Chaplain Williams E. Dickens, Jr.
Wright - Patterson Air Force Base
Dayton , OH
Sponsor: Rep. Rep. Geoff Davis, (R-KY)
Date of Prayer: 02/12/2008
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, today, I wish to honor a great man and a true American hero.
MAJ William E. Dickens serves as a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve. In 2005 and 2007, Major Dickens volunteered and was deployed to support the ongoing military efforts of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has worked to establish a foundation of support for the troops in that region and continues to provide an invaluable service to military personnel and their families.
Major Dickens served as the senior Protestant chaplain at Kirkuk Regional Air Base in Iraq, providing a comprehensive ministry to more than 3,100 troops during his deployment. In 2005, while serving at Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, Bill visited more than 5,600 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. During his service there, he made two convoy trips into Iraq to minister to 800 airmen at Camp Bucca who were without a chaplain. As the chaplain for the 445th Airlift Wing, Major Dickens has spent long hours providing reintegration counseling to service men and their families.
For his great service, Major Dickens was chosen as the Reserve Officers Association 2007 Chaplain of the Year. The Reserve Officers Association is a 70,000–member professional association with representatives from all seven of the uniformed services of the United States. This honor recognizes Chaplain Dickens' extraordinary contributions to the welfare, morale, and effectiveness of the armed services.
On the 12th of February, Chaplain Dickens provided the opening prayer for the House of Representatives. I ask the House to join me in congratulating Major Dickens on receiving this great distinction and in offering him our sincerest thanks for his years of service to our Nation.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Father, we acknowledge that all blessings come from you. I ask that you give the men of women who serve this great nation from these desks: wisdom, courage and discernment to make decisions that are honoring to You and are right for this country.
Presently there are Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines deployed around the world in harm’s way. Father I pray that You will keep them safe, give them purpose, guard their hearts from loneliness and despair and bring them home soon. For their families, I pray that You will comfort them and meet all of their needs. For those who have given their lives in defense of freedom, words cannot express our sorrow and our gratitude. May our actions honor their sacrifice and may Your peace comfort their families.
Father for this great nation, I pray that it will continue, under Your blessing, to stand as a beacon for goodness and bastion of freedom. May we understand the message of Your scripture, "to whom much has been given much will be expected." In Your precious Name I pray.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory