Military Pagans in Baghdad
Fred Twombley
I sit here on the fourth of July, after endless hours of guard duty in 110-115 degree heat, reading of patriotism, of support, and I do feel the support here. It is amazing--the support of the Pagan Community for its soldiers. We are blessed, and grateful for it, too.
Here I am, on twenty-four hour duty, in Baghdad, Iraq. Yes, I’m a soldier, and I’m proud to be Pagan. I am the current Distinctive Faith Group Leader (DFGL) for the Victory Base Open Circle (VBOC) (it is a bad habit in the military to make everything into an acronym.) What that means is that I do the administrative work to keep the group alive, and if something goes wrong, others have a place to point the finger. But in this place I feel stronger in my faith and in myself than I ever have. I am still trying to decide if it is this place or the people I meet, though it is probably a combination of both. When I volunteered for this job, I didn’t realize what I had gotten myself into; there are some difficult parts, but overall it is fulfilling.
Ours is a small group of soldiers; on a slow day we number around ten, but when we all show up, we are over twenty strong. We are a cross section of the militaries, Army, Airforce, and Marines; some of us do Intelligence work, some are network administrators, others mechanics. Still others go out on the streets and highways in an attempt to secure this nation. We are of various paths ranging from Greencraft to Asatru; in this place we form our eclectic Circle. We share with one another, we learn from one another, and we have fellowship, a place to relax and be ourselves: not just soldiers but Pagan soldiers. We blend our values with those the military gives us, living by honor, ethics, and our morals. By being here and being public in nature, we help dispel many of the misconceptions about our religion. We openly invite any and all visitors to our weekly circle and our rituals. I feel we are here to practice and to educate.
Our group was given a loss back in May when one of our members passed over; a roadside bomb claimed him. It forced all of us to look at our lives, our jobs, and what they mean in terms of our families and loved ones. All decided that this was what we do for a living, and that we would honor our fallen by continuing our mission in this life. His family is one of the many fighting for a pentacle on his headstone. We do not intend to let our brother down, and it is up to us to have our government honor his last request as he honored his oath to them.
We do this because we can; we sacrifice so that others can live in peace. We understand this and accept it.
For some it is our second time in this country, I was here back in 2003, driving from Kuwait to the northern city of Mosul. Now that I’m back, I have a few more years till I retire, and I expect to return at least one more time. My mission the first time was an amazing one to me: I worked in the city and on the streets, rebuilding schools. I had the opportunity to see neighborhoods transform with the schools we helped rebuild. I felt a real sense of accomplishment; I felt good. The pain I felt was when I talked to my own young children, explaining to them why Daddy couldn’t come home yet and that we still had to get the bad people. Well, here I am again, in the same phone conversations with my boys, now ages 5 ½ and 8. They tell me how proud of me they are and how much they miss me and love me. Not being with them hurts me, but I know that by doing my job I ensure that what I see here will not happen where they are. Then I am reminded of why I do this: for the chance that when my boys grow up they will never have to see the things I have seen here or do the things I have done here. I love them too much.
But to Baghdad in the present, we are treated well as a group and supported by the Command. I still find this amazing. The military, in all its closed-mindedness, has seen fit to accept us in its ranks, has given us a place to worship and to hold our rituals. Why, then, is it so hard for the VA to understand that we are not going away? Many of us wished we could have been in Washington to see the historic protest in favor of allowing our religious symbols on our tombs unfold. I thought of holding a gathering here, but due to military regulations, we cannot. But those who were there are all in our thoughts today, as I hope the government hears our voices. We only ask for equal treatment. We serve with honor, we die with honor. Can we please rest with honor? For most of us, the best we can do is send e-mail and write letters to Congresspeople in hopes of showing them that we have numbers, we vote, and we care about our rights. I truly hope that the gathering in D.C. went well and sent the message of “We are Pagan and we care.”
This weekend we will be holding a Full Moon Ritual; we ask that you keep us in your thoughts, in your prayers, and in your hearts. In this place we can feel the ancient energies; they surround us during each ritual. We feel the pain in the earth here, and with love we give our healing energies to her. We live between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a place called the cradle of civilization. They have honored the Gods and Goddesses here since before recorded time. Some have said the energy is spent, but it is not; it is too deep in the earth here.
We are Soldiers. We're Pagans. WE’RE AMERICANS!!!!
Blessed Be and 93,
Frostig
