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From Chicago to Anbar: A Chaplain's View of War

Our guest, Father John Barkemeyer, left a parish on Chicago's South Side to become an Army chaplain in 2003, the year U.S. and coalition forces invaded Iraq. There's a shortage of Catholic priests in the Army, and for much of his current tour in Iraq, Barkemeyer has been the service's only Catholic chaplain in the province of Anbar.

His Iraq journal — with entries about traveling to Mass in a Humvee, the impossibility of exercising in 145-degree heat, and more — has been published in the Daily Southtown, a newspaper serving his former parish in Chicago's Morgan Park.

27:30
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Other segments from the episode on November 14, 2007

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, November 14, 2007: Interview with Brian De Palma; Interview with John Barkemeyer.
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22:02

Director Brian De Palma Digs Into 'Redacted' Story

Brian De Palma's films include the horror classic Carrie, the crime epics Scarface and The Untouchables, and the first Mission: Impossible film.

His latest release, Redacted, is a fictional take on a real incident — in which U.S. soldiers who raped and murdered a 14-year-old girl in Iraq. It has strong echoes of his Vietnam War drama Casualties of War.

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Army Chaplain Ran Dolinger

Army chaplain and captain Ran Dolinger has 20 years of experience in the army, ministering to soldiers in the field, and training other chaplains. He was in Iraq from July 2003 to February 2004, and returns there September. He currently serves at the Chief of Chaplains Office as media liaison officer.

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The Doubts of a Priest.

Parish Priest John McNamee. For twenty five years he's lived and worked the poorer neighborhoods of Philadelphia. His book, "Diary of a City Priest" (Sheed & Ward) documents his struggle to keep faith, when surrounded by poverty and despair.

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