By Ann M. Augherton
Herald Managing Editor
(From the issue of 4/15/04)

The sounds of "Amazing Grace" filled the room as nearly 50 people — some in camouflage or white medical coats and some families with their arms around each other — gathered for Mass at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde celebrated Mass for troops, medical personnel and members of the hospital community earlier this month with Father (Maj.) Frank O’Grady, Walter Reed chaplain, and Father Patrick Kenny, a priest on staff at Walter Reed.

The bishop thanked the military for "the priceless gift you give to us. Like Christ, you make us free," he said. "You risk your lives and at times you give your lives." He also thanked the medical community for their care.

The bishop’s visit took him to the wards of the army hospital where soldiers recuperated from injuries they sustained while serving in Iraq.

In one room, a handwritten phrase filled a bulletin board: "Heavy Coat of Jesus." The young soldier had been shot several times while serving in Iraq. As he told the bishop his story, he pointed out several of the wounds that scarred his body.

"I think God helped me," he told the bishop, adding that the Sunday School missionaries of his childhood in the Dominican Republic had made an impression on him. The visit seemed to mean a lot to the man and his mother who snapped pictures of the bishop with her son on a disposable camera.

Down the hall, a 26-year-old man from Ft. Bragg told his story. He had been riding in a vehicle in Iraq when an "improvised explosive device" was set off sending the vehicle down a ravine and into the Tigress River. One week later he was at Walter Reed. This day he sat with his brother and his speech therapist as he told the bishop that although the military had not told him, he had just discovered on the internet that he was the only one to survive that incident.

A 21-year-old man from Amarillo lay in bed with his arm immobilized by several pins. A blast had seriously injured his elbow. He had earned two Purple Hearts. Although a non-Catholic, he seemed to appreciate the bishop’s visit and blessing.

A reservist, who had retired in 1994, was mobilized for the war in Iraq. His medical condition sent him to Walter Reed, but he was quick to tell the bishop, "Some of my guys got bushwacked the other day, and I want to go back." He asked the bishop to pray for the people who set the course, "we just go where we’re sent."

Several soldiers were not up to a visit, and the planned trip to the ICU to see some of the more seriously injured, did not happen.

The bishop’s visit concluded with a tour of Ward 72, called the Eisenhower Executive Nursing Suite — the high security level presidential hospital suite. Only the president, first lady, vice president, cabinet members, senators, congressmen, foreign dignitaries, general officers and those designated by the president or secretary of the Army are allowed to use this facility.

The ward houses artifacts meriting museum status, including one of the five original copies of the U.S. Constitution and many gifts of state from other countries. Few are allowed to see this ward, but the bishop was able to visit two retired lieutenant generals, both diocesan parishioners, recuperating there.

Captain Kevin Gormley, a nurse in Ward 72, said his job is an honor.

"We can’t save the world (but we try) one life at a time."