Padre's / Chaplains
Welcome to the forums.
I don't remember any good stories about Military Chaplains / Padres right now, but I can certainly comment on their (your
) usefullness.
I don't know how you work in Australia, but here in Norway a military chaplain is normally doing much more than just "preaching the word of God".
Soldiers (and officers as well) normally don't like to talk much about their personal problems with their superiors and colleagues, so the Chaplain is often used in cases like that, regardless if the soldier/officer is religious or not.
Chaplains often gets a lot more thrust than us "normal" officers, so I've often sent soldiers that I've felt that didn't want to tell me the whole story to the Chaplain, and in most of the cases we've been able to solve the situation (to the best for all of us) together.
I'm not a very religious person myself, but I would certainly say that having a (good) military Chaplain around is very important for a unit.
I don't remember any good stories about Military Chaplains / Padres right now, but I can certainly comment on their (your
) usefullness.I don't know how you work in Australia, but here in Norway a military chaplain is normally doing much more than just "preaching the word of God".
Soldiers (and officers as well) normally don't like to talk much about their personal problems with their superiors and colleagues, so the Chaplain is often used in cases like that, regardless if the soldier/officer is religious or not.
Chaplains often gets a lot more thrust than us "normal" officers, so I've often sent soldiers that I've felt that didn't want to tell me the whole story to the Chaplain, and in most of the cases we've been able to solve the situation (to the best for all of us) together.
I'm not a very religious person myself, but I would certainly say that having a (good) military Chaplain around is very important for a unit.
FO Seaman
Active member
Redleg said:Welcome to the forums.
I don't remember any good stories about Military Chaplains / Padres right now, but I can certainly comment on their (your
I don't know how you work in Australia, but here in Norway a military chaplain is normally doing much more than just "preaching the word of God".
Soldiers (and officers as well) normally don't like to talk much about their personal problems with their superiors and colleagues, so the Chaplain is often used in cases like that, regardless if the soldier/officer is religious or not.
Chaplains often gets a lot more thrust than us "normal" officers, so I've often sent soldiers that I've felt that didn't want to tell me the whole story to the Chaplain, and in most of the cases we've been able to solve the situation (to the best for all of us) together.
I'm not a very religious person myself, but I would certainly say that having a (good) military Chaplain around is very important for a unit.
Ditto.
In the CAP/USAFAUX each squadron has it's own Chaplain. He not only preaches the Word of God, he helps resolves personal problems, home problems, work related problems and is an all around buffer between cadets and senior members.
Strangely I and my cadet command where discussing last week how much help our Chaplian was and how much he does. I really like his Moral Leadership Classes, they usually turn political but it is very interesting to hear everyone's opinion and veiws on religious and political subjects.
I also found it strange that a number of cadets wanted to be the Chaplian's Assistant or was interested in becoming a Chaplian's Assistant at this years Encampment. We did have a superb Chaplian at the encampment, he was awesome. For the first three days you wheren't allowed to talk during chow For the last four only during dinner). Unknown to all of us, if the Chaplian sat at your table and started to socialize everyone at the table could talk. The subject was mostly politics, religion, current conflict's, and other things, I forget what it is called, when the Chaplian sits at your table and your able to socialize.
DTop
Active member
Welcome Padre. I could probably recall a few stories about the Chaplains that I have had the good fortune to have met. Many of the stories are not of the funny variety but there are a couple that still make me smile.
One is about a young Chaplain that was assigned to my unit in Vietnam. He happened to come from a home town near mine so we had some things in common and we hit it off right away. Usually, we didn't often see Chaplains around much out in the remote firebases. This Chaplain was different though, he'd be out there more often than any I had seen any before him. I think that because we didn't see Chaplains very often, we considered them just another rear eschelon type and were kind of suspicious when they did show.
I was assigned to the heavy mortars at the time and we would regularly come under enemy fire and our outer perimeter was being compromised almost nightly. As a result, everyone was practising noise and light discipline. In the mortar platoon we would practice our "silent fire missions" where none of the commands were verbal. We would practise this during the day so that we'd be proficient at night.
Anyway, this new Chaplain would come around and seek me out to talk to. He'd ask about everyone in the platoon and I would direct him to anyone who needed to talk to him.
One day while we were doing one of those silent fire missions, he showed up. He sought me out and started to talk to me. He had his back to the guns when the signal was given for the mission to start. I signaled him to be silent and tried to signal him that the mission was about to commence. He wasn't used to the signals I guess and when the four guns went off he jumped so high that he lost his balance, slammed into me and I tried to catch him but he ended up landing in some paint that we had around and was virtually covered with it. After finding that he was physically OK, we laughed so hard. In fact the whole platoon laughed. From that day on he was "Padre Paint" and he became very well liked. The guys looked forward to his services and would ask for him when he couldn't come to our AO.
Unfortunately Padre Paint was killed when his chopper was downed while he was on his way to another fire base. After I came home, I looked up his family and told them how well liked he was. We all had a laugh at how he got his nickname.
One is about a young Chaplain that was assigned to my unit in Vietnam. He happened to come from a home town near mine so we had some things in common and we hit it off right away. Usually, we didn't often see Chaplains around much out in the remote firebases. This Chaplain was different though, he'd be out there more often than any I had seen any before him. I think that because we didn't see Chaplains very often, we considered them just another rear eschelon type and were kind of suspicious when they did show.
I was assigned to the heavy mortars at the time and we would regularly come under enemy fire and our outer perimeter was being compromised almost nightly. As a result, everyone was practising noise and light discipline. In the mortar platoon we would practice our "silent fire missions" where none of the commands were verbal. We would practise this during the day so that we'd be proficient at night.
Anyway, this new Chaplain would come around and seek me out to talk to. He'd ask about everyone in the platoon and I would direct him to anyone who needed to talk to him.
One day while we were doing one of those silent fire missions, he showed up. He sought me out and started to talk to me. He had his back to the guns when the signal was given for the mission to start. I signaled him to be silent and tried to signal him that the mission was about to commence. He wasn't used to the signals I guess and when the four guns went off he jumped so high that he lost his balance, slammed into me and I tried to catch him but he ended up landing in some paint that we had around and was virtually covered with it. After finding that he was physically OK, we laughed so hard. In fact the whole platoon laughed. From that day on he was "Padre Paint" and he became very well liked. The guys looked forward to his services and would ask for him when he couldn't come to our AO.
Unfortunately Padre Paint was killed when his chopper was downed while he was on his way to another fire base. After I came home, I looked up his family and told them how well liked he was. We all had a laugh at how he got his nickname.
Missileer
Active member
Welcome Padre. I don't know if anyone remembers the T.S. card but every time someone in the Battery had a gripe, the ranking man would tell him to go get his TS card punched by the Chaplain. Most new troopers would usually question this thinking that he didn't get all his paperwork when he left basic training. The older troops would carry this to great lengths saying"yeah, you should have a card with squares around the edge with the appropriate problem in each square and you take it to the Chaplain and he'll punch it for you to show you completed your gripe session." It didn't take them long to realize the hoax was a "Tough S***" card. 
Good posts everyone. When I was training they showed us a video of padres who served in Vietnam. One retired padre told how one day some of his brigade came back to base from a few days leave from a near-by provincial town. The soldiers headed straight to padre and said "Padre, you would have been proud of us, we did a very good and Christian thing." What was that? asked the Padre. "You would have been so pround of us they repeated, "We tore down a damn brothel!" The Padre raised a suspicious eyebrow as he knew these soldiers well and was surprised. "You did that did you?" said the Padre. "Yes Sir" they said, "Nobody should be allowed to charge prices like they did and bloody get away with it!"
Bory
Active member
The only War Story my pop every told me, was when he was posted up on Thursday Island in WWII, They had been put on full alert, this was about a week before Coral Sea, so they were really worried.
Well one night pop got a bit on shuteye, and the next morning, he woke up and there was a chaplin standing over him. Pop had no idea how he got there, the enitre camp was in was locked down, and this chaplin had snuk in, and was staning over this Bren Gunner for about an hour. The rest of his platoon thought it was pretty funny.
Pop then said to me, "those Sky-Pilots, don't know how they got there, but they were always there when you needed them"
Well one night pop got a bit on shuteye, and the next morning, he woke up and there was a chaplin standing over him. Pop had no idea how he got there, the enitre camp was in was locked down, and this chaplin had snuk in, and was staning over this Bren Gunner for about an hour. The rest of his platoon thought it was pretty funny.
Pop then said to me, "those Sky-Pilots, don't know how they got there, but they were always there when you needed them"
DTop
Active member
That reminds me of another thing that happened to me. I was on patrol one night in Vietnam when we made contact with an NVA unit. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital (not just the aid station but a regular hospital). I really don't know how I got there but I opened my eyes and there was a Catholic Chaplain administering the last rites to me! I was surprised to say the least. In fact, it scared the beejeebers out of me.
I didn't want to interrupt the good Father so I figured I'd let him finish and then maybe I could find out how long I had left. After he finished his thing he called me by another name. I said Padre, that not me. He apologized and moved to the next bed. I told him that if I had been as bad as he made me think I was, I might have just gone over the edge when I saw him there giving me the last rites. :shock:
Believe it or not that was not to be the only time I woke up to see a priest giving me the last rites. Now it's called the anointing of the sick but I swear it could wake me up from a coma. :lol:
I didn't want to interrupt the good Father so I figured I'd let him finish and then maybe I could find out how long I had left. After he finished his thing he called me by another name. I said Padre, that not me. He apologized and moved to the next bed. I told him that if I had been as bad as he made me think I was, I might have just gone over the edge when I saw him there giving me the last rites. :shock:
Believe it or not that was not to be the only time I woke up to see a priest giving me the last rites. Now it's called the anointing of the sick but I swear it could wake me up from a coma. :lol:
Italian Guy
Milforum Hitman
Sweet, D Top 
bulldogg
Milforum's Bouncer
I remember a chaplain at Fort Sam who was airborne qualified and had recently been reassigned from Fort Bragg if I recall correctly. He came around to our company and introduced himself and told us of his open door policy should any of us feel we needed to talk to someone outside the normal chain of command. He was a fit and tough looking 50 something soldier and it was hard to believe he was a chaplain when compared to the few other examples we had about. I do recall going to see him once as I was not a religious person by any stretch but felt it was safer than going to one of the 91G's over at the TMC. Better to be thought religious than nuts I figured. Anyways after hearing me out with barely a nod or sound I finished getting it all off my chest. He was silent a minute and then proceeded to give me the most "fatherly" arse chewing but I left that room feeling pretty damn motivated. It was exactly what I needed to hear at the time and I still fall back on it when I get down in the jaw today.
03USMC
Active member
The one Padre I really remember was had been a Grunt with 1/5 in Vietnam. Got out went to the seminary and came back as a Chaplin.
He'd always be out the field with us. Not in the Bn CP, he'd make the rounds. Always with the enlisted and he and his Chaplins Asst. humped their own rucks.
The incident that sticks in my mind was a raid ex on San Clemente Island cold, rainy and generally nasty as San Clemente often is. The ceiling was so so low that the helo's could only put us in way north and our objectives were at the south end. That meant a pretty good forced march to clear the objectives on time.
I saw the Padre hump Base Plates and Tubes for the Mortar Monkies and Guns for the 31's and even take his turn helping out the Dragon gunners .
But the thing that sticks with me the most was just after we were inserted. The Skipper of my company was going over the maps and informing us where we were and how far we had to go. when the Chaplin pipes up.
" You know why the Rotor Heads put us in here right?"
Captain shrugged.
"Cause any farther North and they'd land in the ocean. And 46'S don't float worth a s :cen: ."
I laugh about that to this day.
He'd always be out the field with us. Not in the Bn CP, he'd make the rounds. Always with the enlisted and he and his Chaplins Asst. humped their own rucks.
The incident that sticks in my mind was a raid ex on San Clemente Island cold, rainy and generally nasty as San Clemente often is. The ceiling was so so low that the helo's could only put us in way north and our objectives were at the south end. That meant a pretty good forced march to clear the objectives on time.
I saw the Padre hump Base Plates and Tubes for the Mortar Monkies and Guns for the 31's and even take his turn helping out the Dragon gunners .
But the thing that sticks with me the most was just after we were inserted. The Skipper of my company was going over the maps and informing us where we were and how far we had to go. when the Chaplin pipes up.
" You know why the Rotor Heads put us in here right?"
Captain shrugged.
"Cause any farther North and they'd land in the ocean. And 46'S don't float worth a s :cen: ."
I laugh about that to this day.
Charge 7
Master Gunner
My favorite chaplain was the last one I served with in my old artillery battalion. He was a very eager person and like others have mentioned of chaplains in this thread, he preferred to be with the troops rather than at HQ. A Catholic priest, he nonetheless took great strides to meet everyone's spiritual needs. I remember hearing him speak in Hebrew to one troop and talk about Taoism to another.
Anyway, his love of being with the men lead him to start to enjoy many of the things they did. This came to an apex when he discovered their raiding parties. Each night at ARTEP the boys would get together some adventurous souls and go off to checkout neighboring units' security measures.. Sleeping sentries had a red magic marker line drawn across their throats, unsecured weapons "disappeared" (though brought back later), maps and pertinent papers would "disappear" as well. They even "kidnapped" a sentry once just to see how long it would take before anybody knew he was missing (4 hours). Who was the most enthusiastic member of these raiding parties? None other than our chaplain. Small wonder he was affectionately known as "Father Rambo".
Anyway, his love of being with the men lead him to start to enjoy many of the things they did. This came to an apex when he discovered their raiding parties. Each night at ARTEP the boys would get together some adventurous souls and go off to checkout neighboring units' security measures.. Sleeping sentries had a red magic marker line drawn across their throats, unsecured weapons "disappeared" (though brought back later), maps and pertinent papers would "disappear" as well. They even "kidnapped" a sentry once just to see how long it would take before anybody knew he was missing (4 hours). Who was the most enthusiastic member of these raiding parties? None other than our chaplain. Small wonder he was affectionately known as "Father Rambo".
The Cooler King
Godfather
Great stories guys! :thumb: