A Commander's Prayers: Spiritual Reflections of a Desert Storm Commander

A Commander’s Prayers records the interraction between a battlefield commander and his chaplain. 2-69 Armor left Fort Benning, GA, in mid-August, 1990, to stand in the desert and thwart Iraqi aggression against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world’s oil supplies. No one knew what to expect. Soldiers, even tested veterans, were apprehensive—even frightened—about the possible outbreak of war. LTC Sanchez found himself in command of an armor battalion which had spent years serving in support of instruction in the US Army’s Infantry School. Now 2-69 Armor was “going to war.” The battalion chaplain was there to advise the Commander, and provide spiritual support for the command. LTC Sanchez asked the chaplain to regularly give him a “thought for the day.” This simple act gave the Chaplain daily access to the Commander and an opportunity to support him in a real and tangible way. This book is a record of that interraction during the dark days leading up to the first Persian Gulf War, and the terrible violence of that short—but bloody—chapter in recent Middle Eastern history.