Many US military members have taken advantage of their unique access to Biblical history while they have been deployed to Iraq.  A recent US Army article reports on the visit by some US Soldiers to a traditional resting place of Abraham.  As with some other visits, a proactive Chaplain helped the Soldiers understand the history of the location.

[Chaplain] Capt. Michael T. Lanigan…has studied the Bible and the history of the site.

“Abraham’s oasis was one of the few stopping points that … according to the oral tradition of the Bedouins, was where Abraham and his family stopped before going on to Canaan, which is Jerusalem, the promised land, where God had called him,” said Lanigan…

The Soldiers recognize their unique opportunities:

Her visit to the oasis is one of the special experiences the Army has made possible for her, said [1st Lt. Amaris] Cervantes.

“Just being here [in Iraq] has been pretty exciting,” she said. “A lot of people pay a lot of money to come do stuff like this, to go [visit] this religious site. I get to do it for fun.”