Chaplains called on to deliver tragic news

Chaplains called on to deliver tragic news
By Katya Cengel - The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal via Gannett News Service
Posted : Monday Dec 21, 2009 7:53:48 EST

The first time Army Capt. Ted Randall notified a family that their soldier had died, he wasn’t sure he would be able to get through it without falling apart.

As a chaplain at Fort Campbell, Ky., he did not have to deliver the words every Army family dreads — “The Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret … “ — but he had to step in immediately after to provide comfort.

He had prepared as best he could, Randall said, but it was not enough.

“I mean, it was just brutal for me,” he said during a recent telephone interview.

Driving away afterward, neither Randall nor the soldier who gave the notification said a word. Back at the hotel, they called their wives.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/gns_military_chaplains_122109/