy on your right, God gives you overall protection.” [...]

The article continues on to describe how the religious needs of Stryker Brigade soldiers are met.


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