Author returns home to discuss book

By Catherine Amos

Published: May 22, 2008

After growing up in Culpeper, the Rev. Neal Goldsborough has balanced his life between church and state.
He graduated from Culpeper County High School in 1971 and attended VCU and the Virginia Theological Seminary before serving two rural churches in Hanover County.
Goldsborough also spent 29 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve and recently retired with the rank of captain. In 2005 he completed a tour of duty as a naval chaplain stationed at a camp hospital in Kuwait.
Upon returning, he wrote a short booklet on his reflections from the combat zone and came to Culpeper Tuesday to discuss it. He now leads an Episcopal church in Rhode Island.
The booklet is available at The Corner Shelf Bookstore.

CSE: Why did you write this book?
Neal Goldsborough: I had to write it; I wanted to let people back here know what was going on. But as a person who’s an ordained minister, who’s a priest, part of me wanted to find meaning in what was often a meaningless situation.
I wrestled with the theological issues and the complexities of first of all, if God exists and if so, what kind of God do we worship in the midst of the worst that human beings can do to one other, which is war.
It dealt with the whole issue of if God exists and is good, then God can’t be all powerful because where is God? Why hasn’t God stepped in?

CSE: What do you hope readers will get out of this book?
NG: An appreciation for the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. A renewed sense of the stupidity and horror of war, especially as we’re approaching Memorial Day.
Hope is what I would like to have them get out of it. And that God loves everybody; God doesn’t play favorites. I came away renewed in that.

CSE: What was your experience like in Kuwait?
NG: I was in a combat support hospital in Kuwait from January to November of 2005. With 44 beds, we were a modern MASH unit taking casualties from Iraq and the strike force in the Gulf.
We had all the medical care throughout all of Kuwait — we had nine different camps for clinics, one tent hospital and then we got people from southern Iraq who were really hurt because we had the only CT machine. We had a huge mental health caseload too.

CSE: What was that like being in your position there?
NG: It was the most difficult and the most important ministry in my life. I was the chaplain to everybody, no matter what faith, tradition or none that they had.
I helped people with all sorts of issues, involving direct participation in the war and heavy combat to family issues back home to just dealing with being locked on a base in the middle of a combat zone and not being able to leave for a year. And just getting along with each other.
I was “Father Mulcahy” to the MASH unit, basically.

CSE: How did being in Kuwait affect being a pastor in the United States?
NG: It gave me a perspective about what’s important and what’s not in life.
When you deal with people who are in crisis life or death situations far removed from home, the small stuff — like a misprint or a typo in the Sunday bulletin or the flowers don’t look right — don’t seem to have as much importance anymore.
It’s liberating in some ways, to say what’s really important in life and what’s not important. I’ve been able to turn a lot of stuff loose, which is a gift I never thought I’d get.
I’ve also come to appreciate life in this country more. My family, I appreciate them more. I appreciate the freedoms we have here and the sacrifice of those. Freedom isn’t free — it’s a cliché but it’s true.

CSE: What do you think of the war?
NG: I’m afraid. And my fear is this: first of all this war was misbegotten. It was badly mismanaged and my deepest fear is that everything and all the sacrifice will all be for nothing.
In 2005 we were very hopeful when we were over there. Remember everyone holding up their blue fingers when the vote was taken? People were starting to feel really good — at least we were.
But now I’m afraid and I worry that if all this means nothing, what does that mean for all the people who have been wounded or killed and their families? Donald Rumsfeld, I don’t know how he sleeps at night.
CSE: Do you come back to Culpeper often?
NG: Couple of times a year. I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends. It’s nice to come home.

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .