Sunday, April 20, 2003
Today’s Sunbeam Staff Writer
SALEM — The night was “dark, dark,” according to Lt. Col. Will G. Barnes, chaplain with the Delaware Army National Guard, when he helped minister a last sermon to members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade before they parachuted into Northern Iraq.
Barnes, stationed at the Southern European Task Force’s base in Vicenza, Italy, assisted with the Protestant service on the tarmac, three hours before takeoff.
It was the final service the paratroopers attended before jumping into enemy territory. While a lieutenant played bagpipes to rally the paratroopers’ spirits, Barnes was among the base chaplains who shared Psalms 91, which includes the verse, “You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.”
“The first verse of that chapter talks about how we can find shelter in the ever present presence of God,” he said, speaking after Palm Sunday service at the Memorial Baptist Church in Salem, where he is pastor. “God will protect us no matter where we’re at.”
Barnes returned home to Clarksboro in early April from a month’s stay on Overseas Duty Training activation, an annual reserve assignment.
He spent the time ministering to the men — and, historically, the first woman paratrooper — who were among the first troops to enter Iraq after Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
The drop that dark night went extremely well, Barnes said, because dropping missions are often dangerous, sometimes resulting in serious injuries during training. But on that mission, one thousand paratroopers dropped from 17 C-17s, large transport planes, within 60 seconds.
He said he was relieved when he knew all the soldiers had dropped safely.
“I felt profoundly grateful to God and all his protection over them,” he said. “I felt very honored I could provide a spiritual light in the midst of a very dark mission.”
Barnes, 53, was literally born into the Army — his birth place was Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His father was a U.S. Army military career man, who served from World War II to Vietnam and retired a first sergeant. His brother served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during Vietnam.
“I was impacted by that (military) culture,” he said. “The military has been a part of us.”
In 1988, the military came calling again. After his service in the Coast Guard, he attended undergraduate and seminary school. With his skills of counseling and religion now added to his military background, the logical next step was: chaplain.
“Every Army organization needs a pastor. A chaplain is a pastor to that organization,” he said.
The role of a military chaplain has three basic functions, Barnes said. A chaplain buries and memorializes the dead, cares for the sick and provides free expression of religious choice. Barnes also provides religious services and officiates at military weddings. Chaplains do these tasks for their assigned unit as commissioned officers.
Barnes’ permanent unit is the 261th Signal Brigade. He goes through the same training as his soldiers do, to aid in assisting them. The only difference between his soldiers’ and his own training — besides his religious background — is a key difference.
“We’re (chaplains) noncombatants,” he said. “We don’t carry weapons.”
Chaplains rely on a “chaplain assistant,” a noncommissioned officer who has both special religious training and weapons training, for dangerous missions. Though Barnes has never served as a chaplain in a ground or air assault brigade that would place him on the front line, he said he still stays with his armed assistant.
“I don’t go many places without my chaplain assistant,” he said.
Barnes’ wife, Susan, said while she misses her husband during his chaplain assignments, she is glad he can help make a difference.
“I was certainly proud that he has an opportunity to be involved in some way that was a help,” she said. “It’s good to know his skills can be used.”
Barnes has been pastor at Memorial Baptist Church for four years. During Barnes’ time overseas, Lois Osgood Miltimore, a seminary intern, filled the role of pastor at the East Broadway church.
Memorial Baptist congregation member and chair of Diaconate Sheila Fretz said while the congregation missed Barnes, they were also pleased with his service.
“We’re very proud of Dr. Barnes and what he’s done,” she said.
Barnes said he hopes to continue his work as a chaplain and pastor because he finds both roles fulfilling.
“The military is a very unique fraternity of people,” he said. “They’re committed to the mission. They know and look out for each other. They’re very confidently courageous.”
