Chaplain spends holidays with frontline Marines in Afghanistan

Photo By Brian Adam Jones | Navy Lt. Eric Hammen, right, talks to Lance Cpl. Steven Cox, an ammunition technician with "The Magnificent Bastards," 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Jan. 1. Cox, a native of Pensacola, Fla., was about to begin guard duty in an observation post at the base. Hammen, a chaplain with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), and a native of Little Chute, Wis., visited Forward Operating Base Edinburgh on New Year's because the outpost doesn't have a chaplain of its own. Coalition forces in Afghanistan brought in the New Year by continuing counterinsurgency operations.  

FORWARD OPERATING BASE EDINBURGH, AFGHANISTAN

01.13.2012

Story by Cpl. Brian Adam Jones 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

FORWARD OPERATING BASE EDINBURGH, Afghanistan - The chaplain seemed to stop and consider something for just a moment before climbing into the guard post at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, Afghanistan.

As he reached the top of the plywood ladder, a pair of worn combat boots peeked from under the wool blanket draped across post’s entrance.

“It’s the chaplain,” Navy Lt. Eric Hammen offered to the unseen Marine. “Happy New Year!”

As millions of Americans counted down to the New Year, Hammen flew by Marine Corps helicopter to this remote outpost in Helmand province.

It was New Year’s morning in Afghanistan, 9 ½ hours ahead of New York, and Lt. Eric Hammen, a chaplain with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), came to conduct a church service and visit with the Marines and coalition forces here.

“It’s always great to get out and see the Marines at the tip of the spear,” said Hammen, a native of Little Chute, Wis. “It’s important to me to be able to let them know that people are thinking about them and appreciate their sacrifice.”

Surrounded by rugged terrain and lacking comforts many take for granted, Edinburgh isn’t the ideal place to spend the holidays, but it was the second Sunday in a row the chaplain from Little Chute, Wis., spent at the base – he was there Christmas day as well.

“As a chaplain, the holidays are game time for us,” Hammen said. “To have the opportunity to go out and minister, that’s really special to me.”

• Date Taken: 01.13.2012
• Date Posted: 01.13.2012 05:15
• Story ID: 82361
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE EDINBURGH, AF