This year marks the 250th birthday of both the Army and the Navy. The Continental Congress established the Continental Army to defend the Thirteen Colonies from the British on June 14, 1775, and the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775. Both Army and Navy Chaplain Corps trace their legacy back to chaplains who served during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress authorized one chaplain per regiment in the Army on July 29, 1775, and directed the Navy to provide religious services aboard its ships on November 28, 1775. This year also marks the 250th birthday of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps.
Birthdays and anniversaries are occasions to look back and remember who we are by remembering where we came from. For American chaplains that history is bound up with the broader stories of the American military and America itself. The stories we tell as Americans reflect who we are and who we want to be. We craft and shape them, and, in turn, they craft and shape us. Sometimes the stories we tell about ourselves and our past are good and true and their goodness and truth shine forth in each retelling. Sometimes the stories we tell hold us back from confronting difficult or darker truths.
The light and shadows cast by our history illuminate the present more clearly so that we might see how to live more faithfully in the future. The saying goes that good journalism is the first draft of history. But even the best history is always itself a kind of draft that is bound to be edited and revised by others. Such is the nature of history and the work of historians. We can never know the past in any final and complete way. The work of historians is to help us tell truer versions of those stories and to see ourselves and our past more clearly. Military Chaplaincy Review, among other things, is a forum for research on the history of military chaplains and military chaplaincy and in this issue seeks to do just that.
I hope you find stories of hope, encouragement, and insight. But I also hope you encounter new stories that challenge you or the old stories told in a new way. Most importantly, I trust you will remember our help in ages past and know our hope for years to come.
Without our contributors, there is no Review. I want to close by expressing my gratitude for the fine work of this issue’s contributors. You are helping carry the conversation forward to support and enhance the sacred work of military chaplaincies around the world, in this 250th year of sacred service by our U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
For God and Country - Live the Call!
Chaplain (Major General) William (Bill) Green, Jr.
U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains