CAMP VICTORY, Baghdad, Iraq -- In the quiet dawn, Soldiers assembled for a special Easter sunrise service lakeside near the 1st Cavalry Division’s main headquarters here.
Scores of troops; enlisted, officer and civilian; sang, prayed and worshiped during the hour-long service. 1st Cav. Div. Commanding General Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli opened the celebration.
“The Army is full of traditions,” Chiarelli said. “But let’s not make this one of them, being in Baghdad, I mean.”
For several Soldiers, Sunday marked a special day far from home and family and an Easter made more significant for many reasons.
“Easter to me is always important because it is the foundation of my faith,” said Cpt. Silas Session, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. “This is special because it is near where Christ actually walked. In the midst of all things, this is really special.”
Pfc. Derick Van Gorkum, a chaplain’s assistant with 1st Cav. Div.’s headquarters company also recognized the unique aspect of Sunday’s service.
“Being where we are and in the situation that we are in, [Easter] does mean a little more,” he said. “It is nice to have the spiritual aspect here.”
The Division Chaplain, (Lt. Col.) David Moran gave the sermon and reflected on the nature of this Easter Sunday in a deployed location.
“It is absolutely different from every other experience of Easter,” Moran said. “We are not in the usual day-to-day routines. I guess, sadly, [back home] Easter becomes ordinary. We really don’t experience what it must have been like for the disciples.
“Over here, facing death, so many [Soldiers] have died just this past week,” Moran continued. “We are not facing Easter the same way. I think that makes today a very poignant celebration. It helps us to look at Easter the way they did the first time and to listen for Christ calling our name.”
At the end of the service, with the sun high in the sky over the man-made lake, Soldiers walked away in somber moods, reflecting over the sermon, the songs and the shaping their own unique memories of Easter in Iraq.