There were men called "army chaplains."

[pynchonoid]

There were men called "army chaplains." They preached
    inside some of these buildings. There were
actually
    soldiers, dead now, who sat or stood, and
listened.
    Holding on to what they could. Then they went out,
and
    some died before they got back inside a
    garrison-church again. Clergymen, working for the
    army, stood up and talked to the men who were
going to
    die about God, death, nothingness, redemption,
    salvation. It really happened. It was quite
common.
                                        (GR 693)



"jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
>I interpret this passage as a poignant representation
>of the futility 
>of war

Something like that.  
-Doug

<http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=15623>
[...] Thomas, however, is quick to remind that
soldiers should concentrate on living, a task that can
only be accomplished once they are certain about their
eternal destiny. "Know where your soul is going and
make sure you're all right with God, and everything
else will be okay. I always ask soldiers, 'Do you know
where you're headed?'"
Caraway said he also asks his commanding officers the
question on a regular basis. "How is it with your soul
today, sir?"
Still, both Caraway and Thomas understand that they
will be surrounded by death on the battlefield, and
both realize they will not be immune from the
potential of death at the hands of the enemy. In fact,
both men have discussed the issue of death with their
families.
"The same question I ask officers about their soul is
a good confrontation for me," Caraway said. "I ask
myself if I'm doing everything I can each moment to
advance the Kingdom of God. [...]
"We are prepared for death," Thomas said. "Any
Christian is prepared for death, and that's what makes
Christians unique. We know how to live and we know how
to die.
"I have already talked to my children. I constantly
tell them that if something happens to Daddy, they
should know that he was doing what he wanted to do,
ministering for the Lord. If I were to die on the
battlefield, that would be okay because I would die
ministering to soldiers."
Both men are focused on their tasks of providing for
American soldiers and possibly the Iraqi people.
Caraway noted that chaplains could play a role in
humanitarian aid projects and even in caring for Iraqi
prisoners of war. [...]
By doing so, Caraway said he and other chaplains like
Thomas will achieve their goal of "recognizing the
value of every human being" while providing ministry
in a combat zone. While there may be evangelistic
opportunities among the local populace, the chaplains'
primary concern will be caring for soldiers. That
isn't always easy to do, Caraway said.
The only thing the military needs is more chaplains,
said Lt. Col. Gil Richardson, senior chaplain with the
4th Infantry Division. A Presbyterian chaplain,
Richardson said, "Tell all Southern Baptists to send
us more chaplains." [...] 

<http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/26/nchap26.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/03/26/ixnewstop.html>
[...] Mr Morrison, 60, the SAS's chaplain after the
last Gulf war of 1991 until 1997, said that soldiers
needed to be focused on their part in the war without
being dehumanised. It was chaplains' jobs to help them
in the war by "not standing in judgment, but helping
others to carry the heavy loads that life places upon
them".

But he said: "Soldiers too have consciences, feelings,
and the horrors of war are just as horrible for them
as for anyone else.

"I have seen soldiers weep at scenes of human
barbarity. The chaplain is there, therefore, to help
the warrior remain human, in God's image, while
wielding the instruments of a kind of ethical surgery
- in this case cutting the cancer of a corrupt and
murderous regime from the body of Iraq." [...] 




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