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In 2005, Father John Barkemeyer, a Catholic priest, pastor, and lifelong Chicagoan, decided to leave his southwest-side parish of St. Cajetan and join the U.S. Army as a fulltime chaplain. Father John had seen many young men volunteering for the military from his own neighborhood and parish and was struck by the urgent need for chaplains to minister to courageous and selfless young men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Moved by his commitment and sacrifice, a number of Father John's parishioners, friends, and family formed a chaplain-support group called "ComPadres." It's mission? "To support Father John Barkemeyer and other chaplains in their sacred service to U.S. armed forces, by providing whatever financial and material support will enable them to minister most effectively." The simple assumption was that chaplains would know what they needed. Our mission has succeeded far beyond our early expectations!
Father John has served one full mission in Iraq and has just ended a second, 15-month deployment serving soldiers and Marines in Al Anbar province. He has introduced some of his chaplain colleagues to ComPadres.
ComPadres, in turn, has raised well over $100,000 and used the funds to supply Father John and other chaplains with whatever the chaplains felt would be most helpful and encouraging for the troops they were serving.
We've sent countless shipments of PX cards, phone cards, toiletries, snack foods, short-wave radios, computer video games, DVD's, ready-mix meals, religious goods, sweat suits for wounded troops in hospitals, athletic equipment, Christmas gifts... The list goes on and on, and it will continue to grow as Father John and other chaplains request our help in their missions of service to the troops.
The work of ComPadres is entirely made possible by our many generous donors who recognize the importance of supporting our troops by assisting the chaplains who serve them. Our donors include individuals, student bodies in many schools across Chicagoland and elsewhere, church groups from around the U.S., and even corporate fundraisers. We have gratefully highlighted a few of our donor groups on this site, but, for the most part, the donors and their contributions are anonymous... generous... and powerful.
We are very thankful for the support of so many who continue to make this work possible.
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Al Mishura School
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.... from Chaplain John Barkemeyer
Everyone realizes that a partnership between Iraqis and American forces is the only way to bring about peace in Iraq. Most often, this takes place not on a regional scale but on the most local of levels. Relationships and even friendships have formed where only months ago mistrust and even hatred festered. Recently, I collected school supplies from Compadres members back in the States. We went to a local school in Al Mishura just outside our Forward Operating Base. A couple months earlier, I asked the headmaster what the school children could use. He told us they would love to have backpacks. I dropped an email to the Compadres and within a month we had hundreds of backpacks. When you see the smiles on the kids faces, you know their joy is genuine and the groundwork has been laid for what I hope will be years of fruitful cooperation.
Enjoy the movie clip!
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At this time of year, a time of new beginnings and change, we want to send out a special salute to our Compadres KIDS. All throughout Chicagoland, they raise needed funds at the schools they attend, are part of scout troops, man hot dog stands, and do a myriad of things to support the Compadres effort. So VIVA Compadres KIDS. Our group effectively began with your support and you continue to provide a strong base for our operations. More importantly, you are making your own meaningful statement. See the schools that were part of our Fall '07 Hearts From Home effort here.
Fr. John Barkemeyer, former pastor of St. Cajetan Parish, with St. Rita students who are members of St. Cajetan Parish.
(For the story, click here)
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Troop 11 of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Wilmette, Illinois, days after their "bike ride."
(For the story, click here)
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Students at Saint James School, Arlington Heights, Illinois, on "Make A Difference Day"
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To SEE Father John on Chicago's "Channel 5 City Desk" with Mary Ann Ahern (12.23.07), click here --> Part 1, Part 2
To HEAR Father John's interview on NPR's FRESH AIR (11.14.07), click here
To READ the CHICAGO TRIBUNE article (5.20.07), click here
To HEAR Father John in his own words (5.20.07), click here
Xbox Thank-you Notes from Iraq (05.16.07) (for photos, click here)
When Chaplain John Barkemeyer arrived in Ramadi and first started visiting the troops at the many small and primitive Combat Ouposts (or COP's) where soldiers and Marines are deployed for days, even weeks at a time, he observed in the troops a very difficult mix of tension from the dangerous missions and security details, and boredom during the downtime.
Fr. John asked the troops what would really help boost morale, alleviate boredom, restore some normalcy to life, and improve alertness. And they said… "Xboxes!" Xboxes, as you may know, are very popular video consoles and games from Microsoft. They don't come cheap… figure about $500 for each one we send. But it's what these deployed troops in the tense Combat Outposts most wanted.
So... in addition to large amounts of toiletries, snacks, religious goods, phone cards, PX cards, sporting goods, and much more… the ComPadres have sent sets of Xboxes and games - nine so far! - for the troops stationed in some of the many COP's around Ramadi and elsewhere in Al Anbar province.
Recently, ComPadres received these notes of thanks from the troops. We can all share in the pride and gratification that comes with having provided some much needed relief for the troops, and having conveyed to them in one more unique way how important they are to us, and how present in our thoughts and prayers!
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ComPadres,
Thank you so much for your generous gift, it really means a lot to me and my soldiers. I am the platoon leader of the Woodchucks. Since we moved from south central Ramadi to the Jazeera region, my men have had a lot more time on their hands. Many of them have had trouble adjusting to the new sector because of boredom. Not having every second of every day filled with missions makes time go by very slowly. Many of the men sit inside their rooms waiting for their guard shifts for hours at a time. Once we set up the Xbox 360, everyone came back out! I find myself looking back and wondering why we didn't get these issued to us for entertainment. It is very good to see all the soldiers out laughing and yelling while they play games. Anything that makes home feel a little closer is a good thing and I truly thank you for helping us. Keep us in your prayers and know that my men are working very hard!
Speed and Power,
Nick Wedbush
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April 25, 2007
Dear Friend,
Thank you so much for supporting us with the Xbox! It really means a lot to us out here at Combat Outpost Anvil. It will never cease to amaze me how things find their way out to this small outpost. At times it feels like we are all but forgotten by everyone else. It feels like we are out of sight and out of mind to many others, but when we receive things from people like you it makes a big difference to us spiritually. Our morale goes up and it makes these deployments that much better. Once again, thank you. Your support and kindness will always be cherished and never forgotten.
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25 April 2007
Dear ComPadres,
Thank you for the Xbox and games. The platoon will enjoy playing it. And it will keep us entertained on days when movies won't cut it.
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Dear ComPadres,
Thank you very much for your kindness. Your support is immeasurable to the members of my platoon.
My name is Michael McDaniel. I am a SFC in the U.S. Army and I am Platoon Sergeant of a Scout Platoon - the best Scout Platoon in all of Iraq! It is because of your support that we are able to continue to win the war on terrorism. The gift you sent my platoon will provide hours of entertainment and relaxation for my men. Once again thank you for your prayers and support.
Michael McDaniel
SFC, U.S. Army
Firebase Dragon
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How are you doing, ComPadres? Just writing to tell you thank you for the Xbox 360. It really to get your mind away from here. It is nice to know we are thought of by the American people and supported.
A little about me. My name is PFC Steven Rubacalva. I am from Fresno CA. I have a loving wife and a two year old son and my wife is five months pregnant. I turned 21 on March 23rd on which we were doing an SKT ("sniper kill team"). That will be a great memory of my 21st, but enough about me. You guys take care.
Sincerely,
Steve Rubacalva
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Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for the Xbox. It's been a big hit around here. It means a lot that someone is thinking of us. Anything to help us escape the reality of being away from home so long is much appreciated. Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
SPC Paul Gardner, aka Catfish 6
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Dear Sir or Miss,
I wish I knew who you were so I could do this right. But thank you for your great gift. It did more than you could think. We all know you took time and money to make our lives better, we all greatly appreciate it. And thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
With love and thanks,
PFC Juarez, Robert Allen
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Dear Supporter,
Thank you so much for the X-box 360. It is greatly appreciated! I enjoy knowing that people back home think about us and send us such nice gifts. This is a huge gift. It helps us to pass the time and is a morale booster. Again, I thank you.
Sincerely,
Petro
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Dear Friends,
Hello. My name is John Steltzner and I wish to thank you for getting the Xbox for us soldiers. Whenever our mission or guard duty is finished there is mostly someone playing games throughout the day. Something to keep them busy or times of relaxing from a long shift of security watch.
I want to thank you again for the Xbox even though I am really terrible at playing games but I really do try. Again thank you very much.
John Steltzner
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Dear Friends,
Thank you for the X-box 360.We use it daily. It has improved morale and made things a little better around here. The only problem now is kicking somebody off so you can use it (laugh out loud!). Thanks again, though, we really do appreciate it, it's a great gift and a lot of fun.
Sincerely,
Graydon Nangle
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ComPadres,
Hi! Writing to say thank you for the Xbox. It helps pass the time. It's great to have and fun to play. It's nice to know that people care about what we do.
Private Gongo
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Dear ComPadres,
Thank you very much for the X-box 360. It is nice to know that there are Americans that are still thinking of us here in Iraq,
Once again I really appreciate your generosity and I will see to it that it will get much use.
SSG Dawson
Ramadi, Iraq
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Dear ComPadres,
Thank you very much for the gift of the Xbox. I appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness. When we have downtime, there isn't a whole to do here, so the Xbox will see plenty of use. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
PFC McDonald, Benjamin
A Visit With the Marines (4.25.07)
I had an interesting day today. I went out with the 2/5 Marines for the first
time to say mass at 5 of their 8 combat outposts. It was the first time they were able to get to mass
in 6 weeks. The photo with me in my vestments is one picture (here), but I
thought you'd get a kick out of the picture of the "water" (here). It of course is not
water but raw sewage and it all collects in front of one of the combat outposts. It is so deep
it comes up to the door handles on the HUMVEE, about 3-4 feet. Literally driving through 3-4
feet of sewage with it washing over the windshield was a trip. So was the "aroma."
For the past five weeks the Marines have been living in this building (here), they have been sleeping on concrete floors because there isn't any bedding. I tried to get them mattresses and they will come in
about 3 months, so in the meantime I'm getting them hooked up with cots and lumber. Since these poor
guys are sleeping on the floor next to a cesspool, I figured if anybody in Iraq deserved an Xbox, it was them, so I sent them back with one, much to the smiles and grins of the Marines. The upshot of it all is
that by being able to give them this stuff, not only do they get some rare recreational opportunities but now, when I come by in the future to say mass, you know they will do everything they can to make sure guys are able to attend, i.e., swapping them off tower duty, etc. So, once again, in many strange and unexpected ways, the Compadres have come through.
M&Ms to the Rescue (4.19.07)
I've been working with a soldier most of the day to help resolve some family issues. He weighs 125 lbs. down from a whopping 145lbs. I went to the chow hall with him to make sure he was eating something. We got together again tonight and before he left my office I asked him if he liked M&Ms.
A big smile crept across his face and he said, "With peanuts?"
"Yep," I said. "With peanuts."
I gave him the whole bag and he happily slinked off to the barracks. It was nice to have it on hand to be able to give to a good kid.
It's one of those things about which some might say, "No big deal," but it was a big deal.
Explosion on Good Friday (4.6.07)
This just happened about 2 hours ago. I can't believe it is already in the newspaper. I was leading the Good Friday worship service at a camp near the place I live and during the homily our makeshift church/dining room shook with a large explosion. There were about 10 of us there. We looked at each other for a few seconds with a dumb "what should we do now" look on our faces and then we decided to go on. A minute later a soldier came in and told us to get our gas (protective) masks on because it was a chlorine suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device. Of course he didn't say all that he just told us it was an SVBED with chlorine. That means some guy in a car packed with explosives and chlorine just killed himself as he rammed it into something or someone. We walked ourside our hut and saw a large white plume of "smoke" right next to us but luckily (for us) the wind was blowing in another direction. (with regular VBEDs you have a dark black smoke that rises, chlorine VBEDs have a white or almost green cloud that forms) There was a lot of gun fire but that usually means the Iraqi police or Army is letting off steam by shooting whatever they are near. We let the situation die down for a few minutes and then went back and picked up the Good Friday service almost where we left off. I told the guys I wasn't going to continue with the homily and we'd just go directly into the general intercessions. They didn't seem to mind. The one lieutenant who runs the security in the area came in late, just a minute or two before we concluded. I told him that from now on, his only job was to make sure our Church services are not interrupted by SVBEDs anymore. He assured me he was going to issue a sternly worded memo to the insurgents in the area letting them know how rudely they behaved. I go back there tomorrow morning for Easter Sunday (Saturday) services. I'm hoping the young Lieutenant's memo does the job!
A Surprise for the Soldiers (3.8.07)
A little ComPadres story. I was this afternoon I was walking down of of the main roads of the Camp. Off to the side I see about 25 Marines sleeping in the dirt. I walked over to kid the couple that were awake about these guys sleeping on the job. They said the group had just gotten in from one of the outposts. They get to come on one day a month to take a shower and shop at the PX. Of course I felt like a heel ribbing them knowing this was their "day off." I happened to have a bunch of PX gift certificates on me (courtesy as you know of the ComPadres). I passed them out and they acted like they won the lottery. I also asked what the living conditions were at their outpost, typically abysmal as you can imagine. I asked how they relax after a shift. They said there really isn't much for them to do so I told them I just may be able to hook them up with a little video entertainment! Of course they went out of their minds with the idea they could play each other with the Xbox Halo II game. It was really cute.
I'm going to divert one of the Xboxes that has been sent my way to them. They recently had one of their guys killed on the rooftop of their outpost so they could use a break. Anyway, I included a picture of these guys (here). Just thought you'd like to see who's benefitting from what you are doing. From them and me to you, THANKS!
Help From Home (3.3.07)
The generousity of the ComPadres community has been spectacular. In just the past month we have been able to touch the lives of our soldiers and Marines here at Camp Ramadi, Iraq in many new ways.
We have begun a reading program for soldiers with young children. ComPadre members have sent us children's books and a video camera. Now soldiers can read a book or two to their kid(s) and we mail it to them on a DVD. This helps the children remember what their their mom or dad looks like and sounds like. Hopefully, it will make this time of separation less stressful. I have to tell you, it is cute to watch these hardened soldiers and Marines read children's books.
Soon we will be receiving video consoles from the Compadres. Many of our soldiers and Marines are living off the camp, right in the middle of a very hostile city. Most receive fire everyday. The conditions are primitive as they don't even have running water. Since they do have electrical generators they will be able to play video games on their down time. In my opinion, any way to help these guys relax and unwind is hugely important.
Another way we support our soldiers and Marines is through the distribution of gift certificates to our PX (which is like a 7-Eleven) and phone cards which enable them to call home for free. These are always appreciated and are a great way to improve morale.
I cannot stress how important the work of the ComPadres has been. The needs are far greater than they were in my last deployment. We are in the heart of the "Al Queda in Iraq" stronghold here in the capital of the Al Anbar province. The support and prayers we receive from our friends back home makes all the difference.
In Ramadi (2.13.07)
I've been in Ramadi, the capital of the Al Anbar province for about three weeks now. I am amazed at the violence and death that occurs almost every day. The biggest threat we face are IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or roadside bombs. I have seen huge vehicles torn in two by these massive explosions, but much worse is the condition of the soldiers or Marines riding in the vehicles. Life here is pretty tough. We don't get much news coverage because almost all of the media is located in Baghdad. Rarely does a reporter venture out to this part of the country.
The living conditions on the main camps is pretty good, at least compared to life in the many Combat Outposts. They are like mini "forts" located in the most violent parts of the city and countryside. They have no running water, heat or air conditioning. Meals come by way of plastic pouches and news from home is non existent while stationed at the outposts. These soldiers and Marines rotate back to one of the main camps every so often. A cot, a shower, toilet facilities, email access and phones seem like fabulous luxuries.
I am hoping with the ComPadres help, we can continue to make life a little better for soldiers and Marines. We are in the midst refurbishing a gym so they can work out and relieve some stress. Hopefully, some of the ComPadres funds can allow us to purchase some equipment. Little things mean a lot here. Life is pretty basic, even bare bones. Yet I rarely hear the men and women in uniform complain. I take a great deal of pride in these very special people.
Returning to Iraq (1.2.07)
In just a few days we return to Iraq. This will be my second deployment. I have mixed feelings about returning. The unit I am with is top notch. I am in the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. It is the most deployed division in the Army. I am impressed with the quality of soldiers I will be deployed with. At the same time I also experience a sense of dread because I know year is a long, long time.
We will be stationed in the Al Anbar Province, known as "the wild west" of Iraq. Each of us have been warned to expect "primitive" living conditions. For some in our group, this will be their third trip. Many, however, are fresh out of training and are new to this. It will be an interesting combination of combat veterans and fresh faces.
I am grateful to know that the ComPadres will be there to help our soldiers. Little unexpected things chaplains can do for soldiers often go a long way in improving morale. Having been there before, I largely know what to expect and for this I am grateful. But I also know a year is a long, long time.
Father John Describes His Mission:
I am currently serving as an Army Chaplain at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In this assignment, I am working with soldiers who are either in the process of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan, or returning from those deployments.
I recently received word that I will be transferring to Ft. Stewart Georgia to join the 3rd ID, or Third Infantry Division. They are scheduled to deploy to Iraq around the first of the year. That means I'll be returning to Iraq, presumably for another year-long deployment.
A great gift to deployed soldiers is the generosity that filters through the ComPadres. Here's just a few typical examples.
- The ComPadres have sent countless prayer cards, crosses, crucifixes, and other religious goods to be given to the troops - reinforcing religion and faith in extremely difficult settings.
- During my last deployment, we were able to set up a "coffee house" for the soldiers (more on that below) that was a tremendous morale booster in a difficult and hostile environment.
- We were also able to surprise many soldiers with gifts of phone cards with which to call home... and with PX certificates (the "PX" is a small store on the base which sells everything from potato chips to rifle cleaning materials), so these gifts enable the soldiers to buy whatever they feel they most need, right at that time.
I have also seen the ComPadres quickly and efficiently address unusual, compelling needs that were brought to their attention.
- We learned that wounded troops from Afghanistan and Iraq were being treated at Landstuhl Air Force hospital in Germany, and that many had only hospital gowns to wear (Ever worn one of those?), and flip-flops for their feet. ComPadres immediately sent the chaplains at Landstuhl 30 sweat suits for the injured troops and $2,000 to buy additional clothes, toiletries, writing materials, and whatever else would help to improve the troops' morale, restore their dignity and support their recovery .
- When a U.S. Army brigade near Baghdad, nearing the end of its deployment and preparing to return home, had its deployment extended for another four months, the chaplain requested phone cards so his soldiers could at least call home and maintain important family connections. ComPadres sent $1,500 in specially discounted military phone cards for the chaplain to give to his troops.
As I start to plan for my next deployment I have a few ideas that can help take some of the strain off soldiers with the help of the ComPadres.
- High on my priority list is audio-visual equipment so that we can offer nightly movies, giving the guys and gals a chance to unwind after missions and alleviate the inevitable boredom of life in the desert.
- If there is space available, I'd like to open another coffee house to give soldiers a place to relax and get connected to one another. Fostering a sense of community in a tense combat zone is an important way to help our people in uniform stay grounded.
- I also hope to be able to show soldiers that people back home care for them by again being able to offer them phone cards to call home, and PX gift certificates.
Every deployment is different and I'm sure there will be all sorts of additional opportunities to serve soldiers. With the support of the ComPadres, I'm confident we'll make the lives of a lot of soldiers in Iraq just a little bit better!
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