US Army Chaplain (1LT) Thomas Dyer — the Baptist-Pastor-turned-Buddhist-Priest who became the US Army’s first Buddhist Chaplain — led 200 people in a celebration of the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar while deployed to Iraq in May.

US military members from across Iraq were invited to the celebration and were allowed to travel to the base specifically for the observance.

The official effort the US military puts into allowing — even encouraging — its members to participate in the religious services of their choosing is significant.  Military members can take comfort in knowing that their leadership has their spiritual resiliency in mind and will, to the extent the mission allows, protect their free exercise.

Still, all is not without controversy.

While conspiracy theorists have accused US military Chaplains of violating regulations for supporting foreign nationals who were Christians, they have made no such accusations in non-Christian cases like this:

According to Department of Defense policy, while Soldiers’ welfare is the main focus of the Chaplain Corps, chaplains are also concerned with, and instructed to provide for, the welfare of contractors.

Hundreds of civilian contractors live at COB Taji, many of them from Nepal and Sri Lanka, which have large Buddhist populations.

Chaplain Dyer saw to the religious needs of both American servicemembers and the third country nationals at his post, and he should be commended for his support of the US military mission in Iraq.

Also noted at the Buddhist Military Sangha.