Father Tim in Afghanistan

Father Tim Butler was the priest in my diocese (St. Elizabeth’s) growing up in Acton, Massachusetts. He was also in the Air Force Reserves, and sometime after I graduated from high school, he went active duty and started traveling the world as a chaplain in the Air Force.

When my wife and I got married in 1997, Father Tim was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland — just around the corner from where we married (Alexandria, Virginia). I dropped Father Tim an e-mail and asked if he would participate in the wedding, and fortunately he was available. It was fun to see him (at that point, it had been 8 years since the last time I’d seen him), and over the years we’ve kept in touch.

The last I spoke with him was right after my youngest son was born, nearly three years ago. I was excited to find this article about him from last month — he figured out a way to make the tents troops worship in appear a bit more sacred. He’s currently at Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, and from the sounds of it, doing a wonderful job.

In other news of friends in the military, Capt. Kevin Kuwik arrived in Iraq last night. I swapped e-mails with him this morning, he’s trying to settle in and get the job done. Read his journal for some remarkable first-hand accounts of what the troops are going through to outfit their equipment. I don’t know why it surprises me that two soldiers need to drive an hour to Kuwait City to a True Value to get a bolt that they can’t find anywhere else, but it does.

Keep up the great work, Father Tim and Kevin; thanks to both of you for doing your duty (and then some).