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[ Background Voices ]
When you hear the stories of so many of these service men and women
and what they've been through and what they've overcome...
and what they've achieved, and the sacrifices they've made,
it's, it's an inspiration. It reminds you of what an honor it is to
really support them, and serve with them.
My name is Bill Cantrell, and I am a commander
in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps.
At Naval Medical Center San Diego, my ministry there,
I would say is perhaps the most challenging I've had since I've come
into the Navy. And, and I mean that in a very positive way actually.
I've had the opportunity to work with a number of combat veterans who
have really taken; their experience in the war has taken a toll on them.
Emotionally. Psychologically. Often times physically.
There's one particular Marine right now that, uh, has been on so many deployments...
his role is a sniper... and now he's at the point where he's having to wrestle
with the effect this has, not just on him personally, but how connected he is
with his family, with his wife, his daughter, uh with the community around him,
with the people he serves with. Clearly the great risk that they take,
in sacrificing so much of their life to do these things, is such an
invitation for moral injury. And that is really an opportunity for the
chaplains to step in, and really take up the reigns where science and
medicine can't necessarily provide all the answers.
[ Background Voices ]
They are in some of the most challenging times in their life.
Sometimes it just means being with them. And being someone they can trust.
Being someone they can be honest with, uh, being someone who cares.
To become a Navy Chaplain, it's an opportunity, but it's also, it's a challenge.
It will help you really understand your vocation, as a pastor,
because you'll be stretched in ways, and challenged in ways that you may not be
in a parochial setting. And it can be absolutely wonderful...
it can ground you in who you are as a chaplain.