Bringing God to Men: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War - Softcover

Whitt, Jacqueline E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1469612941 ISBN 13: 9781469612942

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014

Synopsis

During the second half of the twentieth century, the American military chaplaincy underwent a profound transformation. Broad-based and ecumenical in the World War II era, the chaplaincy emerged from the Vietnam War as generally conservative and evangelical. Before and after the Vietnam War, the chaplaincy tended to mirror broader social, political, military, and religious trends. During the Vietnam War, however, chaplains' experiences and interpretations of war placed them on the margins of both military and religious cultures. Because chaplains lived and worked amid many communities--religious and secular, military and civilian, denominational and ecumenical--they often found themselves mediating heated struggles over the conflict, on the home front as well as on the front lines.

In this benchmark study, Jacqueline Whitt foregrounds the voices of chaplains themselves to explore how those serving in Vietnam acted as vital links between diverse communities, working personally and publicly to reconcile apparent tensions between their various constituencies. Whitt also offers a unique perspective on the realities of religious practice in the war's foxholes and firebases, as chaplains ministered with a focus on soldiers' shared experiences rather than traditional theologies.

About this title

Book Description:

"A well-researched and significant addition to scholarship surrounding religion and the Vietnam War. This is a unique look at military chaplains, especially in examining how they had a foot in two worlds: the domestic religious/denominational scene and the military. It will appeal to historians of the 1960s and 1970s and scholars in religious studies and military history."--David E. Settje, author of Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars

From the Inside Flap:

During the second half of the twentieth century, the American military chaplaincy underwent a profound transformation. Broad-based and ecumenical in the World War II era, the chaplaincy emerged from the Vietnam War as generally conservative and evangelical. Whitt foregrounds the voices of chaplains themselves to explore how those serving in Vietnam acted as vital links between diverse communities, working personally and publicly to reconcile apparent tensions between their various constituencies. Whitt also offers a unique perspective on the realities of religious practice in the war's foxholes and firebases, as chaplains ministered with a focus on soldiers' shared experiences rather than traditional theologies.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1469612941
• ISBN 13: 9781469612942
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312