Engineers build place in Iraq for U.S. Soldiers to worship
Army News Service
Release Date: 4/7/2004
By Spc. Bryan KinKade
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 7, 2004) - From the ground up, a 200-seat chapel in Iraq is being built to give U.S. Soldiers a place to worship.
Engineers from the Missouri National Guard, put their carpentry and masonry skills to the test.
"These Soldiers are hungry for services," said Lt. Col. David Moran, a chaplain from 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. "When I got here a little over four weeks ago, it was a level concrete pad."
The structure will be ready to its full potential by April 15. Services will include Contemporary Protestant, Catholic Mass and Lutheran.
"We've been at a steady pace and everyday we make progress," said carpenter, Staff Sgt. Clifford Bailey, with the Missouri National Guard. "We're well ahead of schedule and we've had no problems with the building materials."
"This building would not have been started by now, but they wanted a real project they could look back on and know that they took care of the Soldiers spiritual needs," Moran said.
Even though the building isn't complete, the chaplains haven't let that get in the way of their services.
"We used a large cardboard box as a make-shift alter," said Maj. Grant Johnson, the deputy division chaplain for 1st Cav. "We also used a laptop so people could read songs, and we gathered in a circle for prayer and worship."
The 203rd engineers have built many other structures throughout the Iraq area, since their June 2003 deployment, to include a live-fire search and seizure training building, showers, a water tower and living quarters.
(Editor's note: Spc. Bryan D. Kinkade is a staff writer for the 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs Office.)
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