Chaplain helps to heal war’s spiritual wounds_53005

Posted: 5/27/05

Chaplain helps to heal war's spiritual wounds

By Sarah Satterwhite

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

DENVER–Baptist Chaplain Ed Waldrop, who serves with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Denver, Colo., is providing a way for veterans of all generations to begin healing from the spiritual wounds of combat-related trauma.

Through Wounded in Action, Waldrop gives veterans an opportunity to tell their stories.

In relating those sacred stories, Waldrop said, the teller finds deeper healing of combat-related spiritual wounds, and the listener better understands the complexities of war.

“I don't want to take away the necessary wrestling or any healthy regret.

“I want to help them put what they did, in service to their country and humankind, in a proper perspective,” said Waldrop, who has both a personal and a family history of military service.

Waldrop initiated Wounded in Action because he recognized that war creates physical wounds physicians can treat, and it also inflicts psychological and physiological problems mental health professionals must treat.

“A spiritual wound also is inflicted upon the combatant who must kill,” Waldrop said.

The experience of killing may bring intense reflection that the combatant and the enemy are human beings created by God, he added.

Waldrop plans to publish a collection of survivors' stories, addressing each from a spiritual perspective. Even though the stories will represent only a small percentage of veterans, Waldrop hopes the collection can help other veterans and their families who still struggle to understand and heal the spiritual wounds of combat.

Through his work in VA nursing homes, Waldrop has seen many veterans haunted by those spiritual wounds even as they approach death.

“No one should have to die with unaddressed spiritual trauma still buried inside them,” Waldrop said. “The earlier we address the trauma–and not all veterans will have a problem–the better the chance of real quality of life for veterans and their families and friends.”

Healing and quality of life are priorities in Waldrop's interactions with veterans–both those who finished their service decades ago and those who recently returned from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Many of the recent veterans are re-establishing a life with their families and are not yet ready to talk about wartime trauma.

When and if they become ready, Waldrop hopes Wounded in Action will be a helpful resource in healing those spiritual wounds.

Waldrop offered the following suggestions for helping veterans begin to heal:

Provide unconditional love and a willingness to listen to difficult stories.

Refrain from judgment.

Know the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

For more information, visit www.woundedinaction.org.