Ask A Cop
Ask A Cop is live and unscripted. Each episode gives other officers and the community a window into a police officer's world and provides authentic community engagement with law enforcement professionals.Listeners can relate by asking questions, hearing some of their own struggles, and finding solutions. Despite preconceived notions, these men and women, who serve and protect, are approachable and eager to answer questions. This resource provides meaningful engagement for officers, their families, and the community. As chaplains, we have witnessed the immeasurable rewards of simply sitting down and having these positive conversations. Produced in partnership with Gods Way Radio.
Ask A Cop
037: 4 Chaplains Day - How do the heroic acts of Four Chaplains continue to inspire and shape the role of chaplaincy in crisis response today?
This episode discusses the significance of Four Chaplains Day and shares the story of the four military chaplains who sacrificed their lives during World War II. We explore the important role of law enforcement chaplains today, their experiences, and how they support police officers in times of crisis.
• Overview of Four Chaplains Day and its historical context
• Detailed story of the four chaplains who served aboard the USAT Dorchester
• Importance of chaplaincy in modern law enforcement settings
• Personal anecdotes from current chaplains on their service and experiences
• Discussion on mental health and wellbeing for police officers
• Reflection on the legacy and sacrifices of the four chaplains
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Speaker 2:For now, though, get ready to Ask a Cop coming at you the first Tuesday of every month. And as we get ready to start, we're going to be looking today at what is a law enforcement chaplain a law enforcement chaplain. But before that, we want to get into some of the history of Fort Chaplain's Day. We want to understand what that was. We want you to be able to know about it If you've never heard about it. I just asked someone hey, do you know what Fort Chaplain's Day is? And they said well, is it a day that's for chaplains? And no, it's not F-O-R, it's F-O for it's four. So it's the number four and it's the story of these four chaplains dating back to 1943, 1943. So we're going to look a little bit at the history of what these four chaplains did and and why they made a day called the four Chaplains Day. We're going to look a little bit at the history of police chaplaincy and some of the chaplains just within our country, going back to George Washington. So excited to give you all of that information as far as some history is concerned, looking into this Four Chaplains Day, which is celebrated on February 3rd of every year. So February 3rd is Four Chaplains Day, which is celebrated on February 3rd of every year. So February 3rd is for Chaplains Day. But I want to give you some contact information. If you're listening live, you can call in or text right now If you're listening at the podcast. Well, you can call in and leave a message for us or text us and we will see your text. So, either way, whenever you're listening, there is access to communicate with us. That phone number is 786-313-3115. So it's 786-313-3115. And if you're wanting more information, you're like, well, I don't even know what this is. It's a Ministry of God's Way radio. Every afternoon you usually hear at this time a live program, and the first Tuesday of every month we do a live program with one of our officers from one of our local law enforcement departments, or or we've had officers from all over the nation on here. Last month I know we had, uh people that were there with the fires going on in california. Just keep them in prayer. We remember and keep our brothers and sisters out there serving, helping, praying, praying, comforting those on the West Coast. But this week, if you again want to call in, it's 786-313-3155. And if you wanted more information, you go to policethankyoucom, policethankyoucom.
Speaker 2:And then we want to know are you listening live. Are you listening on the radio 104.7 FM in Miami, florida? That's where we do these premieres. This is the live premiere of Ask a Cop. That always happens on the first Tuesday of the month. So are you listening live? Call us or text us at 786-313-315. We want to know about it. We want to see where you're listening from. 3, 1, 1, 5,. We want to know about it. We want to see where you're listening from and if you're listening on a later date, please still call us and let us know where you're listening from. That you listened. We like to interact with you, the listener.
Speaker 2:So we're going to get into a little bit then of the history of the four chaplains day. The four chaplains day, the four chaplains day. So in a little while you you might have people, you might hear people calling in, and we've asked also if you're a chaplain listening live, if you're an officer listening, please call in, call in, chaplains, call in and tell us maybe some of the interactions, some of those memorable moments, maybe one, maybe a powerful moment that you experienced as a police chaplain. We want to hear those stories. If you have something that comes to your mind, chaplains, please call in. Or what even inspired you? How did you get into police chaplaincy or being a chaplain to first responders dealing with critical incidences? How did you start in that and what keeps you motivated? And then, if you maybe have been helped by a chaplain, can you call in? We want to hear that story too. So how has a chaplain helped you? What does the chaplains mean to you? Any of those questions, feel free to call in. We want you to participate as well.
Speaker 2:So, with that said, in World War II we have the USAT door tester, and so this was a ship and it was used for transporting. And so that ship was converted and used to transport soldiers. It was a troop ship and it was taking soldiers across the atlantic. They were on their way to greenland to support the Allies in their war efforts. And so here you have a ship with soldiers, about 900 soldiers, 900 soldiers, and in the midst of those soldiers are four chaplains, four chaplains. So I'll give you the names of those four chaplains. Chaplains, four chaplains. So I'll give you the names of those four chaplains. It was Father John Washington, rabbi Alexander Goode, reverend George Fox and Reverend Clark Poling. So you have these four gentlemen who have, in a sense, dedicated their life to serve the military in this regard, and especially as they were headed to the us army base there in greenland in 1943.
Speaker 2:Now, these waters, during that time, everyone knew them to be very dangerous and and they were infested with german u-boats, and we know that that the intention was not to let the boats safely across. And so on that day, february 3, 1943, so February 3, 1943, torpedo was launched toward US Dorchester and this ship was struck and it began to sink. And and so these four men that are on this ship, along with about 900 soldiers, they, they all didn't have the same background in a sense, but they were all sinking in the same way and none of them hesitated, and the story goes that they jumped into action. They began to help people get to safety. They started handing out life vests and they were offering comfort. Believe it or not, they were trying to bring some peace in the midst of the chaos, and that's exactly what describes what a chaplain, a man of God, in a chaotic situation, should bring is bringing that peace, looking for where the need is, and the need might be passing out a water bottle, but the need might be passing out a life vest.
Speaker 2:I I go back to and remember times there during our local. One of our local tragedies is a surfside building collapse and you have a about a 12-story building collapsed. Really, uh, no one to blame uh, the urban search and rescue teams from all over the country coming to assist in the recovery efforts. And then in the uh, in just the, the uh, it was the 30-day operation. So it went through many phases and first it was rescue, right then recovery, and during that time I remember, uh, some of the fire fighters we knew, uh, were we using, for example, their same socks? And you would figure, you know well, what does that have to do? Oh, every day going on this pile of of rubble from a building collapsing and working, and, and every day, you know, having one or two pairs of socks. And so I remember even washing, helping wash uniforms, helping acquire socks. You know, make cafecito in the middle of the night. I mean, these were just some practical things, but like that, these four chaplains aboard the troop ship Dorchester in 1943 were handing out life vests. You're like, okay, well, what's the big deal, adrian? They were handing out life vests.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to tell you the rest of the story and it's kind of what makes this story stand out so much the sacrifice, the selflessness involved with it. But I want to give you the opportunity to interrupt as we continue the story. But I want to give you the opportunity to interrupt as we continue the story, so please give us a call 786-313-3115, 786-313-3115. And again, please text us or call us if you have been helped by a chaplain, if you have a story of how chaplains came alongside you, if you are a chaplain and you have just a memorable story and interaction and experience that you had with an officer during a crisis situation. Obviously we hold confidentiality in the highest regard and that's not something we play around with at all. So we know you'll call, you'll be sensitive with the details, but again, and maybe you're one of the officers that has you can give your own story. So please give us a call.
Speaker 2:We would love to hear those stories, as we hear the stories of these four chaplains, and, and going to, what is february 3rd? What is the four chaplains day? And then they have a memorial for these four chaplains as well, and and and there's different ways that throughout the time and throughout the years that they've been celebrated and they, their story, has been remembered, because, again, it is a story of sacrifice. And just to give you a history before I tell you that, well, what did they do? They handed out life fest. What was the big deal? There is a monument and some plaques that were dedicated to these men at the memorial, including a memorial at the chapel of the us military academy at west point, and so in many communities and churches and u military circles, the story of these four men does carry on.
Speaker 2:Another thing they received. They received the awards. So each chaplain was awarded Distinguished Service Cross. They were awarded the Purple Heart, they were awarded the Bronze Start for their selflessness and courage under fire. And you're saying well, what did they do to receive all these? I will, I will end the story. I will tell you the end of the story. Just stick around so we can finish, if you don't know of it already. Finish. What did these men do?
Speaker 2:Well, there's also the four chaplains day, and so that day was made official in 1988. And that's when Congress officially designated February 3 as Four Chaplains Day, and that was to honor their legacy of bravery, to honor their legacy of sacrifice, to honor just the unity that they showed in being selfless at that moment. And that day is again is marked as a time to reflect on their actions. But, more importantly, it's what do I do with knowing the story? And that's what we're left with. And we have here with us Joey and he is going to be able to join us because he has his own stories and times of interactions with officers and we haven't gotten to the part where I've told you what did they do?
Speaker 2:Finally, they were at the ship, they got torpedoed and they, uh, they, they, they responded with bravery. But what was the bravery? What did they do? All right, well, let's get to that part of the story. So, as this ship is sinking, and there's not a lot of time here, there's not a lot of time, right? So, joey, if you are following where we're at right now, man, you have these 900 soldiers on their way to greenland and you know, german u-boat, infested waters, they are torpedoed, the ship begins to sink, these four men begin to bring some kind of calm to the chaos and and what was the need at that moment was handing out life vests, right? And then I, we've gotten to. Well, where's the bravery? Where does this cost them something, that that you're saying? They're selfless. And so, as the boat is sinking, as the four chaplains are laboring, the waves begin to cover the boat and they linked arms and they prayed and they went down together and the reason that they did that is because they had life vests. They were handing out life vests.
Speaker 2:They could have jumped in the water and and been one of the ones that were saved out of. Out of 900, 672 people died that day on that boat in the, those that survived were obviously had a life vest or somewhere somehow to float and and wait for rescue, um, but but these four gentlemen knew that they were there to to give and give of their all, and so they gave even their own life vest. And so, at that moment, when that happens, you know that it's a, it's a decision, that that's being made of a sacrifice and that's what they signed up for, that's what they understood, that that they had made that decision beforehand to to be there for these military men and women, yeah, um. And so with that, that moment, you know, there's a sense of peace, there's a sense of serving others, but they, they truly lived out their faith, they showed it by example, um you know, I wonder when I hear that story, what would I have done?
Speaker 4:you know, what would I have done would I have you know? Hey, I'll carry you, I'll keep my life fest and we'll both share, you know, because we like to think. Adrian, you know again, thank you. Thank you for for making this the topic today. It's really interesting and I feel like it kind of gives a I don't know if pause is the right word, but a break in so many wonderful guests we have.
Speaker 4:They got the b team here with you and I today at least with me, but it gives a break in all these wonderful guests just to talk a little bit about chaplaincy, about the ministry, if people have I don't know if you invited them already If people have questions about Ask a Cop in general, about the program, about the show, about the ministry, about Policethankyoucom, thankyoucom.
Speaker 4:A little bit of a down time in the guests because you have these a tier guests back to back to back, uh, to where people can ask different questions. But getting back to the story and again, adrian, I'm not sure, um, how many times you've given out the phone number, but one more time, if you don't mind, 786-313-315,. For real, what I was getting to is we like to think we're the hero, you know, but a lot of times we're not the hero in the story. You know we would not necessarily react the way we think we would react. So it's really a sobering thought. You know what I would have done. And then thinking of how we can apply that in our own lives, it gets me to think of some of that too.
Speaker 2:You know, I wonder when the story of these four guys came back. I mean, someone obviously lived to retell the story and saw their sacrifice.
Speaker 4:I wonder if they just saw from far away.
Speaker 2:You know somebody on the boats and interesting that in the retelling and in the history, what you see is that that somehow they linked arms right, so they, they prayed and they, they were calling out to god. Um, I believe that they were calling out to god before they probably left on the trip. And then, you know, which allows us to call on god when we're in the middle of the storm. In this case, the storm is not in clouds and lightnings, it was a torpedo.
Speaker 2:I mean that's quite a bit of a storm, and so you know it definitely. You know screams sacrifice.
Speaker 2:You know, what jumps out is the unity in these four men. You know the power that there was, that they trusted in God, that they took no regard for their own life, and then just even the human connection during that chaotic time, to think what can I do? And a lot of times I think a lot of people feel like man, well, what can I do? And not to discard or push to the side the amazing sacrificial efforts of giving even their own life as, but again, a person of prayer. You know, the prayer that can go along in these times is not just a word to be thrown around or, like you know well, I'll pray for you, no, but I mean it's a real, there's a real God and a real God who listens, and prayer is effective in these situations.
Speaker 4:I think of something else, adrian, as you're describing prayer and the power of prayer. You know this was a real event, right? The USAT Dorchester that sank. The story that comes to be the background to Four Chaplains Day that we celebrate each year on February 3rd. That's kind of the topic or the springboard for today's program, if folks are just tuning in. Very interesting If you want to search it up and read more on your own Four Chaplains Day, february 3rd.
Speaker 4:But I think of how this event was kind of a metaphor for chaplaincy, for serving others in the name of the Lord. You think about it. The torpedoes of life mean something boom, it just hits you, hits your community, you know, hits a person's life, and then are you going to be there to serve them, to give them a life boat, right, which sometimes it's a small acts of service. Sometimes it's giving them the gospel, sometimes it's giving them a listening ear, giving them that life vest that they need something to. You know, you think about it. Think about it, right, it's what is a life vest? It's just to keep you floating on a little longer.
Speaker 1:Interesting yeah, right, right, I mean you're.
Speaker 4:People can't see you looking at nodding, so we gotta be. You gotta be really expression verbal here. But sorry, I'm. The thing is people know I ask adrian to do that all the time he's like yeah yeah, we're good, we're good, I'm like yeah, but what else? He's like no, it's good.
Speaker 2:So no, but, but, but truly, joey. Uh, it definitely, you know it leads us to thinking, man, you know, the role that god plays in every one of our life is so important and so when we say the role that plays in every one of our life is so important. And so when we say the role that chaplaincy plays in these times of crisis, chaplaincy is the man of God that is responding to the calling of God to help during a very difficult crisis moment.
Speaker 2:And so in this time it was wartime, but we have many chaplains, you know, out there today in in different dynamics that they get to serve we still have military chaplains, and you know we'll touch a little bit on on the history of some of that as well, but we specifically this is called ask a cop, and so we're looking at law enforcement chaplains here, or chaplains of first responders, a lot of. There is a lot of overlap, even though fire and police and and emt some of these could be different in in nature, but there's still traumatic events, there's still crisis, there's still all these very uh and we often work in conjunction and always work.
Speaker 2:You know, usually work around the same time, right so whenever there's a a big crisis, you're going to need fire, you're going to need fire, you're going to need police, you're going to need all these working together.
Speaker 4:And sometimes you kind of jump across the red or the blue lines for lack of a better term right, Red, fire, blue police. Did it recently? This is a question for you, Adrian, an actual question Did it recently you do a critical incident, debrief or management for a fire incident that they didn't have one or they were gonna do one or something?
Speaker 4:I'm trying to remember that you jumped in I think it was a fire department and you're like, oh man, I can lead it or I can be there, and they asked you to lead it and it was for the fire department uh, I'm I'm blanking and maybe the situation comes up.
Speaker 2:I will remember, but I definitely know we've done the briefings in fire departments with police, and so you know, after the incident, before they're going home, we've gone to some police stations. I mean sorry, some fire stations.
Speaker 4:Would it be too off topic to just hone in on that right now, because that's one of the things. Right After a critical incident, there are certain training tools and services a chaplain can provide and they fall under this critical incident stress manager or critical incident debriefing. That'd be interesting to let the people know about that aspect of it.
Speaker 2:We can come back to it, we can dive into it now. I mean, we'll maybe do both, but there's definitely in the middle of this chaos, there's so many things going on at the same time, and we mentioned earlier. I gave some examples of just some very practical things you might end up doing, right, like you know making sure someone's having water or making cafecito.
Speaker 4:No, I love that's an actual part. No, you used to always use the same example doing their laundry, or we did their laundry, we did laundry, for for some of these fire.
Speaker 2:Um, you saw our team members and so you know so, so it could be as practical as that, but they're in the middle of all these situations. There's so many things going on and legalities, you know, you have law enforcement, fire, there's chaos, there's weeping families, there's, there's officers trying to process everything while keeping what they got to do in order, and so there's scene safety, so yes, people don't think about that you're there.
Speaker 4:You wish it could be as simple as hey, let me minister to this person, help this person. And you have someone. You know I'm thinking about a specific incident. I don't want to get too too specific, but you think of someone contaminating a scene. You think of someone contaminating a scene. You think of someone trying to cross a police line and now these police that are barely managing their stress, their trauma, have to go back into grabbing a person. You know, hey, excuse me, your trespasser is like man, they can't catch a break and that's even sometimes. A chaplain will jump in and do that for them. Hey, excuse me. You, the chaplain, will jump in and and do that for them. Hey, excuse me. Hey, come here. You know, I love, I love the, the way, the lord's gift to you. Hey, how are you? What are you doing?
Speaker 2:here. Oh, tell me more, and they're who? And you just redirect them.
Speaker 4:The lord, just ask them what they ate for breakfast, yeah, and then, and then the police don't have one more thing that they have to deal with on the scene, and and so, because of the chat of those things.
Speaker 2:Even in in the one specific car you're, you know you're referring to, which has been several like that um, joy, there is, training is is so important, right? You can't just, you can't just walk just like a police officer, firefighter, can't just walk into these things and kind of. You know naturally know there's a, there's a order to this and and there's a protocol and and there's a trust that takes such a long time to build. So you know it and it comes. You got to get the buy-in from the highest you know in authority all the way down to the officer. You're trying to help Because the officer might need it, you might be willing to, but supervisors are like no, get out of here, you're making my job harder, or something which actually we make their job easier.
Speaker 2:But once they realize, once they realize if done correctly, yeah or you might have a strong supervisor that maybe has been helped and knows the effectiveness and the the power that that that god element brings to the situation, but it's not trickling down and maybe the officers don't trust that person because they've never seen them. And so, as you hear us even describing this again you know we're going to touch on it in a second probably but the chaplain does more than this prayer at a ceremony, you know, than being connected in some way that they want the stage. The chaplain is there to give up their life vest and be there for what the need is at that moment, and I believe it's such a reflection of our Lord and Savior's heart where our Lord and Savior himself, right, he met people where they were at and knew specifically, right, that woman, for example, caught an adultery what she needed and met her there and ultimately brought life to a very dark situation.
Speaker 2:So I'm so glad we got a call. So this is a ask a cop live on the first tuesday of every month or you might be listening on very, very special episode today we have, uh, our first caller here. Good morning or good afternoon, you're on the air hey, good afternoon, uh, my brothers good to hear from you, brother.
Speaker 5:Awesome, I hear the topic is chaplaincy.
Speaker 4:It's chaplaincy. You know it's pretty interesting. There's this holiday called Four Chaplains Day. Not a lot of people know about it, but it's actually every February 3rd, which was yesterday as per time of this recording. But basically it's a story of four chaplains. They went down with a ship. They literally gave up their life vests. It's a story of four chaplains. They went down with a ship. They literally gave up their life vest and it's this beautiful picture of chaplaincy. You know, kind of like Adrian, I would say like like the ultimate example of chaplaincy. In a sense. You know from history. So we're just kind of riffing on that, if that's the right word, going off of that to talk about chaplaincy and the modern Riding the wave Riding, the wave of that.
Speaker 4:Of that To talk about chaplaincy nowadays and it's also just kind of a break in between guests to talk about chaplaincy, about Ask a Cop, about the wonderful things the Lord is doing. So that's kind of where we're at and I'm looking forward to what you have to say this afternoon.
Speaker 5:That's awesome. You know the verse came to mind. I wasn't able to log on earlier, so forgive me if I'm repeating anything, but I was thinking of Galatians. I believe it's chapter 6, where it says every man carry his own load. But we are to carry each other's burdens. And that's kind of how I see chaplaincy is you carry a burden for that officer that's carrying a burden out there, and so it's a response to you. Know, you do chaplaincy out of a response, of a burden for them, what they face on our behalf.
Speaker 5:It's, you know, an act of compassion, and so, being a chaplain, you got the sweet and the sour. You know. You celebrate the good times, the awards do a good job and they get an award. The promotions you go to roll calls and you get to encourage the troops when they're fresh, right at the beginning of the shift. And then the sour you get to be part of their life when they're struggling. I can think of a couple scenes that I've gone through that I responded as a chaplain.
Speaker 5:And cut me off if you've got any questions in between. Yeah, but I remember a mom here in Miami that killed her two kids and there were like six officers on the scene and I'd never seen officers.
Speaker 5:so burdened you know and just the main thing was just being there. There were no magical words available. It was just being there at their side as they grieved the scene, as they endured this call and being there and then following up with them, and I just saw that that's one of those that's marked in my memory as the effectiveness of a true, genuine chaplaincy detail you know that you can be there for the officers when they hurt.
Speaker 4:And how did the Lord work? I mean, what did the Lord do through the initial response, the follow-up, how did you see the Lord help them through that?
Speaker 5:Yeah, well, at the scene just being present, you know, there were a couple of them. They actually had to walk around. They had so much grief they had to walk it off, and so you walk with them, you sit at their side. You know, once they're settling in, leaning against their car, for example, you just lean with them. You know you're just there and then you check up on them. You know a day or two after you call them, tell them you're thinking about them and you can see how you know they're recovering you know, they're recovering Now.
Speaker 5:That's going to be a permanent scar. That's a life experience and a career that they'll always carry with them. But you can see the healing effect through the process of time. They know they're not alone.
Speaker 2:And George, I'm sorry, I said your name. I don't know if you said your name.
Speaker 4:Oh my goodness. No, no, jorge, it's Jorge, another guy this is if you're listening on podcast. No, what is it? It's Richard. No, no, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:Richard Tyler.
Speaker 2:Richard Tyler, if you're listening on podcast, or even if you're listening live, you could go to Policethankyoucom or go back on our podcast, apple Podcast, spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast and look for a past episode, and you'll see that not only is he a caller today, but he has been a guest himself.
Speaker 2:He has a unique role of, you know, being a law enforcement officer with more than one department and a uh, you know a pastor, you know full-time for for time, and then now you know again, law in law enforcement and a chaplain.
Speaker 2:So many roles, many hats, but at the end of the day it's to serve others, to serve others, and the reason I bring that up, I remember one situation that we came to and you know there's we're providing support to the officers, to their families, you know, in the grieving process, and so sometimes, every now and then, there is some interaction and some serving of the community.
Speaker 2:I remember one scene. It was again the death of a young lady, you know in the teenage years, and the mom in the situation just would not want to leave the site and you know, two officers had to be permanently assigned to her to just be there for safety and eventually and I'm not saying we're anything great, you know, know, but it just happened to be that we brought the lord into it. We brought god into it, we brought prayer and, um, you know the, the mom was able to eventually go home. I remember a detective in in that, uh, where you know the daughter is in the same age as the victim, and so you have all these, all these strings that are going across, and the interesting thing, as we respond in the other situation that our caller, previous guest, just mentioned, is that you never really know, when you get there, what is exactly what's going to happen.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you don't know. Even if they try to give you the details's never the it never uh matches. Yeah, you never get the correct information.
Speaker 2:I remember being asked to do a prayer for a breakfast, and it ended up being, uh, the surviving mothers of yeah, mothers of murdered children foundation.
Speaker 4:You're like wow that's a, that's not just a breakfast, you don't just get all the information.
Speaker 2:But all that to say, like the caller, like our previous guest has said, you're there and at that moment you see God. What do you have me here for? And that's you know. Sometimes it's just to listen and talk. But thank you, I appreciate your call. We do have another call.
Speaker 5:You have any closing comments or yeah, hey, thanks for what you do. May the Lord continue to use you guys and I appreciate you God bless you. I appreciate you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Great, we have another caller here on the line, so let's get to this call. Good afternoon, you are with us on Ask a Cop first Tuesday of every month. Good afternoon.
Speaker 3:Good afternoon sir.
Speaker 4:Hey Fellow chaplain right afternoon, good afternoon sir, hey, fellow chaplain, right, fellow first responder, and chaplain what's coming to your mind and heart today, as you're listening.
Speaker 3:Um well, I kind of just tuned in my wife was the one that uh, that that kind of made me privy on the topic and uh, you guys were speaking of chaplains and our work and I kind of heard the last thing you said with the last caller about how you know at least for me it's like when I'm on calls and stuff like that it's. You know, you just sense the Lord give you a little nudge of a need, that's there, and sometimes it's the simplest little thing of just a prayer with somebody or a hug or to be that, because a lot of times you kind of see that it's all business or the civil servant right.
Speaker 3:And then you're able to see that, and then you get in through that kind of layer and you touch the person on that next level.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's needed, and that's it.
Speaker 2:No, that's great and I appreciate you calling and just jumping in and taking the venture of faith to just call without having the full topic, so in case there's someone else listening and they just tuned in.
Speaker 4:That's a good spouse, though. They hooked you up. They gave you the readout. Yeah, just previous first responder. And you know, shout out to all our dispatchers out there, you know, sometimes and talk about what they go through.
Speaker 2:To some right. You might not realize, but the important role. I was just talking to a dispatcher just the other day from a department that I'm close to right now and you know, helping someone off a suicide call situation, you know, and I've actually been meaning to hear that tape. You know I wanted to hear it but they spoke, they were able to assist over the phone and sometimes they don't always get the end of the story and that makes it very difficult. So again, thank you to the spouse and to the dispatchers out there, um, and so anyone else that's listening.
Speaker 2:We were talking about what is four chaplains day. That's february 3rd of every year and it's the story of four military chaplains in 1943 torpedoed ship that then began to sink. They gave life vest to the point where they ran out, gave their own life vest and ended up sinking, being one of the six over 600 that died on that ship, linked arms, all four chaplains in prayer, Amazing, and their story lives on to be told. February 3rd is that day that's celebrated, and then we were talking about bringing that to modern day, our law enforcement, chaplains and our situations. Maybe there's an experience or a powerful moment that you had, and you mentioned some of the experiences you had.
Speaker 2:Thank you again for that call. And then also what has inspired you, like what made you think, what motivated you to start or to continue as a police or a fire chaplain. If you're sworn why you already have enough traumatic stuff going on, why help other people? So you know, maybe that's another question, or maybe you've been helped by a chaplain. You're an officer. You have a story of how helpful that was at that moment for you. So those are some of the questions out there. For anyone wanting to call, please give us a call 786-313-3115.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and my brother on the line. Anything come to mind, any story. You know, we know there's confidentiality, there's privilege, but again, any story come to mind.
Speaker 3:A God story where he showed up, a God story where God used the chaplaincy. You know, obviously there are many stories, but I guess you know some of the ones that come to mind. You know, when I was at Surfside, you know they brought I was there, I was there as a chaplain and you know they brought all the families. They brought all the families by the site.
Speaker 3:You know, wow, that was a tough it was very difficult, uh, you know, because you could hear people crying and wailing and calling out for their loved ones. You know, and um, and I was there and I remember, uh, seeing somebody that I recognized, that I had met, uh, I don't know, maybe eight years prior, young kid, entrepreneur, very smart, very bright, and his best friend. He was there because his best friend had died. And I just remember, you know, just praying with him and praying with another. I don't remember if it was a family of people that he was there obviously with, of people that he was there, obviously with um, but I just remember praying with him and, uh, and the lord using me in that moment for that for that difficult time.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, I mean talk about god showing up. You know that connection, um, man, you know, if folks don't know, if they want to look into what we're talking about, uh, the collapse ofplain Towers in Surfside Florida. I mean man, everybody, I mean Carlos, I mean you might have more information. I'm sorry, I said your name C C, mr.
Speaker 1:C.
Speaker 4:You might have more memory than me on this or more information than me on this. I think it was all of South Florida to Central. I mean it was three counties that responded to that thing. Florida to central I mean it was three counties that that responded to that thing. It's like everybody I talked to in the first responder community they were all there at some point. I mean, is that pretty much accurate?
Speaker 3:I mean well, yeah, well, we had.
Speaker 3:We had not only all of florida, but we had people from out of state yeah come um, you know, and and it's the Urban Search and Rescue Unit from you know, from FEMA, from the out-of-state, and you know I had there was, I remember, a team from Virginia. They had actually found a family huddled together and they needed intervention and it was late at night and that was my job, you know, for anybody that needed intervention at the moment. And I just remember going and talking to them and just reminding them that some of the things they're seeing are things that obviously are not easy to see and that they have help, they have someone to talk to.
Speaker 3:They have someone to pray with if they need to, and that was it To answer your question yes, there were a lot of different agencies there.
Speaker 4:You're describing what we know well if you're doing chaplaincy, right, the ministry of presence. Presence, my brother, I want to thank you for calling and I hope others will follow suit and call or text us. Thank you, my bro, so much, absolutely. God bless you guys. This is Ask a Cop. If you're listening on February the 4th, you're listening to the live premiere and today's episode. Adrian's our guest and I'm Adrian's guest.
Speaker 5:We're each other's guests.
Speaker 4:We're talking about chaplaincy. We're talking about Ask a Cop, Really mainly chaplaincy. The springboard the topic was for Chaplain's Day. Again, a lot we can we're talking about for Chaplain's Day.
Speaker 3:Joey, we're not talking about valentine's day here, your guests and I'm okay, no, no no no but, however, speaking about valentine's day, that's a really.
Speaker 4:Any chaplains listening? I'm going to give you some free training right now. That's a good and, with all due respect, and seriously that's a good, easy holiday to just do something silly, something fun, something practical. Leave chocolates in the uh call uh, what is it called the roll call room? Uh, uh, deliver gifts, packages, I mean yeah, especially, especially.
Speaker 2:We're talking here um even uh, husband to wife, wife to husband, right uh your loved one at home, you know, don't, don't forget that, because just because you got work, yeah I'll try to make it a point the chaplains can remind the married people don't forget, it's valentine's day.
Speaker 2:I talked to someone yesterday we're talking about valentine's day and and and all these things and they said, man, valentine's day for us should be every day. So amen, which is a hundred percent true that every day should be a moment to think of your spouse. But just, you know word to all the officers listening treasure that person. You know, we've been to many hospital visits, joey, where you know there's a woulda, shoulda, coulda, and so now's the time, now's the time to invest in that time. So, yeah, if Valentine's Day is the ticket, listen, go to those $300 special Valentine's Day dinners that they got out there.
Speaker 4:Or just buy flowers and chocolate, yeah, or go Thursday, go Saturday buy chocolates, but think about your loved one, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:And so, thinking about loved ones, thinking about just different people, I want to take us all the way back to think of when our nation first got started. Joey, you remember what year that?
Speaker 4:was I'm cheating because it's on my paper oh okay, so 1776.
Speaker 2:Going back to that, um, you know, that's where we first see the need and and.
Speaker 2:And let me read it to you this was george, was Washington in 1776 and his army, and this is from that time period. It says, the Honorable Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a chaplain to each regiment with the pay of $33.13 per month. The colonels and commanding officers of each regiment are dedicated to produce chaplains accordingly. This was a task given to the military leaders. This is who they must be a person of good character and exemplary lives to see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them suitable respect.
Speaker 4:And then this is the famous line that I would often quote from this piece, and it says and then we see the evolution of that, or the growth of that, uh, where it expanded from the military to the police in new york city in 1844. And back then the role was largely ceremonial, like officiating funerals or public events. But as you look at the history, as the law enforcement agencies grew, as their duties grew, as the needs grew, so did the roles of law enforcement chaplains.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in 1844, you know, being a year where um in new york is a very large department when I hear the numbers, um, I it's, it's very big department, so they do have a paid. You know chaplains, but volunteer chaplains which were, were, you know men who fit that description good character, exemplary lives, yeah, men of faith you know who were, uh, you know familiar with, yeah, this area of life dealing with traumatic incidences.
Speaker 4:Uh, those volunteers were probably before 1844, maybe oh yeah, and have continued through on till today I I want to touch on something, adrian, and I'm sorry if I if I cut you off, and I really wanted to get to the history of it.
Speaker 4:Yes, sir, I really wanted to get to the history of it, because I love that. I love because you look at, man, I'm thinking of so many things, but time is short. Let me make this comment and I'll come back to the other thought that I had. Um, you, you look at, people say this phrase all the time and sometimes people are critical or dismissive of it. The foundations of our country, the Christian foundations, the, the original constitution, all that stuff, I, I really don't. I do have a strong opinion about that and I'm not trying to go too far off on a tangent, but, man, that means something. The foundations of our nation oh, that's not what it meant. Oh, we changed. Yeah, that means something. The foundations of our nation oh, that's not what it meant. Oh, we changed, yeah, but but the foundation, if you, you know, you build on a foundation.
Speaker 2:You don't just pick up and move because now you have no foundation, so aside, yeah, I I think that when we look back at history. We look back at foundations. There's a reason that certain decisions were made and certain statements were made, and they're more important now, not less important, and they don't stop, like time doesn't stop, it's not in a vacuum. So the reasons why these men, these women have made these decisions, these statements, are worth to be looked at.
Speaker 2:And the history then carries over, like you said, till today, and the history then carries over like you said, till today, I think, the same exact thing that George Washington did in 1776 by standing before the group of Congress saying this is the way that our soldiers need to be treated. This is what they need for them, for their lives, for their families. And if all craziness is going on, all of the things that are going on, public distress and danger, if there's ever a time because it says we need the protection of heaven, we need God, we need his blessing, we need him in our life, but so much more during these times. That's the same decision that leaders today need to be making, in front of whoever their quote. Unquote. Continental congress is.
Speaker 4:The mayor to the city council, the chief to the city manager.
Speaker 2:It takes bravery it's just the same as it did back then. It takes, you know, the willingness to see that as a need, just as it did back then, and so, yeah, so the police officer's job has changed in what is done, yeah, but you know the heart behind it and and and the, the heart of it, yeah, the, the, the stressors, the hardships they're still there. They're still there I wanted.
Speaker 4:I wanted to touch on something else, adrian um, because I've even been guilty of kind of saying, oh you know well, teachers go through this too, and firefighters go through this too, and they do. They go through their own stressors. But I need to take today's program to really clarify law enforcement, police go through unique, sustained, intense stresses and traumas. So what do I mean by that? Stresses and traumas, right? So what do I mean by that? If a teacher has a very difficult time, she's a teacher and a counselor and has to prevent violence in the classroom, that can happen. Who do they call?
Speaker 4:They call the school resource officer right If a paramedic, uh, somebody, you know, firefighter, that somebody that's rendering medical aid, man, they're doing all that they can. They've seen horrific things, death, all these things they are, and the traumatic huh, and now they encounter a problem with an unruly patient. Who do they call right? A police officer? It's not ghostbusters, not ghostbusters. So so the police officer has to be the police, the medic, the teacher, the counselor, the person who puts on the handcuffs, the, but they, they, literally, in one shift, could have to do all, all of it and deal with all of it, unlike and I'm I'm willing to be corrected unlike any profession I can think of yeah, any other.
Speaker 2:It's definitely, uh, unique. It's definitely brings its own dynamic of stress and and, like you said, you can't just turn the faucet off. You know, and I think a big mistake in leadership in some of the departments have come from. Well, just, you know, if we take the person who is in this very sensitive position because of some of the things that they've encountered maybe what they're going through personally attached to what they've encountered, in the job right, we'll just move them to where less water's coming out of the faucet less but you still have this thing.
Speaker 2:It's happening inside and um and sometimes it's worse.
Speaker 4:Being stuck in an office, being stuck in a certain section, it's like no, get me out of here, put me back on the street.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's a cry for help and really, as we go through that, if we go through these things with God in the best way possible, there's actually this amazing growth and strength that can come in. But on the same coin. If it's, it's neglected. You know it's like a wound. Yeah, um, I love to tell stories of of how I cut my finger. I have a mark to prove it and what the you know what happened. It's not a crazy story, but there's a mark there, you know there's a story.
Speaker 4:It like grows and grows over the years. Oh, first it was like a paper cut and then it was a saw.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, when I fell off the f-16 uh, you know, on the way down an eagle, and no, I it was, it was. I was uh cutting a cd case. Back then we used to have these cd cases.
Speaker 4:Yeah, this was a long time ago, yeah but really really long.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just kidding I'm sorry we're short on time. I'm sorry, go ahead, go ahead, but yeah.
Speaker 4:So all that to say yeah, the scars, the scars, the things we go through, and so I know the memory.
Speaker 2:I have it there. I can recall it. But now, if I would have just never gone to get stitches, and never gone to get it treated. I might not have this finger Now, it's just a finger, but how about when it deals with your spirit? Your soul your mind, Adrian.
Speaker 4:I want to get one more thing out there, and we're coming near to the end where you're probably going to have to land the plane here and I'm going to have to let you and stop interrupting you. Man, I couldn't do it. But no, in all seriousness, man, I wonder if anybody's listening, adrian, that we've been talking about chaplaincy today, that the Lord's calling them to chaplaincy, whether it's fire department, police department, you know there's what? 34 municipalities now in Miami-Dade County.
Speaker 4:Maybe more 31 to 34 plus municipalities. You might be listening from outside of Miami-Dade County. You might have a small town. You know there's towns in the United States that still have volunteer fire departments. Their entire staff of firefighters is volunteer man. They might have zero chaplains, you know.
Speaker 4:So I just want to encourage you, if you've been listening. You want to help people through traumatic situations. You want to be there. You know it's the ministry of presence, you know, adrian. One other story I remember is sometimes it feels like you're just standing around and sitting around until the moment you're called upon. You know, we talked with that brother about Surfside Florida and I remember when I think you were called upon, I think both of us were standing there. We're just kind of standing watching, waiting. Hey, they said, oh, you want to come pray for the USAR guys before they go on the pile. Well, it was 100, 200 people, you know, 20 plus hours days into a shift. And oh, you want to say a prayer. They don't know what they're asking for. You're about to call heaven down on these people.
Speaker 2:You remember that yeah, yeah, sometimes you, you, sometimes you just gotta be get there, yeah I turned around, I go where's adrian?
Speaker 4:and you were like 50 feet away, on the other side. I mean, you just got to be ready and so if anybody's being stirred in their heart, man, go for it.
Speaker 2:Go for it, absolutely so if you're listening to, whether this is live or recording. Listen, there's always opportunities to serve our law enforcement. You've got to kind of be persistent. But go to policethankyoucom, reach out to us. You can call God's Way Radio. We'll get you the right info. There's training, there's things involved. There's ways to serve, ways to support, ways to be there for our law enforcement. You know we say it all the time Again those sirens, those things, things, just prayer alone just having them these men and women on your mind is huge.
Speaker 2:And um, yeah, so you know, joey, the, the rate of ptsd seems to be higher. Anxiety, depression uh man, I've seen some real, real tough depression going on in some officers. You know where, where it's stifling it, just it's crippling. Where it takes over, just normal routines become overwhelming.
Speaker 1:And so we want to help even those officers.
Speaker 2:If that's you listening. We want to be able to help you, to show you, to give you whatever we can, so please reach out to us. Policethankyoucom 786-313-3115.
Speaker 4:Call up God's Way Radio Studios out to us police. Thank youcom 786-313-3115. Call the god's way radio studios and one of the issues there is that not only is that terrible, hurtful, demoralizing for a police officer, it's dangerous yeah right dangerous it's dangerous in that line of work to be to have depression or anxiety to where it's interrupting your work and your normal functioning.
Speaker 2:You got to be safe out there so we talked today about the four chaplains. Four chaplains amazing story on february 3. So, um, you know, you got two, three, four. You have two the month, three the day for the four chaplains. So you got two three.
Speaker 4:I'm never gonna forget it now. There you go.
Speaker 2:So two, three four, that's uh, that's uh. Four chaplains day some of the history of it and if you just tuned in you know you're gonna have to just research it.
Speaker 2:Look at what is four chaplains day amazing story going from four chaplains to the history of george washington and, you know, putting in chaplains into their military group. Uh, to the first, you know, chaplains of large departments, 1844. This goes back a long way and, and just as policing has changed, so has a chaplaincy, and the needs and and and and the techniques and just how to do it and what to do, how to bring people Jesus, how to bring people to the Lord during these situations. Um, and I think of the legacy these four chaplains left, and I think you know, think that's what I think about as to what do we want to leave as a legacy, whether military, law enforcement or just a community, but chaplains, what difference you can make in someone's life, just as these men did there at Dorchester on that boat sinking in their last moments. It lives on. There's a legacy there and there's a legacy that each one of us can leave wherever we get to serve that, we can carry on.
Speaker 4:We can carry on that legacy and leave our own.
Speaker 2:So again, thank you for listening, thank you for having me, adrian, thank you for being here, joey, as my guest, as our guest, and so as we close, policethank. Thank youcom. You'll hear the closing now, but please, if you need help, reach out to us amen and again.
Speaker 4:Uh, you know I adrian's giving me another moment here. I just gotta encourage you guys. The music's gonna come up, but I'll take every second I can. Uh, if you're in law enforcement, use your chaplains, man, reach out to them. If you are a chaplain, be faithful. If, if all you're in law enforcement, use your chaplains, man, reach out to them. If you are a chaplain, be faithful. If all you're doing right now is praying, pray, pray, pray.
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