Dover Gold Star Shawl
Click on the picture to enlarge
US
Army Chaplain David Sorensen
and Cheryl Scallon, St. Julie Billiart Shawl Ministry
"The
solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the
altar of freedom." Abraham Lincoln, 1864.
We bore witness to the intense grief deep in the eyes of US
Army Chaplain David Sorensen,
Dover Air Force Base. It is his job to comfort
the families of the Army soldiers killed in the Mideast War. He spoke softly of
the pain experienced by the Mothers and Wives of our fallen Soldiers. So often
it is a Mother he meets with, as our Soldiers are so young, some as young as 19
or 20 years old. Consoling a fallen Soldier's wife with young children appears
to be the most difficult.
Chaplain Sorensen shared an example of the ordeal experienced by
American families of our fallen Soldiers.
Perhaps the Family may be returning home from work
about 6 PM where two military men in a car parked outside their home have been
awaiting their arrival to notify them of their loved ones casualty. By noon the
next day, the family is on their way to Dover, Delaware and the Army Family
Support Center located about 10 minutes from the Air Force base. Chaplain
Sorensen meets with the family in a small room where grief resources are
displayed on a book rack, to pray with them, to offer them a
prayer shawl, to simply be with them to support
them through the difficult hours ahead. He then accompanies the family, who are
driven by van to the base, (18 stop lights away) to await the arrival of the
plane bearing their loved ones body. The family is taken to the Center for
Families of the Fallen where a General offers them the condolences of our
Nation. Then, they are taken to the flight line by Air Force staff to witness
the Repatriation and Dignified Transfer of their loved one, encased in a simple
transfer case covered by the American flag. Later, sometimes that same day, the
family returns to their home, while during the next 72 hours their Soldier's
body is prepared to be returned to the family's home town. The military remain
with the family for the next three months, longer if the Family wishes.
Some families display intense anger; some are so stricken with grief they are
unable to stand without assistance. Chaplain Sorensen spoke of the two common
themes he hears from the fallen Soldiers' families. 1) Their son spoke of
wanting to be a Soldier from the time he was a child and he died doing what he
loved. 2) Their son had finally found a purpose in life, a life so unfinished.
So often, Families share their sons' or daughters' feelings that it would be
their last trip to the Mideast; a sense that death was imminent. Some Families
save the recording of their Soldier's missed call to home saying one last time
"I love you, Mom." Chaplain Sorensen absorbs all of these emotions, anger,
sadness, disbelief, the intense emotions of a family and of an entire Nation. As
the only chaplain on the Army Liaison Team he works alone with no other chaplain
assistance unless there are mass casualties, wherein additional chaplains from
Washington DC are sent to help him. A very difficult job, an impossible,
overwhelming task, sometimes consoling 8 families at one time.
On a warm windy August night in 2009, Chaplain Sorensen stood on the tarmac at
Dover with a Mother awaiting the transfer of her young son's body from the
plane. Shortly thereafter, the Mother suggested that a prayer shawl might be
helpful to provide warmth and comfort to the Families as they await their loved
ones. She reported feeling so cold standing there during that extremely
emotionally wrenching time. Chaplain Sorensen then reached out to the Prayers
Shawls 4 Fallen Soldiers, an organization comprised of Shawl Ministries across
the United States, including St. Julie Billiart Parish,
to provide prayer shawls for the Repatriation
and Dignified Transfer of our fallen Soldiers.
On Thursday, February 18th St. Julie Billiart Shawl
Ministry was honored to hand deliver a knit shawl to Dover. We shared the
prayers and blessings of our entire Parish. Chaplain Sorensen was so moved by
the shawl, as it was the first shawl received by him bearing the gold star,
symbolic of a fallen Soldier. The small tag attached to the shawl bore the words
of Abraham Lincoln in his a letter to Mrs. Bixby, on the loss of her 5 sons. The
Chaplain requested St. Julie's Shawl Ministry provide him with another gold star
shawl to be displayed in the Family Support Center, an honor we are proud to
accept.
Cheryl Scallon, St. Julie Billiart Shawl Ministry
Click on the photo or pattern name to access
the knitted pattern (Microsoft Word) format
Are you interested in making Prayer Shawls 4 Fallen Soldiers' families?
If so, go to the following website for details:
Prayer Shawls for Fallen Soldiers' Families
Or contact: