Chaplain priests proudly serve those who serve

 
National Military Appreciation Month is celebrated every year in May. It includes Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day – both days honor the many brave men and women who served or continue to serve our country. Amid the heartfelt remembrances, the month-long celebration resonates with a strong affirmation for diocesan priests, Father Raju Thottankara and Father Tung Tran, who continue to serve as chaplains for the brave men and women who risk it all in service of our country.

Although Father Thottankara is far away from his native India, he has navigated a genuinely remarkable mission as a military man, priest and chaplain. 
 

Father Raju Thottankara

After arriving in the United States in 2000, he served in the Air Force and, in 2010, achieved the rank of major.  Father Thottankara’s commitment to his military duty dovetailed into his calling as a priest and chaplain, and it has become one that he wholeheartedly embraces.

Father Thottankara said the majority of his ministry depends on being a good listener. “As a chaplain, I counsel the men and women who have been overseas fighting,” Father Thottankara said. “I am there to console them and their spouses as they transition from the military lifestyle to civilian life.”

Father Thottankara is Vicar for Priests for the Diocese of Corpus Christi and also ministers to the people of St. Peter Prince of the Apostles, his home parish.  Even though he enjoys fulfilling the demands of his work in the diocese, he still maintains a strong commitment to his military brethren.

“Two days every month, I travel to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,” he says.  “I celebrate Masses, hear confessions, and also counsel military personnel in person or on the phone.”

His ability to be an understanding presence and guide to the military personnel he counsels is what Father Thottankara sees as his biggest challenge. Still, it is one that he wholeheartedly embraces and looks forward to continuing.  

Diocesan priest and military chaplain, Father Tung Tran, also welcomes the tests and triumphs of serving the military men and women who seek his consolation, comfort and counsel.  His commitment to his ministry has taken him across the globe to places like Naples, Italy, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as Guam, Hawaii, Romania, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand.  From December of 2018 until the end of February 2020, Father Tran’s most recent assignment was at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, located in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“I was a boat person during the exodus of the Vietnamese boat people after the Vietnam War,” recalls Father Tran. “In the Lenten and Easter seasons of 1984, I experienced hunger, robbery and a shipwreck in the exodus to freedom in the waters of Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.”

After surviving that harrowing experience, it is somewhat ironic that he chose to return to the sea by enlisting in the United States Navy.  His rank in the Navy is Lieutenant, which is the 3rd rank of a commissioned officer (O-3), the equivalent of Captain in other branches of the military. As both an officer and as a priest, his work continues to be both challenging and rewarding. 

 “At Camp Lejeune, I was the only Catholic chaplain at one of the two largest Marine Corps bases in the United States,” he says.  “This involved serving 40 thousand Marines and their dependents, so I was practically the pastor of a good-sized parish.”

The large number of Catholic military personnel Father Thottankara and Father Tran have ministered to in their respective assignments is truly impressive. Their unwavering commitment to continue their work makes them worthy of our thoughts and prayers in observance of Armed Forces Day. 

Both priests are proud to serve those who serve.