Stories from Iraq (Oct. '06 - Nov. '07) - Chaplain Brings the Beach to 'Grey Wolf' Soldiers
Posted: Friday, April 24, 2009
by Ryan Stroud
BAQUBAH, Iraq - While deployed to Iraq in support for Operation Iraq Freedom 06-08, the last thing many 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Soldiers would expect to see are images of the beach, surfing or relaxing by the water. While there are palm trees in Iraq, the beach is no where to be found.
For Chaplain (Maj.) Douglas Fenton, the "Grey Wolf" Brigade chaplain, his goal was to bring the beach to the Soldiers.
"I was trying to do something that was really outside the box for the Soldiers," said Fenton. "I knew the Soldiers that come in here would be under a lot of stress and wanted to give them a place that looked different than Iraq."
Fenton has covered his walls with surf signs, flags and surfboards in hopes of raising Soldier morale while they are located on Forward Operating Base Warhorse.
"I was in Laguna, Calif., with my wife and we walked past a surf shop," said Fenton. "Inside the shop was a sign that said, 'Pray for Surf,' and the second I saw that sign, I knew this is what I wanted the theme for my office [in Iraq]."
Fenton and his wife quickly got started picking up items for him to pack for Iraq. Some items were bought, others came from around the house, he said.
"My wife and I were later in a Hollister store, shopping for my son's birthday," said Fenton. "The stores are always decorated with surfboards and California flags, and I though to my self, I can do better than that."
"We took a California flag and put a surfboard under the bear so I would have a surfing bear," he continued. "And the surfboard in this room was hanging over the bed of my oldest son. He was nice enough to let me bring it here with me."
Along with surfboard coffee tables and Sponge Bob Square Pants stuffed toys, Fenton also has a lifeguard chair, statues and a quilt of old T-shirts his wife made for his journey. He hopes that when Soldiers have a problem and come to see him, things like this will help them to open-up and talk.
"When Soldiers come in here, sometimes they are not ready to talk about what's bothering them, so you need something that will help relax them, make them feel a little at home," he said. "If they have a military coin close by, they can pick that up and start talking about that or if they see something crazy on the wall, they can speak about that. Anything to help them become more comfortable."
"My goal is if somebody sits down, there will be something they can talk about and then we can ease into what we need to talk about," Fenton added.
Fenton said he knew from the start his office would be a success while packing up for his unit's deployment.
"I knew this was a good idea when we were loading up our storage containers before we came over," said Fenton. "Everyone was loading military equipment up and here I come with a surfboard. Just seeing their faces then, I said to myself, 'this is going to totally work.'"
It seems Fenton's plans for making people feel better is already working.
A Soldier, whose son was having a problem with his father's deployment to Iraq, came to talk to Fenton. The Soldier, when he saw Sponge Bob Square Pants, knew his son was a fan and got an idea to help ease his son's worries.
"[The Soldier] came over here, sat in a chair that had a surfboard next to it, a marlin above the chair and a tiki god next to it, and had his picture taken with my Sponge Bob to send back to his son," said Fenton.
"Now his son is not so worried about him," he added.
Though the office is to help cheer Soldiers up, it is also to help Fenton out when he is feeling down. Fenton said though he knows there is no water for him to surf on, he is okay with that.
"Everyone had to leave something behind for the year," he said. "Whether it was snow skiing, tennis or other activities, everyone had to leave something behind. This is also to remind me of what I love and what waits for me once we return [home from Iraq]."
Though some may say he's crazy for bring a surfboard to Iraq, Fenton said he hopes that he can make a difference and possibly make things easer in the Soldiers lives while deployed, and that's what's most important to him.
"I just hope it cheers everybody up, even if it is only for a moment," he said.
Ryan Stroud is a military trained journalist who has served in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army. Prior to his military experiences, Stroud grew up playing, coaching, and refereeing soccer. Also, Stroud focused many years of his life playing, touring, and recording/producing local music acts. He has a wonderful wife of 4 years, a 2 year old son and a newborn daughter.
Stroud's biggest writing influences are Jim Butcher, Chuck Palahniuk, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Christopher Moore and Ben Fox.
He currently resides in Huntsville, Al, with the 59th Ordnance Brigade at Redstone Arsenal.
Stroud would also like to take a moment to thank his friends who are currently in battle over in Iraq. God bless all of you.
This Article has been viewed 237 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.