Father Ed McKenzie served in Vietnam as a crew member with the 38th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron. The combat search and rescue motto is “These Things We Do That Others May Live.”
Like many Vietnam Veterans, Father McKenzie faced challenges upon returning to civilian life. When he sought some respite by seeking to join the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, his membership was declined. He was told that Vietnam was a “police action” and therefor he didn’t qualify for membership.
He would go on to become a Franciscan Priest. He currently serves in residence at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, CA.
Even though he and his crew were serving in a non-offensive capacity, he says the trauma was very real. They were under constant threat of mortar and rocket attack. Washing the blood out from the helicopter after a mission left an indelibly impression. Every time he offers communion, he thinks about the blood shed by those in Vietnam.
“I was part of the business of saving people, not killing them. That fact, more than likely, was a piece of my salvation and reconciliation. I never had to sight another human being along the barrel of a rifle, thank God.”
Father McKenzie hosts regular trauma recovery retreats at the mission for other Veterans and their families. As part of that endeavor, he wrote “Soldier to Saint”. The book reveals more about the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order.
Francis came from a wealthy family and, although not a knight, went to battle equipped as one. That fact may have saved his life when he was captured. He was held for ransom in filth and squalor rather than being executed.
Throughout his book, Ed uses Saint Francis’ journey as an example of how modern warriors can face their trauma and carry on in a productive manner.
Ed says that, like alcoholics, one never really is “cured” of Post Traumatic Stress. He shares one instance when a parishioner startled him as he was preparing to enter the confessional, resulting in him instantly going into a fighting posture.
TAKEAWAY: “What broke you does not define you.”