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Iraq - U.S. Troops Project

Navy Chaplain LCdr. Patrick McLaughlin distributes gifts to the U.S. Troops in Iraq sent by the Rotary Club ofNaples North.

LCdr. McLaughlin awarded the Club a Certificate of Thanks.

Guest commentary: My Iraq policy: To keep the faith with God and our servicemen
By PATRICK McLAUGHLIN, Special to the Daily News
Sunday, February 18, 2007

A Naples couple has a special perspective on the war in Iraq. Their son is chaplain at a M*A*S*H and mortuary west of Baghdad. Patrick McLaughlin, 45, the son of Jim and Jane McLaughlin and a 1979 graduate of Naples High School, also ministered to President and Laura Bush and sailors and Marines at Camp David for three years.

He gave his parents permission to give this essay — which reflects solely his own views and not those of the military — to the Daily News.

Patrick McLaughlin, who holds the Navy rank of lieutenant commander, and his wife, Leigh Anne, have five children — ages 18 to 5. They reside in Snead’s Ferry, N.C.

Dad:

So many friends and family ask me about my feelings and opinions on the war in Iraq since I am a veteran of this war.

There is plenty of debate out there about why we are at war in Iraq. Should we be at war? When will the war end? Is there an exit strategy? Five or 10 years down the road?

Believe me, active duty military members discuss these issues.

As you might expect, military folks are pretty conservative. We are all bound by a chain of command which stretches from the most junior private and seaman recruit all the way to the commander in chief — and I’ve worked with privates and presidents. That means I am not free to comment on a policy of our chain of command as a military representative no matter what the situation or policy.

Gays in the military — there is an official policy. Nuclear weapons — there is an official policy. What uniform you can wear out in town — there is an official policy. The war in Iraq — there is an official policy. So don’t ask me to write or record my opinion on any official policy. We all accept that as a part of serving our nation. We freely give up the right to some of our opinions while in uniform to serve the greater good.

We still have rights as private citizens, but even then we are careful about what we say. We follow orders. We have to or a combat unit could not function. You can’t just choose on a whim or with limited information what orders and policies to follow.

In the movie “A Few Good Men,” Jack Nicholson, playing a Marine colonel, says to Tom Cruise, “Son, we follow orders or men get killed.” That is the stark truth.

I will tell you this: There is an abiding belief in most of the military that freedom is worth the cost. It is more than a belief; it is a way of life. Even if it costs a life.

This thought underscores what we stand for. You see, sometimes we go to places where freedom is a thought and a dream. We deploy to places where there is freedom on a limited scale. While we’re in those host nations American service members have to be careful what they say and do — freedom is not a worldwide concept. The type of freedom we enjoy in America is a lot rarer than you might expect.

As a veteran now of two tours in Iraq it amazes me that some in Iraq still want to fight or return to old ways that limit or are afraid of freedom. I often think that if we could just take each citizen of this country and take them on a tour of America, stop at our home for a meal and then bring them back then things would change.

Imagine being able to tour them down the boardwalks of San Diego; driving across the vast plains with the Rocky Mountains looming on the horizon; stopping for some fried chicken and sweet iced tea at The Beacon in Spartanburg, S.C.; maybe a Philly cheesesteak in Philly; or a stroll down the amazing sidewalks in New York City to watch ice skaters in front of the Rockefeller Plaza; a fresh lobster in Maine; a rocking chair on the porch of a log cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee; a village fish fry in Southern Illinois; a drive across Iowa where cornfields form perfect lines as far as the eye can see; one ride at Disney World; a glimpse of a Little League baseball game; a tour of a supermarket that has so many aisles of food that the mind spins; a chance to fish from the pier and walk the beaches in Naples, where I grew up; a stop at a church or synagogue or mosque of their choice to worship.

That is a naive thought — a dream — but it is a dream that you and I get to live each day in the United States.

Stop and think how many countries have citizens who do not have a true freedom to worship, read, demonstrate, vote, travel in safety and peace, determine their own future, open a business, get an education or obtain equal rights for women just for starters.

I don’t have all the answers to why we’re in Iraq or if we should be. I don’t know when the war will end or how. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be here. But we are here now.

You can’t undo that. Peace has to be secured now. There is really no other solution.

Why?

Freedom.

Peace.

Children free to go to school. Children free to pray whether it is to Allah or Christ or Yahweh. Children free to run and play. Children free to grow up and vote. Children and adults able to live with freedoms that we often take for granted. If you could see or live for a while in a place without these freedoms you would understand.

Iraq. That’s where I am now; that’s where I live now. I am in a place where I don’t have these freedoms. Iraqis have worked hard and risked much, including their lives, to vote and live free.

I can’t go back in time. I don’t make political or military policy. I don’t carry a weapon. I am a chaplain, and I pray for those who would work from this day forward — those who would rather be back home with their own families and friends — those who want don’t want to die in a foreign country but will make the ultimate sacrifice if it is for freedom and peace.

This is the policy that I make — a pact with God and the Marines, sailors and soldiers I serve — to pray for them, to pray for peace and to pray for their families and the families of Iraq so that we can all live and raise our children in freedom. I will go with my Marines and sailors and stand with them wherever freedom is at risk. That’s my own policy and one, I feel, that is worth living and dying for. That’s a lot of prayer and a lot of time deployed away from my home and family, but I’m prepared for both the prayers and the mission.

That’s my policy.

Patrick McLaughlin is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.