I am writing from the Gymnasium at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, LA. I left Ohio Friday, September 5, 2008. I am here as the BN Chaplain for Task Force Bulldog, which consists of Engineer battalions, a transportation battalion, a maintenance company, a medical attachment, and me from the Ohio Army National Guard. We were mobilized to provide relief in the aftermath of hurricane Gustav. As of Saturday, September 13 we completed 33 missions, moved 3365 cubic yards of debris and cleared over 7 miles of road. Also, We had soldiers helping at food/water distribution stations. Our task force slept at Woodlawn HS and Scotlandville HS. I have counseled with many soldiers, did what I could to keep up morale (mostly by acting silly), and gave an inspirational thought for the day every evening in the commander's update briefing. Sunday evening I led a short worship service with almost 50 people in attendence.
As I traveled from work site to work site to visit soldiers and pitch in where I could, people went out of their way to say "thank you" to us for being here. The biggest thank you we received was a dinner prepared by the men's group from Most Holy Sacrament Catholic Church. They made jambalaya, beans, and gator stew. There were lots of kids including a girl scout troop passing out desserts and drinks, and the girl scouts sang a song for us.
All in all this was a positive experience. I truly felt like a chaplain. I felt like I was fulfilling the call to minister to soldiers. I made some good friends, and learned alot about msylf, but Icant wait to get home!
Blessings & Peace,
RevKev
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