Once Again, I Write Far From Home
Fred Twombley
Once again, I find myself sitting in a place where much began and many things have happened. An ancient place, where the energy of the old Gods run deep within, in some places so strong it is almost tangible. A place between the rivers, a place where my ancestors traded their goods, a place where religion is the government and the law.
A place that if I walked the streets I would not only be killed because I am obviously European in descent but if they found out I am Pagan I would most likely be tortured first. If you hadn’t guessed by now your friendly neighborhood Heathen is back in Iraq.
Sitting in Baghdad I have returned to the VBOC (Victory Base Open Circle). Due to current transformations in the military, I left Baghdad at the end of September 06 and I have returned July 07 working in the same location but at a different job.
As things increase in this world so does the length of deployments, now sitting at 15 months by the time I return I will have missed my anniversary, the birthday of one of my sons twice and the other once. Not to mention being with my family for this about of time.
My saving grace in this, my blessing, you ask?
That would be knowing that I am returning to the VBOC, a safe place for Pagans to be who we are and not be judged by those around us, hidden in plain sight from people who do not understand and don’t want to be educated as to who we are.
We exist with permission from the military here on base; we are afforded all rights and privileges from our Army sponsor.
As for me, I recently remarried to a beautiful woman who loves me for who I am and who I can become, not for whom she wants me to be. We agreed to stand side by side in all challenges in our lives, my last deployment here being the first one and now the current one being the larger hurdle.
She is an inspiration to me. I spent four months in Germany and four in the States before returning to Iraq, it seems to have been just the right amount of time to recharge and go forward.
The Heathen community in Georgia greeted me with open arms and flowing horns of mead; they showed me what a global family Heathenry truly is.
I also recently attended the Pagan Religious Right Rally in Washington D.C. on 4 July. Being there during the Headstone dedication in Arlington National Cemetery, seeing a Pentacle carved deep into that white stone it was a moving experience, ask anyone who was there it was a energizing moment. To see that symbol among all the others carved equally, simply, and beautifully I knew a big step had been taken and the only way to go was forward.
If you have never been there Arlington National Cemetery is truly a sacred place where you can feel the sacrifice of those that built and protected our nation, I feel everyone should make the trip.
I then drove into the city for the Rally; I had never been that close to the White House, to be there standing in front of a stage being recognized as a Pagan serving in the military, well it humbled me a bit. To those of us who serve, we look at it as doing our jobs, we do not know another way, but to serve and protect our country. We are proud of our profession; we are defenders of not only our country but of our faiths.
I want to thank all those who touched me and helped me during my visit to our nation’s capitol, there are many names and they all helped physically and spiritually.
I wrote about things here about a year ago, the only thing that has changed is soldiers have rotated out and new have come in, we have continued to grow as a community here and we will keep going to continue making our presence here more than a foothold, but turn it into a stronghold.
On this installation, we are the largest and most active minority faith group. We outnumber the Jewish community and the military Muslim community here on base combined, yet they retain Chaplains for them, but we are working on that. We now have strong voices here and in the public at large, we can no longer go unnoticed, in the past 5 years Pagans have been more public than ever. This will only lead to the public being educated and eliminating misconceptions.
I know you probably do not support the government policies and the deployments the military is currently engaged in, but do support the troops. When we entered government service we say an oath, if you look back into history and oath is a very strong thing, it is something that can only be broken under special circumstances.
It is with this oath that we are obligated.
So, as I go into my third deployment here in Iraq I do so supported by not only my Brothers and Sisters in arms but also my Brothers and Sisters of the Pagan community.
The military Pagan community is growing daily, some are new to the faith and some have been around for a while and are now coming forward to stand in the light, to show solidarity.
We are here, we have always been here, and we will not lie down but we will stand and fight for our faith and for our country.
We have fought for freedoms we cannot enjoy, we have been doing so silently, and the silent part is ending. Now we must stand and be heard, the Chaplaincy will not support us with our own Chaplain if we do not ask for one. We must show them from within there is a need for this and we want it.
In closing, I want to thank those of you who are actively promoting education in your communities, those that are organizing or participating in local and national events, and those that support our troops locally and overseas. Without your help and dedication we would not be where we are today, stepping over the threshold bringing Paganism out into the mainstream. Thank You and Blessed Be.
Wassail, Live Well and Die Well
Fred Twombly
SSG, USA
Baghdad, Iraq
A.k.a. Frostig
