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War: Reflections Provide Deeper Insight

By Stan Friedman

IRAQ (September 15, 2005) - Following is the fourth in a six-part series taking an in-depth look at the ministry of Evangelical Covenant Church chaplains in war-torn Iraq and the people they are called to serve. In this installment, Chaplain Maj. Darrick Gutting offers his reflections on various issues surrounding the conflict in Iraq. He served in Mosul, Iraq, from October 2003 to October 2004. These reflections hopefully provide greater insight into the issues faced daily by our chaplains and the troops they are serving. For additional photo images from his time of service, please see Images.

Living Amid Violence

The enemy has a say in how we respond and react. Terrorists shoot the door of a building and they run into a home and run out the back and our guys are taking fire. They engage that target or that individual and then find out later on there were children who were hit by that fire, and knowing that they were responsible for this harm. It's tough on the guys. There's still like, all things considered, there are still things that are sacred. We'd like not to do harm there. We've gotten a lot better at it, to be sure.

On the Morality of Killing

It's one of those things where you have to know the difference between murdering and killing, and there is a difference. If you look in the Old Testament, and you start parsing the verbs, there's premeditation involved. When it comes to defending, yeah, but the enemy has a say in that, but you're just responding. When they're coming at you with all kinds of weapons, are you going to stay there and take it? You're going to respond in kind.

Being Met by Former Soldier on Gutting's Return This lieutenant took an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) to the stomach. It took out three ribs. Lost part of his colon, ruined his spleen. The grenade went through the Stryker (armored troop transport) and hit him in the guts. He's a Christian, and I knew this guy well. Anyway, one of the greatest things for us was when we were coming off the plane, and he was standing at the bottom of the ramp. It was incredible. His wife was saying wild horses were not going to keep him from being there. There was a lot of weeping, a lot of crying.

The Insurgency

They'll pay a local kid whose 15 (years old) - they'll go and pay him 150 bucks to shoot an RPG at a vehicle. It's no problem for them to bankroll $10,000 to pay a suicide bomber and help his family. That's a lot of money to them, a great deal of money. Economically, if the cash is worth more than the risk, they'll take it. The money - when it's turned on by the government of the United States or wherever - things are pretty calm. But as soon as it trickles off, it will change abruptly. (Accompanying photo shows Gutting and children receiving new shoes.)

Effect on Marriage

War will do one of two things. It will crucify them (marriages) and destroy them, or it will make them stronger - it will depend largely on the strength of what it was before. It has cost a lot of marriages in the battalion. In the process, I still find myself doing the distancing thing. I'm still processing myself. I'll go into this isolation mode for awhile. But praise be to God that Tanya has been patient with me. She has not responded with anger. Not matching anger with anger. I have seen my wife develop in strength that I never thought. She has just blown me away.

Help from the Church

As far as our local church - Grace Community Covenant - Randy Thyberg and the folks there have just been phenomenal. With Tanya, if there was an emergency, they would mobilize the church and help her out. It's just a great sense of relief - knowing there was this awesome support system back here for me - so I could go out and do my job, knowing that my wife and family would be supported, cared for and loved.

Media Coverage

What you're getting in the popular press (laughs) is frequently not even close. We would be in the middle of it all and we would see CNN, NBC, ABC and we would just laugh. They're out of touch with reality here. They tell you some of the stuff, but they don't tell you all the stuff. They'll tell you the incident, but they won't tell you the outcome. I don't put any stock in what they are saying. (Tomorrow: more reflections on the tensions of war from a U.S Navy chaplain, along with the text of his sermon "Just War.")

(Editor's note: this online series of articles complements other exclusive material presented in the September issue of The Covenant Companion. To order just the special September issue, call Eric Gonzalez at 773-907-3311. To order a subscription to the magazine, either call Gonzalez or order online at Companion. To receive a free daily Covenant news headline service by email, please visit Newswire.

To read earlier accounts in this six-part series, please see:

• Death Lurks Just Moments Away.
• Little-Known Facts About a Familiar Hero.
• Emails to Wife Reflect Daily Struggles.

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