Baghdad, Iraq, Nov 11, 2010 / 11:36 am
Confronting one's own mortality on a daily basis can be overwhelming, but deployed servicemen take comfort and strength from prayers offered on the home front, according to Army chaplain Father Brian Kane.
Fr. Brian Kane, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, is presently deployed for the second time in Iraq. He is Chaplain for the 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade and oversees four battalion unit ministry teams which serve over 1,400 soldiers across the country.
“It is humbling for me to serve such a dedicated group of men and women every day,” he told CNA in a Thursday e-mail interview. “To put on the uniform, to stand and salute when the National Anthem is being played, to fold the flag after it has been draped on the casket of a fallen soldier, these are all privileges of those who serve.”
Deployed troops share the same spiritual needs as those at home, but the unique characteristics of life in a combat zone add other stresses.