I remember the smells and the noise as if it was five minutes ago. My right leg had been ripped apart under my knee and the pain was excruciating.  Five feet away, a German shepherd, which we had named "Colonel," howled from his own gunshot wounds.

Soon a Navy corpsman was treating my injuries, which also included a gapping chest wound.  As he worked on me, I couldn¹t help but think about the possibility that I would soon die.  Everyone has a time, and this seemed to be mine.

First med battalion was a series of tin huts with yard lights everywhere.  When the chopper landed, I was hurried into the emergency room. Would I die here? A waiting priest met me and asked, "Would you like the last rights?"

I was surprised by this invitation. I had been raised as a Lutheran and had attended church schools and, without question, was anti-Catholic. Yet as the moments slipped away into the darkness of night I began to feel the comfort of a loving God.

The priest prayed for me as he made the sign of the cross over my forehead.  There are few human gestures that have meant as much to me. Thirty-eight years later I think about that night and how Navy surgeons garnered the energy to fight for the life of  a lanky kid from Kansas.  I had entrusted all that I was in the hands of a priest and then skilled doctors.  Was there a connection?

What would have happened if the priest had not been there for me? I would have died.  The despair that had engulfed me as the chopper hovered over the landing pad morphed into hope, however blind, as the priest embraced me.  Looking back, I can say that this experience has done more than anything else to shape who I am today.

The idea of our country as one nation "under God" is under attack at the Fayetteville Veterans Administration Medical Center.  Recently, unknown powers have ordered the chapel "neutralized" of the crucifix and Bible. By doing this, we no longer have a chapel but just another room.  To me, the words "under God" guarantee that others and I will be able to hold their religious faith as a fundamental element of our core being. I do not believe that the crucifix, Bible or any other element of Christian faith should ever be used to exclude worship opportunities in a public facility but the exclusion of these symbols desecrates a right to worship that I have earned.

If a non-Christian faith group uses the Chapel, then Christian symbols should be removed and returned upon conclusion of that group's activity.  Even for Non-Christians, these symbols properly ordained on the altar demonstrate that one has entered a sacred place.  I asked VA staff if anyone had ever objected to the presence of the Bible or crucifix and the answer was no. 

In thinking through this issue, I had the privilege of speaking with Ralph Jacobson.  Ralph is a Jew and Holocaust survivor.  Ralph told me how the local Sandhills Jewish community held services at Fort Bragg and various churches prior to building their synagogue in Pinehurst. Christians have found that we could share traditionally Christian facilities for worship.  Was Ralph¹s experience as a Jew diminished by his worship in a Christian house of God?  Ralph assures me that it was not.

I am reminded of the teaching of Ambassador William Kintner, who was a military attaché in Moscow from 1939-1945. Professor Kintner told of how the Soviet Army issued Orthodox crosses during the darkest days of World War II, a decision that sparked the beleaguered Soviet Army into a vigorous defense of the Homeland.  Many American veterans have much the same experience of taking their faith of God into battle, which is certainly the case of this Marine.

When this nation was established, there were no Hindus, Muslims, or Buddhists among the Founding Fathers or in the Congress.  Thanks to the teachings of our Christian faith, we are tolerant toward others and have worked to assimilate these faiths in our nation.  But with the birth of a nation was the beginning of a practice that should be preserved.  To forsake this deeply held way of life would be to ignore the call of history. I suggest by comparison that our tradition of faith is as important as the idea of coequal branches of government.  There are those who are offended by having nine Supreme Court justices deciding issues of national import in secrecy, but this is a system that we hold dear and fundamental to our ways of government and life.

The VA has desecrated our house of worship by hiding these items in the back of the chapel and by threatening veterans like me with apprehension if they attempt to restore these items to their rightful place.  This is a tragic day for veterans who have asked for so little and who are now getting even less in return.  This is a struggle that has just begun.