Douglas Edward Pond of Temple, former Texas Baptist pastor and retired U.S. Army chaplain, died Oct. 12. He was 90. He was born March 1, 1934, the eighth of 11 children of Amie and Lee J. Pond, in Bryson. When he graduated from high school in O’Donnell, he became the first of their children to earn a diploma. He went on to work his way through Hardin-Simmons University. He married his college sweetheart Nancy Stewart on May 27, 1955. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree from Hardin-Simmons in 1956, he received an Army Reserves artillery commission at Fort Hood, taking steps toward his long-term goal of becoming a military chaplain. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in three years, while working fulltime for Mrs. Baird’s Bread. He went on to serve as pastor of Locust Grove Baptist Church near Canadian, First Baptist Church in Follett and First Baptist Church in Cactus. While in Cactus, he learned the Southern Baptist Convention was requesting Army chaplains to serve in Vietnam. After eight years in the Army Reserves, he moved to active duty for another 28 years. Chaplain Pond served in Vietnam 1968-1969, where he received three Bronze Stars and the Air Medal. As a battalion chaplain in Vietnam, he frequently caught helicopter rides to each of the forward operating bases of his five companies to offer counseling and church services on the front lines. Caught in numerous firefights and surviving a Chinook helicopter being shot down, he sustained multiple concussions while serving his men. After Vietnam, he went to Fort Benning, Ga., and attended Airborne, Jumpmaster and Ranger schools. He served as the Airborne School Chaplain and then became the first chaplain ever assigned to the staff of the Ranger Department and the first chaplain to wear the Ranger Black Beret. At the time, he was reported to be the first chaplain since World War II to complete both Airborne and Ranger training. Pond said he pursued the training to earn the respect of his men, so they would be more open to his counsel and his ministry. Pond also served a year in Korea, as well as other assignments including Fort Bliss, Fort Hood, the Chaplains School and NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium, before his retirement from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 1995. After retirement, he continued to serve 20 years as a volunteer chaplain at the Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Nancy Pond of Temple; son Jack Douglas Pond and his wife Susan of Downingtown, Penn.; son Randall Stewart Pond and his wife Barbara of Fountain, Colo.; daughter Sharon Lynn Hollon and her husband Brian of Frisco; daughter Amy Elizabeth Carr and her husband Paul of Temple; nine grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three sisters, Dorothy Olds and Lois Anderson, both of Arlington, and Johnnie Skaggs of Glendale, Ariz. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. on Oct. 22 followed by services at 11 a.m. at Taylor’s Valley Baptist Church in Temple. A military burial will be at 2 p.m. at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Texans on Mission, Samaritan’s Purse or the church building fund at Taylor’s Valley Baptist Church in Temple.
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