Each year in honor of Veterans Day, Princeton Theological Seminary celebrates by inviting a graduate who is a military chaplain to preach, and hosts a luncheon for graduates who are chaplains and students interested in the chaplaincy. This year’s special guest at the November 12th celebration was Joanne Martindale, (M.Div.’88), who has served as a National Guard chaplain both in New York City after 9/11, and in Iraq in 2005.

Martindale began her sermon in Miller Chapel by telling the story of her tiring first days in Iraq. After traveling for three days with little time to rest, she was immediately called to a field hospital, where she wrote letters for a dying soldier to his wife and children. He spoke aloud to her what he wished for the letters to say, and died moments after, with Martindale by his side. The story moved many in the chapel to tears.

Later, Dean of Student Life Nancy Lammers Gross welcomed guests to the luncheon, including students, chaplains, and PTS faculty. She said, “We have a real love for all who serve in the chaplain core.” Over lunch and dessert, a video played containing footage of chaplains (some who were in attendance) explaining their work, before Martindale took the podium to speak and answer questions.

Martindale recounted when she first joined the National Guard in 1990, then explained her enormous workload in Iraq. She said, “I did more ministry in ten months there than in eighteen years as a pastor,” referring to her active duty in combat zones. She faced danger on a daily basis, and was shot at several times.

On the topic of leaving her family behind to fulfill her duty, she explained that although the work is rewarding and a great honor, “It’s taxing no matter how you look at it.”

Martindale experienced preaching that morning in Miller Chapel as particularly meaningful because she was ordained there in 1989. She also took time to explain to seminarians the process of becoming a chaplain and the responsibilities it entails. She said, “It’s a lot like the process of getting ordained, there are lots of pieces to it.”

David Petr, officer at the 512th Chaplain’s Office in Dover, Delaware, attended the luncheon and told students that chaplains “have the ability to bring others the word of God and to lift spirits. It’s an opportunity to bring the Lord’s light into dark places.”

John Groth, a 1984 PTS graduate and a reservist at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, where the bodies of “fallen heroes” (referring to those who die in action) are brought, said, “You get to meet families you’d never get to know otherwise. It’s an incredible calling.”

Martindale summed up the calling of a military chaplain this way: “When doing this work, you learn what’s important: God, family, and friends.”