As part of our Army Chaplain doctrine, our three core competencies are: Nurture the Living, Care for the Wounded, and Honor the Fallen. Most of my time spent in the chaplaincy thus far has been to nurture the living through religious support. I guess you could say I care for the wounded through counseling as I tend to their emotional, mental, and spiritual wounds. I have had few opportunities to honor the fallen. This week presented one of those opportunities.
On Thursday we received news that one of our Soldiers in Syria had died. That night we found out he was being transferred through the airbase close to us on his way back to the U.S. So the three of us chaplains and our two religious affairs specialists (Chaplain Assistants), drove nearly two hours to the airbase and waited for the flight to come in. We were on standby for a few hours and met with mortuary affairs to discuss the details of what we were about to do. We sat in the nearby cafeteria until 2:30 a.m. when we got word the plane was about to arrive.
We drove our small procession out onto the flight line, stood in formation on two sides behind the plane and watched the honor guard, slowly and with exactness, march up the ramp of the back of the plane. The Chaplain in charge at the airbase had a few moments with the fallen Soldier and his escort to say a few words before the honor guard slowly picked up the metal casket draped with the American Flag, and with sacred dignity marched slowly to the transfer truck as we saluted his remains.
As I watched that casket pass by, I prayed in my heart for his soul to be received by a loving Heavenly Father who was aware of his sacrifices, for his family who will be mourning his loss to be comforted, and for the Service Members standing at attention beside me who are struggling with their own emotions about this event and many likely reminded of their own losses from their past. As they closed the doors to the truck and we all rendered our final salute, the truck made its way back to mortuary affairs where he would be kept until his next flight came in to take him home.
This short ceremony is what we call a Ramp Ceremony. I was thinking later about the sacrifices we made that day and night to be there to honor this Soldier for a five-minute ceremony. There was only one Soldier there who even knew this fallen comrade, none of the rest of us knew him personally. His family was not here to see this. But it was all worth it to Honor the Fallen.
One of the secondary reasons we do this is to show each living Service Member how much they would be honored if they became one of the Fallen as well. It gives us a sense of belonging, courage, and security to know that our sacrifices mean something to our brothers and sisters in arms and to our country. We are therefore more willing to bear them.
I wish I was allowed to take pictures of this event. But hopefully some of these internet photos will give you an idea of what a Ramp Ceremony looks like. This memory will forever be ingrained in my heart and mind.
In His Service,
Chaplain John Critchfield
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