Did you attend 'church' (Temple, etc.) services while you were serving?

SPC Margaret Higgins — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 07:22:46 -0400

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Oct 19 at 2015 12:45 PM

Capt Mark Strobl — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 12:45:35 -0400

Services were, sometimes, difficult to attend. The Catholic priest had an "office" on the USS Ogden. However, there were apparently more Catholics on the ARG's command ship, the USS Essex. We would bring our campstools to the "Boatswains Shop" whenever he made his cameos. Sometimes, Protestants would attend "mass" just to break up the monotony of deployments.

Response by SGT Christina Wilder made Oct 19 at 2015 3:22 PM

SGT Christina Wilder — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 15:22:33 -0400

I tried. Many times I was not operating in an area where I could but I always had a Bible in my cargo pocket.

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Oct 20 at 2015 9:41 AM

SGM Steve Wettstein — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 09:41:58 -0400

When in garrison every Sunday and sometimes during the week. During my five deployments, as a Catholic, it was a challenge. During OIF I, the BCT Chaplain was a Catholic Priest, but it was during the initial invasion so we had Mass when possible. We had Easter Sunrise service over looking the Tigris River. During OIF III, I was always out on missions on Sunday and was only able to get to the big two Masses (Christmas & Easter). When I was a 1SG deployed to Ramadi, I was able to go every Sunday because my Battalion Chaplain was a Catholic Priest. My tour in Afghanistan we didn't have a Catholic Priest, but we did everything we could without a Priest. Once in a while one would show up and we would have a Mass so we could receive the Eucharist. So with all that said it depended on where I was, but yes I did go to Mass.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2015 11:44 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 11:44:08 -0500

Only in Basic Training to get away from the Drill Sgts. Once on my own, I was too busy trying to make the world better through volunteering to just pray about it.