Born to Serve: Chapters of Mylife Story

© 2015 Chaplain Diana James. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/14/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2232-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2230-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2231-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014911700

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES

MY FIRST DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

FROM JOB HUNT TO ENTRY INTO THE WORKFORCE

PREPARING TO TRANSFER TO THE PENTAGON

LEAVING HOME

MY PURSUIT OF A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE

MY RELIGIOUS QUEST

IN PURSUIT OF A MASTER OF DIVINITY

MY JOB SEARCH

OFFICER BASIC TRAINING

FIRST DUTY STATION - FORT CARSON

THE COST OF ORDINATION

OFFICER EVALUATION REPORT

CAMP RED CLOUD – KOREA

ADVANCED COURSE - FORT MONMOUTH, N.J.

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF FAMILY RELATIONS

FORT BLISS, TEXAS

DARMSTADT, GERMANY

WOMACK ARMY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

FORT JACKSON

MY LAST DUTY STATION:

RETIREMENT

FOREWORD

I was considered to have been one that was unlikely to succeed, however I became the highest ranking female chaplain in the history of the United States Army until my retirement in 1996.

This book is about being blessed, abundantly blessed. It is about being obedient to God and allowing Him to lead and direct me. It’s about Proverbs 3:5 which states Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. It is about my experiences, natural and super natural, that resulted in life changing consequences.

Time and time again, many of us have heard that Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Throughout this book, I will share what my faith and works has done for God’s glory. We must believe by faith, to trust God to be our Leader, Provider, Counselor and that He is limitless and All things are possible.

INTRODUCTION

B ehind every birth lies a special story. As I look back over my life, I can see very clearly that God was calling me to represent Him, by letting my light so shine so that others could see Him in me.

Most of us have heard the special story that surrounded the birth of Moses, a Deliverer, and Jesus, the Savior.

Moses’ story is recorded in the book of Exodus 2: 1-10. It tells us that a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she put the child in the basket and placed it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. The Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. In the basket was a baby boy. The Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses. Moses was saved from water and ultimately from death.

Matthew 2:13 provided us with an account of the birth of Jesus, my Savior. It states that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. God placed special people around Jesus to protect Him, so that He would live. Their names were Mary and Joseph. Like Moses and Jesus, God placed people around me from the moment of my conception to this very day to protect me as He molded, shaped and prepared me for His use and His Glory.

I am a second-generation member of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Our church recognizes the scriptural importance of women. It taught and believed women should neither preach nor pastor. I prayerfully violated both of its teachings. I chose to obey God rather than man. Consequently, this book is written to tell of the Mighty Acts of God. It is written to let you know that if God did it for me, he can do it for you.

I was born, and reared in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). I was called into the ministry, accepted my calling, and was given a full scholarship to attend the C H Mason Seminary located in Atlanta, Georgia. The scholarship included room, board, tuition and stipend. Upon completion of my seminary education, the church provided me with an Endorsement, qualifying and authorizing me to serve as a chaplain in the United States Army.

This book will tell how I became the Army’s First for many years. The first female from COGIC to enter the Army Chaplain’s Corp, the first female chaplain promoted to major, the first female chaplain to obtain the rank of lieutenant colonel and the first female chaplain to serve twenty years with full retirement benefits. All were accomplished in spite of racism, sexism, denominationalism, innuendos, false allegations, investigations and insults. It was my fear of God rather than my fear of man that moved me to trust in the Lord with all my heart; and lean not to my own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 I had made up in my mind that in all of my ways, I would acknowledge God, through His son Jesus Christ, as my leader, provider and my protector and wherever He would lead me, I would follow.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES

I t all started June 28, 1937. It was not a bad time, in fact, in some ways it was a good time. I was born into a strong Christian family. I was told that Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President of the United States, a loaf of bread cost nine cents, a gallon of gas cost ten cents, and the list goes on. I hit the scene before television, Xerox, plastic, credit cards, dishwashers, air conditioners, and before man walked on the moon. Growing up I never heard of FM radio, tape decks, VCRs, computers, word processors or EMail. The folks that came along with me thought fast food was what you ate during Lent and outer space was the back of the theater. Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with your cousins. We were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby. We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be?

Our family lived in a little row house owned by the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Steelton, Pennsylvania. This house was rented to my father for his family of fourteen. On this little wooden house were three numbers followed by a four-letter word: 167 Main Street. This house was more than wood, plaster, nails and walls, which gave room for those special events like sleeping, eating, and cooking. This was a home, a loving and safe place that was surrounded with friendly and caring neighbors. It was into this home I came as the daughter of a steel mill employee and a domestic worker.

McNeil family 1942.

Chaplain Diana McNeil bottom right corner

My father, known to us as Papa, was self-educated. He could neither read nor write, but what he could do, he did well. He was what one would call an outstanding family man. He provided for his family. He not only kept food on the table and clothes on our backs, we could count on Papa to have money available for those Christmas treats, a Thanksgiving turkey with the trimmings on the wooden dining room table, and money for the back-to-school clothes, even if it meant he had to work two jobs. Every day he came home from the steel mill, placed his lunch bucket on the kitchen table, refreshed himself and then walked out the backdoor to his second job. He worked until he was forced into retirement. Last, but not least, Papa, was a Christian. He held the position of ‘deacon’ in the Church of God in Christ.

Our back-to-school clothes were not purchased as they are today. Mama would take all the girls to town to purchase material from the fabric store. There was no trying on of clothes. We were there to select the color and design. It was what I would call a family affair. Papa provided the money, Mama made the clothes, and the children showed them off.

Mama was a grade school dropout, but not by choice. She quit school in the third grade, by necessity. In the early nineteen hundreds, her mother and father died when she was seven years old, leaving her and her older brother orphaned. Her brother took care of her. Mama considered herself ‘blessed’ to have been given an opportunity to attend a one-room school for nearly three years. She proudly shared with us stories from her third grade reader. When Mama finished telling us stories from her book, she would share with us her own personal story.

The following incident happened at Christmas after her mother’s death. In the early morning, when she could sleep no longer, she dashed into the living room with sleep still in her eyes only to see the stocking she had hung for Santa, half empty rather than full. In the stocking were three pieces of hard candy, an apple and an orange. She began to cry and asked God why would He do this to her. She felt betrayed by Santa. She believed Santa let her down. She also believed it was because she had no mother or father. She told us that on that Christmas day, she vowed to God that she would never mislead or deceive her children by telling them that there was a Santa Claus. Now, with her mother gone and her brother caring for her, she had to quit school and join in with picking cotton, cooking meals and tending to children living in middle class white folks’ homes.

Mama was married when she was fourteen to Papa. By the time she gave birth to her first child she had already acquired the God-like characteristics of a loving, caring mother. While she had very little school training she had plenty of common sense. In fact, I often refer to her as the wisest woman I have ever known. Her religious life was superb. She lived the life that she preached about in the home, church and community. She was a licensed missionary in the church of God in Christ and a peacemaker in our home. Mama settled any dispute among the children in a loving and peaceful manner. It only took one word ‘PEACE.’ Whenever we would provoke her or provoke each other, all disturbances ceased in her presence. We could be raising havoc in the home, but the moment Mama would come into our presence and see us out of control, she would take her time, look each of us in the eye, open up her mouth and in a mild mannered voice, say one word, ‘peace’ and our behavior changed. Our first reaction was to stop what we were doing, regroup, and let go, knowing that Mama would settle it later, not violently, but lovingly. We could count on it, and every time things got worked out peacefully. Now, if one was to try to figure out why it worked for her, I’m sure they would have a hard time, scientifically or mathematically. I will admit that I don’t know, but ask any of us children and we would say it was ‘magical.’

Mama and Papa McNeil

Today, as I look back, I am inclined to say that the reason it worked was because of family, friends, neighbors and church. Not only did we say it takes a village to raise a child, we believed it and lived it. Seemingly, parents today depend on television, radio, videos, people, and things to fill the parenting gap. Children are now receiving mixed messages and it is hard for them to understand and practice family wants and needs over what their peers and society wants. Our family, on the other hand, listened and respected one another, including teachers, church folks and those in authority. We abided by their teachings. We were not distracted by outside forces that seemingly bombard our homes today.

MY FIRST DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

W hen I was seven years old, I attended Hygienic School, an all-black elementary grade school in Steelton, Pennsylvania, located approximately three miles from what is known today as Three Mile Island. While our school was without a cafeteria or a bus to transfer students to and from school, we all walked to school, walked home for lunch, walked back to school for the afternoon session and then walked back home at the end of the school day.

Our teachers knew every student and every student knew his/her teacher. My parents had high expectations for us. They wanted us to have the opportunity to get a good education and strive to do more and to be more than they had. My teachers expected nothing less than our best: to be obedient, to be serious and to excel in our studies. We gave them just what they wanted and expected.

It was during this trusting, vulnerable and innocent time in my life that I found God through a shoe. It was early one spring morning, I was awakened to the sound of thunder, the lightning flashing, and the rain pouring and splattering on my window. As was customary, mama and papa would have already left for work and each of us was to eat breakfast and get ready for school. While getting ready to leave the house with the rest of my sisters and brother, I realized that I had only one shoe. I began to frantically run all over our little frame house looking for my other shoe. When I realized that it was nowhere to be found, I started crying, running and hollering for help.

With my mother and my father both gone to work, I was at the mercy of my sisters and my brother. We were taught to help one another. So, knowing the house rule, I asked my siblings who were still at home to help me find my shoe.

One by one, my sisters and brother gave a suggestion as to where I should look: under the bed, behind the icebox, (known today as refrigerator) in the closet, - my closet, their closet, all the closets - just keep looking was the message. After each suggestion, my sisters and brother, one by one, would run out the back door so as not to be late for school, leaving me with just my tears and my fears.

While alone, I threw myself on my bed and had my first talk with God. I told the Lord that I needed His help. I needed my shoe to protect my feet from the dirty water that was accumulating on the ground and to protect my heart from the shame that would come while walking barefooted to the schoolhouse on a rainy day. I knew that I had to get to school and get there on time. I had no choice. Suddenly I remembered what I saw Mama do and what I heard Mama say. Before going to bed, Mama would kneel down on her side of the bed, and talk to God through Jesus Christ His son. Mama would not stop until she called every one of us by name. She would tell God what she wanted Him to do for her children. She wanted them saved and she wanted them safe.

When I remembered those prayers I started feeling safe and calm. Then I remembered what was taught in Bible school and Sunday school class. We were taught to pray to our Heavenly Father, and our Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward us.

So, I went down on bended knees, tears streaming down my face, and I began to talk to God like Mama talked to him.

Dear Jesus, please help me find my shoe. I can’t go to school without my shoe and I can’t stay home. Father, I need your love and mercy.

Immediately I felt better and the tears stopped flowing. Then I wiped my red puffy eyes, and lo and behold, looking up at me, from on the floor, was my lost shoe. There was no one in the house but me and my Lord. Needless to say I was amazed, happy and thankful and from the overflow of my heart, I yelled Thank You, Jesus before running to school with a new