When that was over, we all presented our Cultural Briefs to our small groups. Let me explain. When troops deploy overseas, they go through a deployment line. Think of it as a cafeteria line. There is a long line of stations, and the troops make their way down the line. They stop at Medical to make sure their records are accurate, they stop at the JAGs to make sure they have a will and a power of attorney, they stop at the Chaplains to get a bible - and it's their last chance to declare conscientious objection. You get the picture. When they are done with all that, they go down the hall towards the plane. But before they leave the building, they go to a briefing room where they get a series of briefings on the mission, the flight, etc. The LAST of the briefings is traditionally given my a chaplain, and its called the cultural briefing. The role usually is to just quickly give an overview of some customs and courtesies of the country into which they are flying, and to remind them about the chaplains who will be there when they arrive.
Our assignment was to prepare a 4-6 minute briefing on a country which we were assigned. We could not be less than 4 minutes and not more than 6. I was assigned Somalia. I did mine in 5 minutes and 26 seconds - I got a 98 on the assignment.
We had another 2.5 hour lunch, and upon return we were told we'd be watching a movie called "Baghdad ER." I believe it was an HBO special. It was one of the most heart-wrenching, painful experiences have ever had. The movie follows the 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH - that is the new M*A*S*H) in Baghdad during the worst of the fighting in Iraq. The human carnage is unspeakable. The video is completely uncensored, and it is not for the faint of heart. The bravery of the men and women who go into harm's way to fight and die for our freedom is truly breath-taking. And the bravery and strength of the medical teams... there are just no words.
There were some funny moments. There was one soldier who was trying to be funny with a nurse, and his expressions were priceless. My favorite was when an investigator was debriefing a soldier who had just been shot by a sniper, and the guy asked, "Did you not see who was doing the shooting?" And the soldier, grimacing in pain, said, "Uh, I was a little busy, lying on the floor, crying like a little bi@ch!"
When the movie was over, there was absolute silence. No one could have prepared themselves for this movie, and we were all in shock. Ch Hamel asked for us to process. I raised my hand and said, "This just confirms my feeling that a prerequisite for running for federal office must be serving as a combat troop. Let the men and women in Washington live this a bit before sending our sons and daughters to war."
Other people spoke - most couldn't continue because they choked up from the emotions it generated. Throughout the movie, there was a chaplain, walking and talking among the wounded, praying for the dead... and we knew that would be us one day. One chaplain, taking a long time to gather her thoughts, said, "I watch that chaplain, and I don't know if I could do it. I've been to church - and there's nothing like this going on in church."
I won't forget that movie for a long time...
http://www.amazon.com/Baghdad-ER-HBO-Documentary-Film/dp/B000G1R4V6
We finished the discussion at about 1600 and were dismissed. I'm ready to come home...
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