While stationed in Baghdad, Chaplain Colonel Gary Gilmore of the Missouri National Guard listened as a soldier told him of the turmoil he faced following the death of another soldier he knew - a soldier with whom he had traded missions. Gilmore said the soldier confided in him how he felt after learning of the other soldier's death.
""That should have been me,'" Gilmore said the soldier told him.
Gilmore shared this story at a disaster recovery workshop at the Callaway Christian Church, Tuesday. He stressed the importance of emotional support following a disaster.
In an effort to provide emotional comfort to the soldier, Gilmore encouraged him to reframe his perspective from feeling guilty the other soldier died in his place, to believing it was okay that he was still alive.
"Somebody who has gone through a disaster has had a mind, body and spiritual experience," Gilmore said. "They don't see the same world anymore."
Emotional and spiritual support following a natural or manmade disaster was just one part of the workshop put on by the Governor's Faith-Based and Community Service Partnership for Disaster Recovery. The workshop, which was to help local organizations and faith-based community members be prepared in the event of a disaster, also covered safe food handling in disaster kitchens, operating safe disaster shelters and other related topics.
Additionally, the workshop included presentations by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Dan Steska of Missouri Interfaith Disaster Response Organization (Midro).
"We never know when nature's going to touch us," Gilmore said. "But we know it's going to happen."
Faith-based organizations were a target for the workshops as they are sites that include large kitchens and high-capacity rooms, Gilmore said.
Melissa Friel of SEMA presented on the response from faith-based communities following the Joplin tornado. She encouraged workshop attendants to be knowledgeable of appropriate donations as they start rolling in following a disaster. She said people may donate items which they can not accept including donations that might be unnecessary and outdated, like hand-me-downs from the 60s. Cash and gift-card donations are considered a higher necessity.
However, the emotional and spiritual support brings a sense of community and comfort to those who might have lost a sense of security after disaster strikes, Gilmore said.
When it came time for Gilmore to leave Baghdad, he asked the other soldiers to sign their names on his Bible. When it was returned to him, he found a yearbook-style note from the soldier he had spoken to about the traded missions. In a post script the soldier had written that Gilmore's advice worked, Gilmore told workshop attendees Tuesday.