Caveat gentle reader: We have no idea if Chaplain John Morris, oft-quoted chaplain of the Minnesota National Guard, is any sort of functional expert on PTSD. What we do know is he's a straight-talking, reasonable proponent of caring for the troops, and as such, he totally has our vote of confidence. Here's a little biographical information about him:
John Morris, an Army Reservist, has served in Norway; Kuwait; Qatar; Iraq; Cuba; Ft. Steward, Georgia; Ft. Benning, Georgia; Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin; Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; and Ft. Irwin, California. After serving as senior pastor at St. Croix Valley United Methodist Church for eight years, he was mobilized to serve with Army Special Operations Command in January 2004. In Iraq, he visited Psychological Operations teams in 17 different camps. Chaplain Major Morris is currently a full-time chaplain with the Minnesota National Guard. He is a 1986 graduate of Minnesota's Bethel Seminary.
He's frequently quoted by NPR, the Cloquet, Minn. Pine Journal, which did a fine series of articles on Minnesota's returning National Guard veterans, and the Christian Science Monitor. We've blogged about hm in a series of posts, linked here. He's immensely quotable, and he's a heartsy proponent of meeting the troops head on with the type of care they need, and he seems to have that rarest of all professional qualities -- a serious clue. I'm a huge fan...
(References to Chaplain John Morris of the Minnesota National Guard on this blog are here, here, here, and possibly here, not to mention, most recently, here.) In his wonderful essay, linked here, you can read his thoughts on "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: How Churches Can Help Soldiers and Their Families Readjust after Combat." (A podcast by Chaplain Morris is linked on another blog, here.)
