The first thing that was unique about serving in Iraq was the whole Muslim-Christian question. The media had portrayed the whole war in the beginning as a possible religious war. Of course, the people of Iraq did not believe that and nor did we. Because the majority of our military is not Muslim, the first thing the Chaplains are responsible for is briefing everyone from the General down to the Private about what a Muslim is; what the Muslim holy days are; and what religious festivals were and why they were so important to the people of that region.

By understanding them, we could not only become a part of their lives, we could change some of the bad feelings. For instance, right before the war started in Iraq, there was this famous Haj — a religious pilgrimage. In the past, as people would go on pilgrimage to the temple, they would be shot by Saddam's guards. When we were there on the roads seeing it happen, we just became part of it. We would clap at people and they would look at us like, 'Are you going to shoot us?' We were just very happy to celebrate the religious time in their lives. It was the first thing I believe we did that won the hearts of the Iraqi people.

From there I met with the local head Imam [the Muslim equivalent of a Pastor or Priest]. I said to him, 'For me everything has to do with relationships and all I'm here to do today is to meet you and see what we can do, so that in the long run — long after I leave — we have a relationship built on faith."

From that day on, it was win-win; there were no attacks on our guys in that region, there was only support, more support from them, and more money came from us to rebuild their roads and bring them water. So all of a sudden they were helping us understand them and they would meet with me, and the Imam would say, "Explain Christianity to us, we don't have a clue."

You certainly see that once you go to war, people may not turn to prayer, but they discover a spiritual side — something deeper inside of them that they have never discovered. The problem is, they don't know how to name it.

Before crossing into Iraq from Kuwait, several hundred Soldiers came to mass, expecting a blessing and some type of absolution prior to combat. They spoke about their families and wished them well, "just in case." I felt like a shepherd leading the flock with care, knowing that we walked by faith and not by sight.

Going into combat is a very spiritual experience—even for those who don't understand their own faith, because all of a sudden they are faced with their own mortality. And Chaplain Madej was very aware of that and really helped other Soldiers become aware of that, just because of the importance of the situation and the potential consequences of what we were doing over there.

Chaplain Madej created study groups. He made resources available for people to investigate and look into their faith and what they believe. He baptized someone into the Catholic Church on Easter. We actually had our Easter mass at the ruins of the city of Babylon, city of Hillah, last year. Part of that Catholic Easter mass was the baptism of our Soldiers. So that was a unique experience.

Right around Thanksgiving, we met in the town of Hatra. We had a joint ceremony, or a joint celebration of the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Christmas, in these ancient ruins from 4 or 500 B.C. (The ruins are in immaculate shape, incredible structures, incredible architecture so that was the venue for it.) The Senior Imam of the town we were in and Chaplain Madej said prayers together in celebration of the holy seasons we were celebrating. The town leaders and some of the military leaders got together and really just hosted an event for American Forces and for the Iraqi people in the area to celebrate what it was we were celebrating—our different faiths.

Chaplain Madej understood me as a person so well. He really helped me realize that sometimes things don't happen or turn out the way they are supposed to but that doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing. There can be opportunity in experiencing something you never expected to experience—good or bad—and that I think, that is what allows us to find that opportunity.