 A bridge can be many things. A bridge can be an artery feeding life forces to a great metropolis. It can be a monument affirming man's ability to conquer his environment. It can be a thing of beauty, a testing to man's creative imagination. A bridge can be all these things and something more. A bridge can be man's path to the heavens even while his feet are anchored to the earth. This is a story of men who build such bridges, bridges that link earth with eternity, bridges that link the soldier with his God. And it is here in the shadow of steel and concrete that their story can begin. Army Chaplain School. And for these clergymen it is another beginning. Tomorrow is challenge, a new congregation, the men and women of the United States Army. The past they will follow and the story to which they will add yet another chapter have roots buried deep in the foundations of American history. The symbols that form our national image speak silent testimony affirming the unbreakable bond that has always existed between religion and the American way of life. The new world itself was a vision inspired by religious impulse. The earliest explorers were motivated not only by an urge to probe horizon, but also by a desire to spread the word of God. Like so many others who were to follow, the pilgrims were driven to the new world by a need to practice their religion without restraint. In the centuries-long parade of men who were to transform wilderness into civilization and civilization into great nations, there were many who were inspired by religious beliefs. Catholic Cunipero Serra brought the message of Christianity to the Indians of California. Baptist Roger Williams vindicated the right of private judgment in matters of conscience. Methodist Jason Lee marched alongside those who first brought progress to Oregon wilderness, and Mormon Brigham Young carried democracy with his religion into the West. Among the small group of courageous visionaries who signed the Declaration of Independence were three ministers of the gospel. Twelve were the sons of ministers. The text humbly acknowledged dependence upon the blessings of the Almighty. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. With a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. We therefore appeal to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions. Under the infant nation's military commander in chief, chaplains were first officially attached to American fighting units, beginning a tradition that many times through the years to come would touch upon greatness. Here at the Chaplain School, clergymen of all denominations are instructed in the military subjects they need to know to fulfill their missions as soldiers of God. And here too the story of the chaplaincy is highlighted by the exhibit for museum. Inside this building are preserved the memorabilia of the men who served their country and their God as military clergymen. I counted a privilege to share with you some of the paintings, photographs, and mementos that repose here. They are a graphic record of the role played by chaplains in American history. clergymen have accompanied troops in ancient times among the Egyptians, the Romans, the peoples of the Old Testament. In America, the tradition was carried on when the colonies were still under British rule. In 1745, during King George's war, New Englanders attacked heavily fortified Lewisburg. With them, Moses Coffin, a minister who left his pulpit to accompany the men into battle. They faced great odds, but they were men of courage and determination. Moses Coffin, a minister who doubled as a drummer and was known as the drum ecclesiastic for the ear as well as the spirit. He provided the steady forward beat of confidence that led to their victory. Because the close connection between religion and daily life was clearly recognized, military men of the line sometimes performed religious duties. This venerable volume recounts that at the death of General Braddock at Old Fort Duquesne in Pennsylvania, the funeral service was read not by a clergyman, but by General then colonel George Washington. In Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, he tells of an effort he made to help his chaplain, Mr. Beatty, who was deploring the low attendance at services. As you know, Mr. Beatty is a manor entitled to a jail of rum a day. It is perhaps beneath your dignity to act as a steward of rum, but if you want to deal it out, then only after prayers you would have them all about you. It was said that the attendance at services increased sizeably. The colonial church was frequently used as a platform. The clergyman had the courage of his conviction and did not hesitate to stand upright in his pulpit and denounce the injustice he saw in his community. And I say that General Gage is not only a robber, a murderer, and a usurper, but a wicked rebel. A rebel against the authority of fruit, law, equality, these colony states, and humanity itself. Thus spoke Pastor John Cleveland in a sermon that stirred emotions not only in his church and community, but also in his home. I hear your sermon moved many, Mr. Cleveland. They say the men are arming and going off to fight the British because you spoke. Do they say that, wife? It speaks well of your powers of persuasion. Where are you off to, Mr. Cleveland? As you say, my sermon moved many, including me. Self-inspired, Pastor Cleveland marched off to war shoulder to shoulder with many others in his congregation who, by his words, had been moved to action. The spirit of independence was nurtured beneath the shelter of church spies. From Old North Church Tower, the famous one-if-by-land signal was flashed to Paul Revere. Revere carried warning of the impending British attack to Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The chosen site for their meeting was a Lexington Parsony, a location both significant and symbolic. From here, the call was circulated to the countryside. In the village of Concord, Minister William Emerson was the first to respond, the first to leave his home and march to stand at Concord Bridge. He was soon to be joined by other men. Their destination? The bridge at Concord. Their objective? To stop the British. Their march? A march toward freedom. To April's breeze unfurled, here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world. The full long since, in silence left, alike the conqueror of silence, and time the ruined bridge has swept down the dark stream which he would creep. The Continental Army was just two and a half months old when Congress passed an act providing for military chaplain. 179 were to serve in Washington's Army. David Avery was one of them. At Breeds Hill, he carried medical aid and water to the wounded. Amid the harsh sounds and smoky confusion of battle, he was an element of solidity, a firm, dependable source of strength and spiritual renewal. At Valley Forge, the bounding spirit of liberty, depleted by deprivation and numbed by bitter cold, threatened a lapse into lethargy. At such moments, David Avery stepped forth, a bridge builder, dispelling darkness, restoring in the battered ranks confidence in themselves and in their vision of freedom. George Washington recognized the contribution made by David Avery and his fellow chaplains as general and later as president. He was always to remain a strong supporter of the chaplaincy. A proud new flag now waved over America, symbolizing the freedom specified and legalized in the new constitution. Among the free practices constitutionally guaranteed was freedom of religion, a cornerstone of the American government, a part of the American home. Religion would be ever present in the new nation's future history. In 1838, a law was passed that provided for chaplains at many regular army posts. Three years later, the Navy specified that chaplains should be ordained ministers, a step that strengthened the status of the chaplaincy. In 1854, an attempt was made by some to abolish all chaplaincies, legislative as well as military, but Congress was not impressed. By the time of Abraham Lincoln, chaplains were a permanent part of the Army and the Navy. The President, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in military and naval service. For this man of peace and compassion, destiny was readying a great national calamity. There came a war in which Americans would carry two flags, a war in which the man in gray and the man in blue would fight and die, each for cause he believed justice, a war in which the soldier would, more than ever before, need strong ties with the Almighty. As chaplains have through the centuries, they prayed, they inspired the living, they comforted the wounded, they buried the dead. And they wet their own silent tears. Even during the war between the states, Congress debated a proposal to save money by reducing the number of chaplains. Senator Clark of New Hampshire paid tribute to the value of the Army chaplains of that time. He urged Congress not to take away the man to whom the soldier goes in his time of suffering. He was better left with the men. And with the men, the chaplain remained from then until now. About the same time, President Lincoln wrote a letter appointing Rabbi Jacob Prankel as the first Jewish chaplain in the United States Army. The denominational makeup of the chaplaincy depends upon the religious preferences of those whom they serve. The chaplain goes where the army goes. In the last quarter of the 19th century, chaplains went west. In the late 1800s, one chaplain served as many as five western army posts, sometimes riding over 60 miles a day. The chaplain's appearance at a territorial port was a welcome break in the routine days of loneliness and isolation. The nation moved toward the 20th century with bright expectancy, but ahead was more darkness than light, moments of tragic history during which the American soldier with ever increasing frequency and ever mounting urgency would call upon his chaplain. Nearly 2400 chaplains answered that call during World War I. They served in many ways. They helped to bridge the 3,000 miles of ocean between France and home. With the word of God, they bridged greater unmeasurable distances. And with their own encouraging phrases, they said warmth to souls killed by the closeness of death. The Seeds of a Descendant. The closing days of 1941 brought the United States Army its darkest moment. Oh God, I'm crazy that if this garrison does have to surrender, that I may go with them and be strong enough to keep D in their midst. So prayed an army chaplain just before the fall of the Tart. With his unit, he suffered the cruel death march that followed. From the time of the Japanese onslaught, until their unconditional surrender in 1945, it was a long, weary march. 9,000 chaplains served the army during World War II. 167 of that number did not live to see the final victory. In an army chapel in Pennsylvania, an image of four men is preserved in glass. Chaplains of different faiths, they shared a common nobility. All were aboard the USF Dorchester when she was torpedoed in the North Atlantic. One survivor wrote that to save the lives of the men around them, the four chaplains gave away their life jackets. He last saw them on deck praying together as his life raft pulled away from the sinking ship. To the chaplains, he's already illustrious record of achievement and heroism. They added a glorious moment of ultimate self-sacrifice that will surely never be forgotten. The Korean conflict brought 13 deaths, 26 battle injuries, and 683 decorations for the men of the chaplain. One story will translate these statistics into human terms. That of the chaplain from Kansas who stayed behind to help the wounded, knowing he would be taken prisoner. His fierce faith inspired his fellow prisoners, and he brilliantly resisted repeated communist attempts at brainwashing. When he died, his fellow prisoners were refused commissions to hold a memorial service. One later explained why. Though he was dead, they were still afraid of him. He was the symbol of something they knew they could not kill. The unconquerable spirit of a free man, owing final allegiance only to his God. Today, the American soldier lives in a world that is never free of tension. He serves in a complex sophisticated army that must make great demands upon his ability to fight, to think, and to reason. But standing beside him, helping him to meet that heavy challenge, is the man who stood shoulder to shoulder with the colonial farmer, who served with Johnny Reb and Yankee Bluecoat, with the Doughboy in France, and G.I. Joe all over the world. The chaplaincy today is an indelible part of our national character, one of many ways in which we express our religious beliefs, and keep faith with our religious heritage. In our nation's capital, a prayer room is provided for the members of Congress. Our currency reads, in God we trust, and our Pledge of Allegiance speaks his name. We are, and indeed we have always been, a nation under God. As a nation, we have come far in two centuries. We have drawn strength from God-given abundance. We have built cities in the wilderness. Reality of the dream. Freedom lives here, its domain stretching from an eastern sea to a western sea. This is a land of glorious landscapes, horizons that were beacon lights for pioneers seeking to expand the realm of freedom, who with us, still a part of our heritage of natural beauty. And we have added to the landscape with symbols of what we are, and what we believe in. Symbols that give dimension to the many aspects of our national heritage. Our heritage of freedom took its original breath of life when brave men first displayed the courage of their religious convictions. Much of the driving force that built and shaped our nation grew from the need of individuals, each in his own way, to worship God. Our communities reflect that need in the tangible shapes of our houses of worship. To worship God, it is a need and it is a right. For the man in uniform, the need is gratified and the right exercised through the services of the men of the chaplaincy. They represent many different denominations, but they march united. Long before ecumenism became a general issue, the chaplains of the armed services had made it a reality. Their common ministry to a common need in support of a common American right draws together these men of so many different churches and creeds. Many things have changed since the days of the First Army chaplains, but the heart of man is the same as it was in 1775 and for thousands of years before that. It still cries out for the right to worship God. It is this cry that the American people seek to answer by providing the chaplaincy for the men and women of the armed services. And so they are there at all times and in all places where American men and women in military uniforms are serving their country. They are there, the bridge builders, go forth to serve the largest congregation in the world to build more bridges, to write another chapter in the epic story of man and his God.