There are no atheists in a foxhole
Sorry kids. That ain't faith, it's fear.
Marines Find Faith Amid the Fire
Four members of Echo Company are baptized on the battlefield in Fallouja -- at a school from which they've been fighting insurgents.
By Tony Perry
Times Staff Writer
April 29, 2004
FALLOUJA, Iraq — On Monday, Echo Company battled insurgents for two hours. One Marine was killed and 15 were wounded in the latest and bloodiest of numerous skirmishes.
Then four Marines — from the battle-hardened company, part of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the 1st Marine Division — asked a Protestant chaplain to arrange a battlefield baptism.
"I've been talking to God a lot during the last two firefights," said Lance Cpl. Chris Hankins, 19, of Kansas City, Mo. "I decided to start my life over and make it better."
To give the occasion even greater significance, the Marines chose to have Wednesday's baptism in the courtyard of a bullet-riddled school that they used in their fight with insurgents.
