Program Particulars
*Times indicated refer to Web version of audio

(02:06–04:03) Music Element
"The Multiples of One" from Awakening, performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:11) Statistics on Military Personnel
The U.S. Department of Defense reports that nearly one-third of the 1.5 million military personnel who were called to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have served two or more tours of duty in combat zones.

(02:42) Actuality from Saving Private Ryan
The audio clip is taken from Steven Spielberg's film, Saving Private Ryan:

So I guess I've changed, some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is even going to recognize me, whenever it is I get back to her. And how I'll ever be able to — to tell her about days like today. I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel.

(03:36) Proposal to Nationalize Reintegration Model
Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate to nationalize a reintegration program for reserve modeled after the Minnesota National Guard's "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" program that was co-founded by Chaplain Major Morris. As of May 17, 2007, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which includes the legislation, had passed in the House.

(03:56) Thoughts of Easter in Fallujah
Describing his Easter experience in Fallujah in 2004, Morris makes reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Christians hold this as the most solemn and sacred event. The New Testament of the Bible documents Jesus' execution by the Romans and His willingness to suffer in order to save His people through His resurrection and ascension to heaven. All four gospels describe Jesus' tomb as being empty three days after his entombment, but provide varying accounts as to his post-mortem appearances to his followers. The following account appears in the gospel of Mark 16:1–8:

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

(05:15) Verse from Hebrews
Morris cites the opening chapter from the book of Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

(06:56) Travel with Translators
Being a translator in Iraq is one of the more lucrative, and dangerous, private contracting jobs. As of May 2005, translators accounted for more than 40 percent of death claims filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.

(08:20) Passover in Iraq
During the traditional eight days of Passover, or Pesach, Jews reenact and remember the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. The holiday of Passover (Pesach), the Festival of Freedom, is one of three major festivals of the Jewish year. On the nights preceding the first and second day of Passover, a seder, a ceremonial meal, is held with foods that symbolize the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and rituals that tell the stories of ancient Jewish history.

The Haggadah, the storytelling book read at the seder, includes rabbinic commentary, hymns, prayers, and stylized questions and answers. Listen to Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso discuss this religious ceremony and its meaning in the Speaking of Faith show, "A Program for Passover and Easter."

(09:07) Citation from Psalms
Morris references chapter 137 from the book of Psalms (New Revised Standard Version):

By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!" O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

(10:00–10:56) Music Element
"Rivers Of Babylon" from Selections 1976-88, performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock

(10:48) Sacred Geography and the Beginning of Abraham
Krista refers to the sacred geography of Iraq as part of the region of so many pivotal Biblical stories, including the story of Abraham. In the Speaking of Faith program, "The Children of Abraham," author Bruce Feiler discusses his own journey and his exploration of the story of the common patriarch of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

(13:15) Shia Pilgrimages in Iraq
Shiites make up a small percentage of the total number of Muslims in the world, but they compose a majority in Iraq and Iran. Shiite shrines are located throughout Iraq, of which the following four cities house some of the holiest shrines outside of Saudi Arabia: Najaf, site of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law Ali; Karbala, the holiest site outside of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia; the Baghdad suburb of Kazimayn, housing shrines to two celebrated imams; and Samarra, the location of shrines dedicated to three other important imams. The PBS program Wide Angle provides an interactive map and concise descriptions about pilgrimage sites in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

(13:56) Challenges of National Guard and Reserve Personnel
According to the Department of Defense, over 80,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel are currently mobilized worldwide. They comprise over a quarter of U.S. military personnel in Iraq — 17 percent in the National Guard, 11 percent in the Reserve.

(14:32–15:28) Music Element
"Dance of the Palms" from The Second Baghdad, performed by Rahim Alhaj

(22:43–23:50) Music Element
"A Lion's Sleep" from Soir, dit elle: Words of the Angel, performed by Trio Mediaeval

(25:58) Term "Weekend Warrior"
Prior to the first invasion of Iraq in the early 1990s, reservists — members of the Army and Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve — were commonly referred to as "weekend warriors." The term arose during the Cold War, when U.S. reservists would wait and be ready for re-call to active duty if enemies of the U.S. struck. These reservists would complete the same mandatory physical training and technical training as other active-duty personnel, but they would then go back to working their regular civilian jobs during the week and reporting for duty on the weekends.

(26:51–29:47) Music Element
"Death of a Train" from For the Beauty of Wynona, performed by Daniel Lanois

(30:00) "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon"
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a program that works to instruct and aide clergy, social workers, and counselors how to deal with the reintegration needs of combat soldiers and their families, particularly veterans serving in the National Guard and Reserves.

Morris provides helpful guidelines in his 2005 essay, "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: How Churches Can Help Soldiers and Their Families Readjust after Combat". He cites a June 2004 New England Journal of Medicine study showing 18 percent of returning combat veterans wrestle with significant mental health problems. And, the Department of Defense finds that 30 percent of returning Army Reserve and National Guard members experience mental health issues four to six months after they return from combat. See an Los Angeles Times article documenting one returning soldier's struggle to deal with the psychological trauma of war and regain a sense of normalcy within society.

(34:55) Book by Stephen Mansfield
Stephen Mansfield's 2005 book, The Faith of the American Soldier, focuses on the spiritual lives of men and women involved in American conflicts from the Revolutionary to the Iraq Wars.

(37:56–38:31) Music Element
"Fields of Alfalfa" from Unspeakable, performed by Bill Frisell

(38:56) Reference to Gordon Cosby
Mary and Gordon Cosby started the Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC in 1947. As Gordon Cosby explains in a 1997 interview with Jim Wallis: "I reckon I was not expecting seminary to give me the answers, but I just felt it would be helpful to have that training. I did that, and following seminary, Mary and I took a little Baptist pastorate in Arlington, Virginia. We were there for one year, and then I went into the service as a chaplain. I was away for two-and-a-half years, and it was during that period of time that I knew I could not go back to being a minister in the denomination from which I had come. Here I am in this church, and then I go to Europe with the 101st Airborne, a unit sent to the most intense situations. I'm with men when they're dying, and they're totally unprepared. What I had done in the church had very little relationship to this experience of life and death and dying."

(40:50–41:35) Music Element
"Sombre Reptiles" from Another Green World, performed by Brian Eno

(45:53–47:00) Music Element
"Amazing Grace" from Midnight on the Water, performed by Mark O'Connor

(49:26–52:41) Music Element
"Third World Man" from Citizen Steely Dan: 1972-1980, performed by Steely Dan