Chaplain David Waweru, originally of Nairobi, Kenya, now serving as the brigade chaplain for the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas, takes a moment to pray during a religious ceremony at Forward Operating Base Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.

You may have guessed by his accent that Chaplain (Maj.) David Waweru is not native to the United States of America. But, where is he from? How did he find himself serving in the U.S. Army and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom?

“I was born and raised in Kenya, Africa, in a small village about 20 miles west of the capital city of Nairobi,” Waweru, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade chaplain. “I went to primary school in the village and later went to high school in Nairobi.”

Waweru, now a resident in Harker Heights, Texas, said after graduating high school, he began working for local church organizations. One job in particular, he said, jumps out at him as the most memorable.

“The job that really stands out to me is when I worked for Campus Crusade for Christ,” Waweru said. “This job stands out to me because that is when I had a lot of time with American missionaries, and I believe that is where my interest in coming to the United States began.”

Waweru said he worked there for 2.5 years working with local church workers teaching them how to plan church services and build churches.

It was during his time with Campus Crusade where Waweru said he felt the call to become an ordained minister for his church, the Anglican Church in Kenya. He then left to begin school at the Bishop Kariuki Bible College in Kabete, Kenya, to train for ordained ministry.

While he was attending the college, Waweru said he met his wife, Christine, who was born in the United States, but raised in both the U.S. and Kenya. David and Christine had been attending the college for the same reason, to become ordained ministers.

He said they began getting to know each other and eventually started dating. However, their time together didn’t last as long as they would have liked.

“One year later, Christine was offered a scholarship for a school in the United States,” he said, “so, she took it and returned home to the United States to continue her education toward her bachelor’s degree in Christian ministry.”

Waweru, still in Kenya attending the Bishop Kariuki Bible College, continued his education and kept in touch with Christine through letters and phone calls every once in a while.

Waweru completed his degree at the Bible college and transferred to St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya, to obtain a bachelor’s in divinity. All through this time, David and Christine kept their relationship strong even though they were on opposite sides of the world.

“I think this time apart helped us build trust,” Waweru said, “and I feel this was good training that helped me in becoming a chaplain in the years to come.”

He also said he believes, even though he had no way of knowing at the time, this time apart was preparing him for his three combat deployments with the U.S. Army.

Christine returned to Kenya during David’s second year at St. Paul’s, and they decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. On Dec. 3, 1988, David and Christine made their vows to each other and became husband and wife.

“We got ordained at the same time,” he said, “and began ministry together at the Anglican Church of Kenya.”

After a few years, the Waweru family picked up and came to the United States together and David continued to further his education at Princeton University, N.J., to obtain a master’s degree in theology.

“While I was at Princeton, I met a U.S. Army chaplain who was studying the same program. He and I became good friends during our time together, and throughout that friendship,” Waweru said, “I guess he was recruiting me into the chaplain’s corps.”

Upon graduation, Waweru said he faced two choices, to continue his ministries in the church, or to become a chaplain in the United States Army.

“I decided to try a new venture,” he said, “so I decided to become a United States Army chaplain.”

Waweru received his commission as a first lieutenant on July 4, 1994 and is is now a major on his third combat deployment, and his first to Afghanistan.

His first was to Iraq in 2005, followed by his second back to Iraq in 2007.

Today, he is in Afghanistan with the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, serving as the brigade chaplain on FOB Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.

His mission is to keep the soldiers of the brigade strong and help them through their times of trouble.

“It is never easy,” he said. “It is always hard to be away from family. With this being my third deployment, I have been better able to prepare myself and help others through my experiences.”

The chaplain wants soldiers to know if they need anything, he is here to help them.

“I offer encouragement and insight based on my experiences,” he said. “I encourage soldiers to work on their relationships while they are away from their families, and I encourage them to be spiritually fit.”

At the end of the day, Waweru is happy he made the decision to become a chaplain when he could have otherwise made the choice to minister in the church as a civilian.

“I enjoy my ministry in the Army,” he said, “I love soldiers, I love talking to soldiers, interacting with soldiers. I love being part of a bigger family than myself. We will suffer being away from our Families together, and we will pull through it together.”

Story by Spc. Darryl Montgomery
DVIDS

Captain Dale Goetz and his wife, Christina

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. All were based at Fort Carson, Colo.

Killed were:
Capt. Dale A Goetz, 43, of White, S.D. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, of Cypress, Texas. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, of Canton, Ohio. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36, of Conover, Wis. He was assigned to the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group.

Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26, of Huntington, Ind. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

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AIP

The official message from the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army through the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Navy:
It is with my deepest sympathy and utmost respect that I announce to our Chaplain Corps that Chaplain (CPT) Dale A. Goetz was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 30, 2010 while serving as the Battalion Chaplain for 1-66th Armor Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. Dale was one of five Soldiers killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while traveling in a convoy near Kandahar Province. Chaplain Goetz is survived by his wife, Christy, and by their three sons- Landon, Caleb and Joel.

Chaplain Goetz is the first military chaplain killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. Dale was a selfless servant of God, a devoted husband and father, a strong American patriot, and a compassionate spiritual leader whose love for Soldiers was only surpassed by his firm commitment to living his calling as a United States Army Chaplain.

Please join with me in prayer for Christy, Landon, Caleb and Joel as we mourn with them in the loss of Dale, our fellow Soldier and Unit Ministry Team member. Let us also strive to honor Dale’s sacrifice with a continuing bold commitment to ensure the finest religious support and pastoral care possible for our beloved Soldiers and their Families.

May God bless the Goetz Family and the Families of all our Fallen Soldiers; and, may God bless our Army and the United States of America.

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KDVR Fox 31

Vonnie Lucas, a member who sometimes baby-sat for Goetz and his wife, says news of his death is devastating. She says the 43-year-old Goetz had “a heart for people.”

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Argus Leader

“He was definitely very passionate about his job, and the reason he became a chaplain is because he wanted to see soldiers trust in Jesus Christ,” said the Rev. Jason Parker of High Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs. “Even his death put the seal on his desire that men would see that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.”

Goetz, his wife, Christy, and their sons, Landon, 10; Caleb, 8; and Joel, who will turn 1 this month; joined the church in July and were voted into membership Sunday, the day before he died. The family moved to Colorado Springs in January from Okinawa, Japan, where he previously was stationed. He was deployed July 25 to Afghanistan, according to military records.

Until joining the Colorado church, the family had remained members of First Baptist in White while Goetz was stationed at various places, said Vonnie Lucas, a member who sometimes babysat the couple’s two oldest boys. The church kept in contact with Goetz, who served the church from November 2000 to December 2003.

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Houston Chronicle

Goetz, who was in the Chaplain Corps., entered the Army in January 2000. He was deployed to Iraq from November 2004 to September 2005 and was in Afghanistan since July 25. He received the Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

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Oregonian

Goetz grew up in Hood River, an athlete whose first job was at an old-fashioned dairy where he processed milk and sold ice cream at a drive-up window, Ashby said.

A year before he graduated in 1986, he prayed with his principal, Oscar Stenberg III, and another student to receive Jesus Christ.

“From that point, it was like a light was on in him,” Stenberg said.

Goetz enlisted in the Air Force, then went on to Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis. He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree, according to the college website, and met his wife, Christina, there. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis in 2000. He was pastor of a church in White, S.D., until he joined the Army and began his work toward chaplaincy in 2000.

Hornell Evening Tribune
story by Rob Montana, photo by Lynn Brennan

June will mark four years since Father Patrick VanDurme first arrived in the Canisteo Valley — it also will mark his departure.

VanDurme, 42, made the first public announcement of his departure at Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. Mass at St. Ann’s Church, and will tell parishioners the same thing at this morning’s worship service.

He is leaving to become a full-time Army chaplain, and will be entering three months of basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., starting June 8. VanDurme said the decision did not come lightly, but felt it is something he’s being called to do.

(more…)

Silver Star WW II: Hoehn, Martin C. HQ, XX Corps, G.O. No. 40 (1944)
Silver Star Korea:

Father Hoehn was a chaplain with my father’s unit in World War II. He and Dad resumed correspondence in the late 1970′s or early 1980′s. Fr. Hoehn won a Silver Star in both World War II and Korea.

Dad’s story of the WWII award was this:

Father Marty was part of an HQ convoy that was ambushed by some Krauts from a grove of trees. Father Marty always carried a .45. He rallied the cooks and clerks, hollered “Let’s get the bastards!” and led a charge that routed the Germans.

The Korea award was for his actions in the long walk back from the “frozen Chosin”.

Chaplain Martin C. Hoehn, Roman Catholic, serving with a portion of the 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, was later awarded the Silver Star for his heroic service and encouragement to the wounded.

Link 1…Link 2

Chaplain Hoehn remembered “In the morning after the medical company ambush, an improvised force of infantry and tanks began to go forward. I had not started with them, but the S-3, Anderson, told me to try to bring back wounded from the ambush…I was with CAPT Drake and GEN Hodes at the time. There was no snow, thus no tracks to follow to find wounded. I remember GEN Hodes remarking that the enemy used smokeless powder. It disgusted me to see the enemy, some in civilian clothes, squirm around in open patches on the hills. No one could shoot as we were riding away as rapidly as possible.”

From Chaplain Hoehn: “The enemy was now on the ridges above us. LT Hensen of Tank Company had led a small unit against the enemy up the hill from the schoolhouse. We were sure he had been killed, as the enemy propped his body against a tree to induce us to come for a wounded comrade. In any case, we considered it a decoy and no one took the bait.”

Link