A Chaplain assistant has an interesting story of his eventual enlistment in the US Army:  God led him to it.  From the Army article entitled “God Made a Path to the Army, It Made a Path to Peace:”

After Hurricane Ike, [Spc. Kendall] Jackson was laid off and out of work yet again. Desperate, Jackson said he started reading his Bible, looking for answers, but everything he read talked about fighting in the Army.

While he was out looking for work “with everyone else,” a stranger approached him, touched his shoulder, and said, “Do what God has told you to do.” Jackson shook off this odd encounter. Then, after a loud, verbal fight with his wife, which was interrupted by investigating police, Jackson said the officer talked to him about the Army. The Army was coming at me from everywhere, said Jackson. “It was like He closed doors to squeeze me into this direction. I started to feel like I didn’t have to go out and find the answer; it kept coming to me.”

Even at the recruiter’s office, Jackson felt like he was pointed to a direction he had not considered. The recruiter and I discussed a lot of jobs with bonuses, and then he mentioned the chaplain’s assistant job since I had mentioned God, said Jackson. It didn’t offer a bonus, but, according to the recruiter, it had not been open for a couple of years, he said.

The “Army family” has also been good to Jackson’s family in challenging times:

Life was still difficult for him, his wife and their four children, who were about to be evicted out of their apartment…His unit and other military people heard about his crisis and helped his family with money, furniture and a vehicle. “They practically furnished my entire house. I couldn’t believe this was happening. No one gives people furniture and trucks, except Oprah,” laughed Jackson.

Now, as a Chaplain assistant, Jackson helps encourage others during his deployment to Afghanistan:

I don’t fear as much anymore, because I don’t feel like the Lord has brought me this far just to take me out in the desert. I feel like I am here to be a rock and foundation to other soldiers.

Men and women of the US military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan face many struggles that those outside the military sometimes can’t even comprehend.  Jackson is an admirable example of a Soldier who serves “God and country.”  As a combatant, he defends his Chaplain with lethal force, when necessary; much of the rest of his time is spent supporting the spirits and religious rights of his fellow Soldiers.  It seems he is better for having joined the Army; the Army is likely better for it, too.