Chaplains for Life

1. Normandy, France, June 1944. An American army chaplain is shot in the act of giving extreme unction to a mortally wounded G.I. A Catholic soldier takes the priest’s place, finishing the prayer—and all hell breaks loose. First, the soldier’s priestly authority is questioned by a comrade; then, the latter questions the very existence of God. Finally, a compromise is reached between the two soldiers, as they leave the two dead men behind and scurry to safety.

2. An Khê, South Vietnam, September 1965. An American lieutenant forbids an army chaplain from accompanying a platoon that is about to go into action. The lieutenant relents when the chaplain agrees to carry some of the soldiers’ equipment and supplies. As the platoon leaves the staging area, it is trailed by the weighted-down chaplain—on a rope.

3. Saigon, South Vietnam. Army hospital, April 1968. An army chaplain and an American captain lie next to each other in the hospital, discussing religion and the war as they recover from their wounds. The clergyman is in favor of using nuclear weapons to end the Indochina conflict; the officer is an agnostic who doesn’t think much about religion: the conversation ends there.