Chaplains called on to deliver tragic news - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Chaplains called on to deliver tragic news

The first time Army Capt. Ted Randall notified a family that their soldier had died, he wasn’t sure he would be able to get through it without falling apart.

As a chaplain at Fort Campbell, Ky., he did not have to deliver the words every Army family dreads — “The Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret … “ — but he had to step in immediately after to provide comfort.

He had prepared as best he could, Randall said, but it was not enough.

“I mean, it was just brutal for me,” he said during a recent telephone interview.

Driving away afterward, neither Randall nor the soldier who gave the notification said a word. Back at the hotel, they called their wives.

“And I really didn’t say anything, just cried on the phone,” Randall said.

That was earlier this year. Since then, Randall said he has been on “multiple” notifications. He is one of 86 chaplains at Fort Campbell who team with one of at least 25 soldiers on call at any one time to deliver the sad news. It is a duty highlighted in the acclaimed Ben Foster-Woody Harrelson movie, “The Messenger.”

In the Hollywood version, Harrelson is part of a two-soldier notification team. In reality, the team almost always consists of a soldier and a chaplain. And while the same two soldiers work together throughout the movie, Randall is paired with a different soldier each time.

How often he has the duty varies. Each time he is on call for 24 hours and has an hour to report to the Casualty Assistance Center wearing his dress greens and carrying an overnight bag. Like many aspects of the job, he describes the waiting period as “brutal.” But the difficulty of notification duty shouldn’t keep it from being done, he said.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s an honor,” he said. “And I would want the same for my family.”

‘Additional duty’

Defense Department policy dictates that all branches of the military conduct in-person death notifications for active-service members. It also requires that notification be made between 5 a.m. and midnight, explained Kim McKenzie, who heads the Fort Campbell Casualty Assistance Center. The Army has narrowed the time requirement to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., except in cases of high media visibility where there is concern the public may learn about the death before the family.

Individual casualty assistance offices have four hours to assemble a team and notify the family. Fort Campbell is responsible for notifying family members in Tennessee and 51 southern counties in Kentucky, whether the soldier was stationed at Fort Campbell or not. Fort Knox, Ky., personnel are responsible for 59 counties in Kentucky, 47 in West Virginia and all of Indiana, Ohio and much of Michigan, said McKenzie’s Fort Knox counterpart, Barbara Bonnell. Both posts can also call on National Guard and Army Reserve members for notifications.

The task itself is considered an “additional duty,” a job that soldiers are strongly encouraged to be trained for and perform once they reach the appropriate rank, McKenzie said. At Fort Knox, few volunteer for the duty, but none of the messengers whom Bonnell has spoken to have regretted performing the service.

“They were actually glad they had done it because it gave them a chance to honor their fallen brother or sister and to really show that the Army cares,” Bonnell said.

To conduct a notification, soldiers must undergo at least two days worth of training. Because their profession has already prepared them for such situations, chaplains do not undergo training, but Randall does advise trainees to prepare for anything.

“That’s the one thing I always keep in mind: There’s no way to know what’s going to happen when that door opens … ” he said. “That’s essentially what I tell them: Anything is possible.”

While Randall said he has never been in danger, he acknowledges its presence. Occasionally, local law-enforcement officials are called in to ease tensions. Bonnell said she has even had teams call on the law when families refuse to open the door.

Having a door shut in a messenger’s face is not an uncommon reaction, Randall said. With time, the family usually will open it, he said. If the family is not home, Randall and his partner remove their jackets before knocking on a neighbor’s door. The news must be delivered to the family before anyone else so they ask the neighbor only the information they need in order to confirm that the family lives there and will return. As in “The Messenger,” they never park in front of the house.

“We’ve been at this long enough that if a family sees two uniformed soldiers in Class A’s [dress uniform] walking down the street or up to a door, everybody knows what’s going on,” Randall said.

How a family reacts varies widely, he said. Some lash out, some cry, others are silent. But in time most ask two questions: why and how. The team has been given a little information on the how, but the why isn’t something they can answer, Randall said.

“I usually just tell them how sorry I am,” he said.

A human touch

The specifics the team receives are limited, and the soldier’s background usually consists of his or her military service. Often, the messengers do not even have a photo of the soldier. It is one of the things Randall asks the family for when he arrives. No matter how upset they are, he said, sharing a photo of the soldier usually brings them pride and comfort.

It also gets them telling stories and sometimes even smiling. That is when Randall knows it is appropriate to leave. Sometimes it is not long after the news has been delivered; sometimes it is hours later. However long it takes, Randall stays until he knows the family is OK.

Often, a single notification ends up turning into several because the family asks Randall and his partner to help them notify other nearby relatives, such as grandparents. Occasionally, they ask him to talk to children. As with adults, Randall makes sure to be clear and concise.

And in Hollywood’s version of the duty, the soldiers are not allowed to touch the family. In Randall’s script, there’s solace to be found in a hug or a hand on the shoulder.

“And sometimes a family member may just collapse, so you just hold them,” he said. “That’s what you do, and there’s no harm in that.”