Doubly trained
To act as one when battles rage
The chaplain heard both commands:
Leave with the men
Stay behind with the dying.
To which command does one react
When armies clash
And loud voices overpower small ones?
Which honors truth and which speaks for man?
Father Herman remained behind
And said the prayers that needed to be said
As machine guns ended them.
Author notes
Herman Feldhoelder was a Catholic army chaplain. He died as I have said when his unit was overrun during the Korean war. I knew him personally. He was a wirey and very unassuming man. I only remember him in an olive drab field uniform. He had an irrepressible smile from ear to ear. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.
A contest entry
- GIVE ME A WAR POEM by manoguru.
500 points, ended July 3, 2007, 14 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - in memory of those who served and fell and those who survived by camo.egg.army.gurl.
1800 points, ended June 9, 46 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 39 of 39
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breathless
i dont even know what to say
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Wonderful job on this piece. I love the story you've told here. Great imagery and flow.
Bravo!!!
♥ Kate -
Doubly trained
To act as one when battles rage
The chaplain heard both commands:
Leave with the men
Stay behind with the dying.
To which command does one react
When armies clash
And loud voices overpower small ones?
People like you are really makes great poems
we are happy about it, all the readers
i am very happy to know you -
Excellent write.
"And said the prayers that needed to be said
As machine guns ended them."
War is a tragedy in itself.
-Thank you for your entry, Angi Terese
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Fitting words to honour a man of honour, courage, faith and duty. Perhaps it was only because he was an ordinary and humble man that he was all these. What a wonderful person to have known and carry within you, for all those people we have known and those who have made any impression or impact on us most definitely live within us
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Memories of people are a great subject to write off of. This is wonderful, he would be proud, or should I say he is proud that you wrote this...he hears your words..wonderful write, thanks for sharing
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Wonderful tribute to him. I bet he was an amazing person to know. Thank you for entering the contest, good luck.
♥
whisper
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What I remember the most was that he was such an odinary, humble man with an easy smile.
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Goosebumps on me... the last two lines captures it well. And to know it's a true story... war is so wrong whatever the circumstance... nothing justifies it i think... "Medal of Honor" in turn for a great life lost right along side many others... sigh~ thank u 4 sharing!
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What a powerfully sad write, I have been reading a few war related poems tonight and I know not that the accolade means as much as the words you write do, but this is one of the finest I have read... well done on the write and on the courage it takes to write about the memories that haunt... god rest his soul
Karen
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Powerful words
powerful words that paint the imagery so very well.
god bless this man ...and it made me wish we were not
at war for all this to happen again..I am a proud
American..but my heart and mind tell me that this is
almost the year 2008 and after that long ago movie
of the future 2001 I was hoping we would be more
evolved as mankind.
Thankyou for touching us so deeply with each chosen
word, and Thankyou for Sharing Father Herman with us too.
ears2hearyou
Kathleen
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Maybe if more Catholics behaved like this (actually following Jesus' teachings), we wouldn't get such a bad rep, hehe.
Thank you so much. I wish I could have known this holy man. I am curious: you say you were not a Catholic at the time; are you one now? Did this inspire you to convert? Just curious - your response to celadia made me wonder. 
Whatever your religion, and whatever the reader's religion, what Father Herman did was very brave and very beautiful.
One thing that is slightly confusing: you switch from calling him "the chaplain" to "Father Herman" without introducing them as the same person, which made me think they were two different people, so that I thought the poem meant that while the chaplain hesitated, Father Herman went straightaway to do what needed to be done. I also think the punctuation could be made more consistent. For example, I think there needs to be a comma at the end of line 2 and something at the end of line 4 - perhaps a comma and a conjunction ("leave with the men, / or stay behind with the dying"), or perhaps a period or a semicolon. Whatever you choose, you really should separate these two lines from the following ones with some punctuation, since they're separate ideas. Also, the first word of every line shouldn't be capitalized. Basically, just punctuate the poem the way you would punctuate prose, regardless of line-breaks. If you want to leave out punctuation, that's fine, but then you'd really need to leave it out of the whole poem. At least, that's how I learned it, hehe.
Overall, this is a very good write, and you definitely deserved the silver trophy. Congratulations!
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A wonderful thing about bravery, honesty, and purity of heart is that one throws their life away-just gives it up. They expect nothing back. This happens at all levels, although not often enough. You ask if I became a Catholic or if I converted. No, but it did cause me to question why we fight wars. Your writing lesson is interesting. I purposely checked "casual" so that I would not have to respond to the errors of my ways. Thanks for reading this.
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Touching
he's a brave man, I can see why you think he needs a poem. -
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I was a teenager when I met Father Herman. I was not a Catholic. He just seemed like a very open and ordinary man with a friendly smile. I was astounded when I heard what he had done. Thank you for commenting.
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you are right he was a hero
for mankind and god
wonderful tribute
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Like as captain going down with his sinking ship, this chaplain was killed in the line of duty; as he stayed giving last rites to those mortally wounded and dieing. Liked the flow of these lines, the brevity and the thoughts shared in the words of this poem. A nice tribute to a fellow soldier and man of the cloth.
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"Which honors truth and which speaks for man?"
This single sentence is an incredibly complicated philosophical/theological question, maybe even on the same level as "to be or not to be"
Brilliant write offering a perspective that I have never seen before.
Having been in the army myself, I have an understanding of the contradictions chaplains face.
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You got a silver and a nothing with this, but I don't really get the nothing...because this was a good write and I wonder who beat you out...I bet they were extremely good poets, huh?
Nicely done and keep up the rockin' poetry, Man of Harlech. Enter this as many times as you wish in lots of contests...ha, ha. -
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Well, it sounds like we are both on the same page. I believe you are the first to write me after I missed out in a contest. I will be checking out your writing. I am sure that it will be very good.
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A thoughtful insight
It was refreshing to read a eulogy for a chaplain rather than a soldier, though soldiers merit this type of honour too in certain instances, perhaps in them all. Your use of the interrogative tone, employing question marks, reinforces the conflict which the chaplain underwent. It is not just a question of loyalty to dual commands (internal and external) but of loyalty to the dying and the living who need him too. Your use of the striking contrast between prayers and bullets in the last verse is effective. Bravo to Herman.
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This is a great poem. And a wonderful tribute to Herman Feldhoelder. This is different, but in a good way.
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This poem touches me. The facted that you drew on real aconts of this man being a true hero makes the power behind the words.
Doubly trained
To act as one when battles rage
The chaplain heard both commands:
Leave with the men
Stay behind with the dying.
I wish you all the best with my compotion. xXx -
wow...your piece is so touching...it is very emotional...now that our world is plagued by wars...it is very comforting to know that there are few good men out there who are willing to risk their lives for humanity to achieve peace...Father Herman is truly a remarkable person indeed...and you are very lucky to know him...I hope that all the people here is site read your poem and emulate Father Herman...let us all spread peace not war...congrats for writing such a wonderful piece...
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The poet writes with effective use in freeverse with clarity of imagery and emotion.A sugestion offered not as a criticism but as a point to perhaps ponder is within the presentation,each line is started with a capital despite it not always being a new line but a continuation of the previous and that caused a pause within the flow just slightly.
The piece is thought provoking,herein we have the scenario of a man "doubly trained" his first calling to the church to hold aloft the ten commandments including "thou shall not kill" yet he is seconded to a war zone where men are trained to kill and be killed,amongst the mayhem,madness and merciless carnage of war then indeed is shown the metal of the man for the last prayer we surely hear is the prayer we offer up from the self at the moment of the spirit leaving the physical body.
As a catholic priest he would have taken confession and that in itself would have lifted the spirits of those also doubly trained within the belief of their faith that to kill was breaking a commandment but finding that they were in a situation where it was kill or be killed,regardless of faith,rationale or reason,as the survival instinct is necessary for the spirit and the spirited.
The piece provokes the question as to why the military take priests to war,on the one hand it is deemed as serving the catholic contingent and honouring their need for confession and the last rites yet without war it would be not necessary.
This poem fast tracks the reader to a place in time and places it with poignance,making it personal as opposed to a faceless death,revealing the only thing won by war is the chance to die with men who become brothers in arms.
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Every chaplain is prepared to minister to everyone in crisis. It is the most ecumenical form of religious counseling that I know of. I would think that a Catholic would recieve traditional last rights and a non catholic or non Christian would receive a general blessing. There are Muslim chaplains and Jewish chaplains, and they have expressed themselves bravely and fairly in similar circumstances. They do hold separate services, but behave as one on the battlefield.
Thanks you for your thoughtful response to my poem.
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Wow scarely
This write remind me of a Friend I had In the 70's she also died that way. She was a missionary with a priest and to other sisters. Killed in some part of Africa for helping the people there. So sad to do work of God and Die for it. I guess when it's in ones destiny there is nothing one can do. Thank you for sharing this great memory. (LISA)
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A nun was killed in Brazil two years ago for her political work to resist encroachment by loggers in the rainforest. I am not sure that I would call it sad to die this way. It would be said to have belief and to walk away when it is tested. I might do just that, but I would fee sad about it.
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Nice job! Really nicely written. It deserves something in the contest that you're in. Have a good day
Keep Writing
Michael -
Very good. A great tribute to one who gave so selflessly
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beautiful
your writing is very touching.
Doubly trained
To act as one when battles rage
The chaplain heard both commands:
Leave with the men
Stay behind with the dying.
This stanza says so much and it is well written. WOnderful piece
Jasmine
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A wonderful recollection ...
and a impressive poem of splendid structure and content. Well done, I was drawn to this because my maiden name was Herman! I am glad I read this.
Good luck in the contest.
Love
Myra
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marvelous!
it is a cracker.i have been reading poems today and this is the best.the content is there and beauty too!To which command does one react
When armies clash
And loud voices overpower small ones?this what people should understand whenever war breaks out
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Touching. I wish I could be selfless like that.
Great emotins and God bless Father Herman.
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the conflict found within the poem really brings this pom alive! this is a great poem! so good, that i cant even say how good it is!
"Which honors truth and which speaks for man?"
that is my favorite line of all!
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this is perhaps the most thought provoking and morally challenging poem i've got in the contest so far... i still haven't read other poems in the list and can't say what they hold, but this certainly is the most angering poem because it is short and to point and hits like a rifle shot. i think this poem works because of the understatement you used to portray the loss of a human life.
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I . . . don't know what to say. Brave, honorable, kind, compassionate, noble men such as him have rarely lived upon this earth, and it is obvious to me that you were very lucky to have known him, even if just a little. I wish I could have met the great man myself. The only nice thing here, in my opinion, is that, believe it or not, his spirit lives on. Agree with the war in Iraq or not, there have been more than one case of great heroism to come from that killing field. God bless you, and I'm saddened by your loss. He sounds in like an amazing man. - ocerus
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So very sad
In the staying he knew deep within his heart to saty and he took heaven over earth and a hand to the boys to show them the road home bravo on this one and sad in the same sense
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I have always been inspired by this fine person. People tell me there are no heros, but I know better.
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