Air Force chaplain followed conscience

Understanding gained in deployment to war zone

Provided

In his cultural awareness tours in Iraq, the Rev. John Painter (left) encourages members of the armed forces to learn about the rich history surrounding Ali Air Base.

Provided

The Rev. John Painter talks to airmen about the history of the Ziggurat of Ur on Nov. 12. Painter provides cultural awareness visits to the traditional home of Abraham and the Ziggurat of Ur, a 4,000-year-old temple to the Sumerian moon god, Nanna.

The Rev. John Painter's desire to serve abroad pulled gently at his conscience, then grew strong and clear when the Air Force Chaplain Service called in June.

Painter, who is a chaplain at the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, voluntarily deployed Sept. 5 to Ali Air Base in southern Iraq. He will forego Thanksgiving and Christmas, and his two children will turn a year older before he returns home in January 2009.

The Rev. Lorenzo Moses, chief chaplain at the Charleston VA, said that when Painter told him that he wanted to deploy, "I encouraged him. I knew it was something he really, really wanted to do."

Painter walked into an environment unlike any he'd known before — dirt streets, tents and power outages. "The weather is a lot different," Painter said by phone Nov. 17, his son's 12th birthday. "There is a constant threat to the base. And a lot of people you have to get to know. It's very busy."

The men and women to whom he ministers in Iraq feel closer to him, he said. "When you live every day and work in a chapel with sandbags around it, you think about things that are more eternal than back home," Painter said.

Part of his desire to deploy was to better understand the lives of veterans he meets at the VA. "Veterans have a camaraderie that comes from having a shared experience. I have shared much more of that," he said. "I really came to understand their appreciation for our country."

Today, Painter plans to lead a Thanksgiving observance service for Air Force and Army personnel and people from coalition forces, including Romanian and Ugandan, who share the base.

"It's an American holiday. The other contingents do not register the holiday, but the concept did," he said. People will sit around tables and get to know one another and share what they're thankful for.

Personally, Painter said, "I'm thankful for freedom, family, good friends. It's the little things like a hot shower."

Moses described Painter as big-hearted and personable. "He also has no qualms about letting you know exactly where he stands. He's well grounded," Moses said.

Painter is also a scholar, with a doctorate in the Old Testament. He looked forward to seeing the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, according to the Bible.

When Painter first arrived the ancient site was off limits. That changed, and now Painter serves as a guide leading weekly cultural awareness visits.

Another project that has been dear to Painter is the refurbishment of 150 desks for Iraqi schoolchildren. The effort, spearheaded by the Army, replaced wood on old frames and sanded and varnished the furniture for children who were sitting on dirt floors.

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.