MILTON PRIEST REJOINS HIS FLOCK

The following photo of Father Feltz was sent to me by a friend and the story was written and published in today's edition of The Burlington Free Press:

Milton priest rejoins his flock

Above photo by Andy Duback of the Burlington Free Press and story By Lauren Ober

December 29, 2005
MILTON -- His last trip back from Camp Bucca in Iraq seemed routine for Maj. John Feltz.

He traveled the route between the prison camp near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq and Camp Navistar in Kuwait numerous times to minister to the detainees and the guards at the prison. As one of the few Roman Catholic chaplains in the region, Feltz was responsible for a wide swath of territory throughout Kuwait and Iraq.

Every trip held an element of danger for convoys setting off for Iraq. On this late September morning, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Two miles from the Kuwait border, the fourth vehicle in the convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device, and other vehicles were engaged in small arms fire behind him.

Feltz, 59, didn't hear the explosion -- in his armored Humvee it was difficult to hear much of anything. Within 15 minutes, Vermont National Guardsmen on security patrol at Navistar descended upon the accident scene with 20 gun trucks and a helicopter to secure the area.

"It was like watching the cavalry come in," said Feltz, pastor of St. Ann Church in Milton.

While Feltz, a serene man with angular features, was serving his country in Kuwait and Iraq, numerous priests filled the void at St. Ann. In his absence, Feltz missed a number of important moments in his parishioners lives, but he feels his experience in the Middle East challenged him to become a more responsive member of the church.

"Leaving the parish family was hard because there are weddings coming up and people who are dying, and you know you might not be there," Feltz said. "Being in Kuwait gave me a chance to be more active. There were more experiences for ministry because of the traveling."

Back home, although Feltz's parish liked the stand-in priests, they missed their own and wanted him to return home safely. Parishioner Jocelyn Wesson of Milton corresponded with Feltz while he was away and picked him up when he returned to Vermont in mid-December.

"It was almost like having your own father gone. It was hard. We missed him a lot," Wesson said.

Steve Burke, a former Guard member and Vietnam veteran, also went to greet Feltz upon his return. The two corresponded throughout the year and established a special bond due to their shared military combat service.

Feltz arrived back in Vermont on Dec. 16. The day after his return, he was saying Mass at St. Ann. He wasted no time getting back to his church family. The fact that he was jumping back in during the busiest time of the year didn't faze him.

Burke can see the impact war has had on Feltz.

"He's the same priest as when he left, but he's got a heightened sense of what the military is all about," Burke said.

The wake of the roadside bomb left a soldier and an airman dead.

Upon return to the Kuwait camp, Feltz prayed with the medics and did debriefing with the soldiers to help defuse some of the immediate trauma.

During his 10-month tour in Kuwait with the Vermont National Guard, Feltz's ministerial work never stopped. He logged more than 15,000 miles tending to soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait.

Feltz was one of two Vermont National Guard chaplains in Kuwait and wore many hats. He served as the camp chaplain for Navistar, battalion chaplain for four camps around Kuwait and Catholic chaplain for four of the more Northern coalition camps.

Feltz's duties included everything from counseling soldiers struggling with family problems back home to offering confirmation classes. He visited with soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq and provided a safe space where they could unload their stories.

"When you're away from your family, you can't just pick up the phone. The heat and the sand can make things hard," Feltz said. "But everyone had the chance to do a lot of soul searching. It was a chance to think about the spiritual and the physical being."
Contact Lauren Ober at 660-1868 or lober@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com