There are many reasons to join the armed forces – for college money or out of a sense of patriotic duty perhaps.
There are many reasons to join the armed forces –
for college money or out of a sense of patriotic duty perhaps.
There are even some who join because they answered a call – not a telephone call but a call from God.
Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Endel Lee is all of those. A Navy
chaplain and assistant professor of preaching and pastoral ministry in
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Leavell College, Lee recalls
how God used a combination of factors to lead him into the military.
“From the time I was 9 years old, I was working
part-time jobs,” Lee recounts. “When I turned 14, I couldn’t even
drive, but there were days where I would be walking around with
hundreds of dollars in my pocket from selling farm produce on the side
of the road.”
Lee joined a local Baptist church in Tanner
Williams, Ala., at the age of 15 and surrendered to fulltime Christian
service at the age of 17.
“I started going to church, and I knew that God was
calling me to preach,” Lee continues. “I had about $5,000 in the bank
when I finished high school, and that would have paid for a secular
education. I knew I needed to get smarter about ministry and study
religion, so I (enrolled at) a Christian college.
“(However) As I started college, I realized that an
education from a private institution was not cheap and my funds were
getting low very fast. I knew I couldn’t make it with the money I had
saved, even with scholarships to help.”
Lee was living on $25 a month. He would use the money to wash his clothes and buy other necessary items.
“Usually once a month, I could go have pizza on a
Friday night with my friends,” Lee recalls. “I would eat the buffet for
$4, and that was splurging.”
Low on funds and needing to finish his education,
Lee took the advice of a friend who urged him to join the reserves so
he could get money for college.
“After praying about it persistently, I just walked
into the recruiting office and told the recruiter that I wanted to join
the Marine Corps Reserves,” Lee says. “He asked me what I wanted to do.
I said, ‘I don’t know. What have you got?’ He looked at me like I was
crazy.
“We started talking through it, and he told me they
had a unit in town that jumps out of airplanes and scuba dives and
things like that. I said, ‘Yeah, that sounds pretty good; sign me up
for that.’”
Lee asked the recruiter what the job was called and
was told “reconnaissance.” He later learned that jumping and diving
were just how you get to work in recon, and there is a lot more to the
job.
Lee joined the Marine Corps Reserves in January 1982
and was assigned to 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company in Mobile, Ala.
He achieved the rank of sergeant and was recognized
as the Alabama Enlisted Marine of the Year in 1985.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the
University of Mobile in 1985 and, then, attended Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary to earn his master’s and doctorate degrees,
finishing in 2000.
In 1987, he transferred to 2nd Battalion, 14th
Marine Regiment in Fort Worth and accepted a direct commission as a
Marine Corps Reserve officer.
Serving as an officer for six years, he was a
platoon commander, naval gunfire liaison officer and executive officer
with 14th Marines. He also served as a platoon commander and a company
level commanding officer with 4th Reconnaissance Battalion in San
Antonio.
“Having been both a private first class and a
commanding officer, I have learned how to think like and communicate
with Marines at various levels of responsibility,” Lee says. “My
experiences and leadership training in the Marine Corps have definitely
added more tools to my toolbox, which I can now use to help people from
a spiritual perspective.”
In 1993, Lee received a reserve officer’s commission
in the U.S. Navy Chaplains Corps via an inter-service transfer.
“I get a lot of double takes,” the 23-year military
veteran admits. “People stop me because they see my pins and realize I
was in recon, and they see that I’m now a Navy chaplain. It opens a lot
of doors for me to talk with people. We begin to talk, and I have a
chance to tell them how the Lord worked through my life to lead me to
this current place of service.”
That place is Camp Fallujah in Iraq.
Lee was four months away from possible retirement in
the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He could have
retired those few years ago, but he says he knew God was calling him to
remain available for service in Iraq or wherever he was called upon to
go by the Navy.
In New York after the attacks, Lee recounts how he
would escort families down to ground zero and help them deal with their
grief. “Then, I would often pray with them,” Lee
says. “We (chaplains) would also have duty at the morgues and help
families deal with identifying whether one of their loved ones had
died.”
Lee was mobilized for active duty in Iraq in January
2005. As part of his duty there, he acts as the deputy coordinator for
Protestant worship at Camp Fallujah.
He explains his ultimate goal for serving in Iraq is
to lead men and women to recognize and engage in a spiritual
connectivity with God.
“I know the context of the Marine Corps because I’ve
lived it,” Lee says. “I understand it and I speak the language. People
seem to appreciate and respond to that capability.
“When I first talked with my two (commanding
officers) I told them my interest is to live with these Marines and
sailors on a daily basis and reflect the presence of God to them,” Lee
recalls.
“My first priority is God. I also want our service
members to know that if we get in the ‘hurt locker’ that I’m willing to
go all the way with them. I came here willing to die if I have to, so
that I can help our Marines and sailors see their need for a personal
relationship with God.
“I hope to show my commitment and concern for their
spiritual well-being by being here every day that I can,” Lee
emphasizes. “I plan on helping with their hurts and
supporting their celebrations.”
When Lee is finished with his service in Iraq, he will return to teaching at Leavell College in New Orleans.
“I hope that people look at my service and see what
the Lord has done through me,” Lee says. “God took a country boy from
Alabama and formed an uncommon combination between recon and a chaplain
in order to help our military members express their faith.” (BP)