Army chaplain helps soldiers understand the true meaning of loving their enemies
By Carol Pipes
Working out of a portable operating room, Chaplain (Maj.) Tommy Vaughn helps his soldiers cope with the daily interaction they have with the enemy. No, they’re not fighting the enemy; instead they are providing expert medial care for them. It gives a whole new meaning to Christ’s command to love your enemies.
Vaughn is senior hospital chaplain for Task Force 115th Medical out of Fort Polk, Louisiana, stationed at Camp Cropper Hospital and Detainee Facility outside of Baghdad.
“It can be a struggle,” Vaughn says. “Some are thinking, ‘I’m not sure I want to care for this person who may have just caused the death of one of my battle buddies.’ I help them balance those emotions.”
The mission of the hospital at Camp Cropper is to care for the detainee population being held there. The hospital staff provides every possible treatment you’d find in a civilian hospital in the states including optometry, physical therapy, dental, ICU, orthopedics.
They also treat U.S. and coalition soldiers and contract workers, but it’s a small population compared to the detainees who are their primary mission.
“The mission is a little easier for believers,” Vaughn says. “ I remind them we're to love our enemies, to meet their needs. In that provision of a cup of water, or in this particular case the medical care you're providing, you're being a light for Christ.”
Changing hearts and minds
One area of progress in Iraq is the treatment of Iraqi detainees. U.S. commanders have found that the average detainee is an Iraqi civilian motivated to action by mere survival. In many cases, a number of factors contributed to the average detainee’s arrest; illiteracy, fear of reprisal, underemployment and the need for cash are major contributors.
A simple farmer, just trying to feed his children, can make quick cash for an act as simple as carrying a gas can across the road. The farmer may or may not know if the item is intended to be an explosive. Al-Qaeda has also been known to use youth as well as mentally disabled adults to carry out their dirty work.
At Camp Cropper, U.S. guards separate “low-value” detainees from what they consider hard-core terrorists into separate holding areas. Detainees wearing bright yellow jumpsuits and plastic sandals can be seen saying prayers, reading and playing table tennis behind the chain-link fence and razor wire.
Working with the Iraqi government, the U.S. military offers detainees incentives to abandon jihadism and opportunities to become a productive member of society including vocational training, education programs, payment for work at the camp, family visitation, even sewing and art classes. Chaplain Vaughn has helped to bring in local Imams to make weekly visits and give spiritual encouragement to detainees that are hospitalized.
One of the clerics told him, “I expect you to provide for my physical needs, but I did not expect you to care for my soul.
“That translates into something so much more than he understands, because I truly do care for his soul.”
These actions are making a difference, according to Executive Officer John Garrity. By providing proper medical care and teaching them how to read and teaching them vocational skills, the U.S. military is not only making a difference in the life of the individual but that translates into better relationships with Iraqi civilians. When family members visit the detainees and see the care they are receiving, they take that information back to the neighborhood or village where they live.
Word is getting out that the Americans are here to help.
“We are slowly changing the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people,” Vaughn says.
Mending spirits
With so much interaction with detainees, stress is a major factor in the lives of soldiers called on to provide medical care.
Chaplain Vaughn is meeting the needs of a wide variety of faith groups through regular chapel services—a contemporary protestant service and a liturgical service—as well as Bible studies and accountability groups.
He’s also started some fellowship-based ministries. With the pounds of coffee he’s received from companies like Starbuck’s, he started Operation Caffeination. These morning coffee breaks are a welcome distraction from the daily grind.
Another favorite pastime among soldiers is the Friday Night game nights held in the chaplain’s office.
“People come out to play board games, Wii and the X-Box,” Vaughn says. “It allows them the opportunity simply to hang out with their co-workers.
Hopefully, the more they get to know me, the more comfortable they’ll be coming to me when they have problems.”
Chaplain Vaughn has seen many of the game night visitors trickle into Bible studies and services as a result.
Vaughn also stays busy with one-one-one counseling sessions.
Vaughn helps soldiers deal with the stress of the job as well as the stress of being separated from loved ones for such a long time.
But even Vaughn isn’t immune to the feelings of loneliness and missing his family.
“There are few that understand that the chaplain hurts, too,” says Vaughn. “My wife has been such an invaluable support throughout all of this, even though it’s difficult on her and on my daughters. We’re in this journey together.”
Even though the journey is long, Vaughn is dedicated to meeting the needs of those serving with him in Iraq and teaching and discipling them so they can go out and be a light in their own particular world.
“God is doing a work here. Eyes are being opened to who He is.”
Carol Pipes is editor of On Mission.
Camp Cropper Hospital and Detainee Facility – Two nurses take a break from their work at the combat support hospital at Camp Cropper. The men and women who serve with Task Force 115th Medical take care of the medical needs of Iraqi detainees and U.S. service members.