Army Chaplain Memorial

The US Army Chaplaincy was offically born on July 29, 1775. Since that time approximately 25,000-30,000 men and women have served as Army chaplains. Approximately 400 chaplains have lost their lives during American wartime. During the course of these wars, chaplains have heroically laid their lives down. Six chaplains have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Four received the honor in the Civil War and two in Vietnam.
On June 1, 2011 a memorial was dedicated here at the US Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) of which I had the privilege to be a part. The $250,000 memorial garden has a life-size bronze statue of a chaplain comforting a grieving soldier, a fountain and a wall memorializing 294 chaplains and 12 chaplain assistants (Congress had not authorized 56 Mikes until 1909, some 134 years after the 56 Alphas). Together the wall contains the names of 306 men.
Of note was our nation's two most recent UMT (Unit Ministry Team) deaths. On July 13, 2010 SSG Christopher T. Stout of the 82nd Airborne Division was KIA in Kandahar City, Afghanistan when his unit was attacked with small arms and RPG's (rocket propelled grenades). Likewise, CH (CPT) Dale Goetz was KIA on August 30, 2010 in Afghanistan. Chaplain Goetz was one of five men who were killed by a roadside bomb while traveling in a convoy near Kandahar Province.
The Army currently has around 2,800 chaplains, 400 of which are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Pro Deo et Patria