Ohio Doctor Shares Life as Soldier in Iraq - 3

Ohio Doctor
Shares His Life
as a Soldier in Iraq

Dr. Stephen Ulrich and Major Higgins the chaplain

standing in front of the Mustang Aviation clinic.

DOCTOR IN IRAQ: KEEPING UP TROOPS MORALE

By Col. Stephen Ulrich
Ohio National Guard

Last week I left readers with rain in the desert. Well it continued to rain for almost 24 hours. Everything turned to mud, and the water began to collect in low lying areas. One of those areas was my housing area known as the T PODs. Col. Killingsworth, my new roommate, and I watched the waters rise until it was just an inch below our door. We watched the debris float by and hoped for divine intervention.

In the GSAB the next best thing to divine intervention was our chaplain, Major Jim Higgins. While my roommate and I were fortunate enough to remain dry, some of our friends were flooded out. Major Higgins was there with his sense of humor and compassionate caring for some tired, wet and frustrated soldiers.



I thought it was worth writing an article about the chaplain, not only because our chaplain is a nice guy, but also because the military chaplain provides for the social care, morale and spiritual needs of soldiers in the field.

My daughter once put the question to me by asking "Dad what are you doing in the Army? You are a physician and the army is about killing.", or words to that effect.

I think my answer covers the chaplain and myself as well as all soldiers. The army is not about killing people. It is about preserving values that we as a society believe in. Those values are that each individual has a right to the pursuit of happiness and freedom. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where that vision is not universally shared.

Read the entire entry here.