Richmond Hill minister recounts time in Iraq

Joni B. Hannigan

Huey Bratton, a former Army chaplain who served in Iraq, shows a slide of himself and a Methodist chaplain baptizing a soldier amid a respite from sandstorms and live enemy fire.

Noting that America's freedom did not come without loss of life, a former Army chaplain who was with the first troops to enter Baghdad last year said people critical of the war in Iraq should take a few cues from history.

"Go back and look at how many Americans lost their lives for freedom in 1776," Huey Bratton says. "It takes loss of life - and sometimes a lot of it - to maintain freedom."

Bratton, associate pastor of family life/youth at First Baptist Church in Richmond Hill, who was a chaplain for the 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, spoke about his experiences in Iraq at The Church at Ponte Vedra just outside of Jacksonville, Fla.

"Probably the overwhelming majority [of Iraqis] know they are freer than they were," Bratton said. "There is no doubt in my mind that we did the right thing."

On behalf of the military still serving in the Middle East, Bratton said their biggest need is to know the American people support them and that the country "stays united to fulfill the cause."

"I think from a soldier's standpoint, they need to know that their country is unified behind them," Bratton said. "When they are over there being shot at every day, they don't need to hear on the news that we're divided on the issue."

Experiences in the desert

During his presentation at the Florida church, Bratton showed slides of his experiences while "easing" through the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq on a 21-day road trip to Baghdad.

And through it all, people ended up getting serious about God.

Bratton said he baptized 18 before the war ever began.

One slide showed Bratton and another chaplain bending over a makeshift baptistry. Bratton chuckled, recalling when the other chaplain, a Methodist, who typically does not support believer's baptism, helped him to immerse one of the soldiers.

Finished for the day, Bratton said he'd already put his uniform back on when another battalion's high-ranking officer, a new believer, asked the chaplain to baptize him. Bratton said the man told him he didn't bring clothes to change into, but that he still wanted to be baptized. Bratton asked him if he wanted to remove his boots.

"'No. I figured if they are going to war with me, I might as well baptize them too,'" the officer replied, according to Bratton.

Looking for WMDs

Bratton said one of the most memorable times he had was of worshiping within the marble walks of Sadaam Hussein's VIP headquarters at the Baghdad airport. Embedded reporters, there to "monitor" the situation, joined the military members for prayer and communion.

Bratton, who spent the first 28 days in Baghdad without a shower in 128-degree heat, said he welcomed any chance to alleviate boredom. One morning, he recalled accepting an invitation from his battalion's highest-ranking enlisted soldier.

"'Chaplain, we are going to go out and look for weapons of mass destruction [WMDs], do you want to go?'" Bratton remembered being asked. So, "I got in the Humvee."

Traveling to a school where a new, thick, concrete basketball court had been poured about a week before the war, Bratton said he was told the military believed the recreation facility, along with about nine others at various schools throughout Iraq, could have been used to dump conventional weapons as well as WMDs.

Bratton's job at the site was to deter a mob by snapping digital pictures of people milling about. The strategy, Bratton said, allowed the inspectors to get their jobs done.

Decked out in a heavy helmet and 40-pound bulletproof vest, Bratton said he finally turned to spy the rest of his group on the basketball court - separated by a locked gate and three walls.

Mustering up energy and courage, he bounded over the first and second walls and stood at the third trying to figure out a way to get over. After backing up and taking four running steps, he pulled up and then launched over, dropping to the ground, huffing and puffing.

"I hear this giggling," Bratton said, "'Mister, Mister,'" he repeated the children's voices.

About 20 feet from where he dropped onto the court, he said he finally saw what the children were pointing at - steps built into the wall. The children started clapping.

"That's probably the most priceless picture that I have of the whole war," Bratton admitted, standing in front of the picture he took of the children laughing atop the wall.

Being strong and courageous

Looking to the biblical Joshua, whom God exhorted to be "strong and courageous," Bratton said the answer to why one can live a courageous life can be answered in three ways: because of God's promise, because of God's Word and because of God's presence.

God's promise of eternal life is of singular importance when considering anything that might happen on this earth, Bratton said.

"[W]hen you are looking at death, there's only one promise that means anything," he said. "That's the promise of eternal life."

Second, it is because of God's Word that believers can be courageous. "We are not free in America for any other reason than God allowed it ... so that we could do His work," Bratton said.

Third, it is because of God's presence that people can persevere. "We need to be a people of prayer," Bratton said. "It's time, as a country and as a denomination, that we turn from our wicked ways.

"My heartbeat is for lost people to come to know Christ and for Christians being all they can be for Christ."