Scholars of religion, even those who have sought to document the emergence of an American civil religion have largely ignored the military chaplaincy. Military historians also generally have tended to give short shrift to religion, even those practitioners of the social history of warfare. Bringing God to Men: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War is a welcome addition to a small, but growing body of literature that has started to probe the history of the chaplaincy and the religious life of American servicemen and servicewomen. Jacqueline Whitt, who holds a doctorate in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a faculty member at the Air War College, documents the often liminal status of military chaplains serving in Indochina. Like physicians and nurses, chaplains by virtue of their profession were non-combatants prohibited under international law from carrying weapons. Exempt from conscription as a result of their clerical status, chaplains were all volunteers. This unique status is only shared with one other group who served in uniform while males were subject to the draft; servicewomen who by virtue of their gender could not be conscripted.

The military chaplaincy is a distinctive institution in the American context and is one of the few instances where the federal government directly supported religion, with chaplains receiving their salaries from the US Treasury. Although the armed forces maintained that chaplains were to adhere to the tenets of their faith, they were subject to the military chain of command and expected to serve the religious needs of all servicemen and servicewomen irrespective of their beliefs.

The placement of chaplains in Vietnam mirrored those of other troops; they served a defined tour of duty before being rotated out of country. Periodic shortages of chaplains and the dispersed nature of troop deployments meant many chaplains serving ground forces were itinerants and travelled a wide geographic area to lead services and provide pastoral care to those in the ranks. Although some chaplains could be found stationed near active battlefields or aboard naval vessels—even being decorated for heroism under enemy fire—many were concentrated in rear bases with only occasional forays to combat zones. Even under these restrictions, chaplains did sustain and comfort many servicemen. Whitt underscores how deeply many men heading into combat found reassurance in taking communion from a chaplain before battle or were comforted by a minister visiting them in a hospital while recovering from a severe wound. Chaplains, especially as opposition to the war grew in the United States, had to sustain the morale of troops who were increasingly questioning the wisdom of the war and often bemoaning the growing lack of support at home.

This work is a good starting place for understanding the history of the chaplaincy in Vietnam, but it is not the last word. It has several limitations, beginning with the question of sources. This study would have been enriched not only by the correspondence between chaplains and their ecclesiastical leaders, but also by more personal letters, sermons and diaries. Oral histories and memoirs, while invaluable, unfortunately suffer from the inherent bias of individuals often recalling events years, even decades after they occurred, and can be self-serving. Although Whitt does consult archival collections in the U.S. National Archives and the U.S. Military Institute, regrettably she did not draw upon such rich resources as the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College, Center for Jewish History in New York City, Mary Baker Eddy Library, United Methodist Archives at Drew University, the Andover-Harvard Theological Library for Unitarian-Universalist records, and the Southern Baptist Library and Archives. For instance, Whitt describes how over the course of the war many mainline protestant denominations became increasingly critical of American involvement in Vietnam noting how one Methodist chaplain serving in Vietnam was distressed when the United Methodist Church supported the flight of draft resisters to Canada (188). But what is left unexamined is the fact that Methodists oversubscribed their quota of allotted chaplains during the War (52). Whitt observes that some chaplains from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encountered religious bigotry, but more probing is warranted. For instance, what was the experience of Christian Scientist chaplains who also came from a Church that did not ordain clergy?

Race and gender only receive passing attention. Whitt is correct that the armed forces had a difficult time recruiting enough chaplains from historically black denominations. But what about the views of race held by white chaplains? How often did white chaplains address the question of race in sermons and in literature aimed at service personnel in Vietnam? What types of sermons were offered in response to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Did black chaplains seek to advocate on behalf of African American troops facing institutional discriminations? In an era when a growing number of protestant denominations were ordaining women, their exclusion from the chaplaincy remains a glaring example of how the government establishment of religion hindered religious pluralism.

There are other theoretical limitations in this work, beginning with a reluctance to grapple with significant religious shifts occurring in the 1960s and 1970s. Put simply, Vatican II does not even appear in the index and the profound theological and cultural changes in Roman Catholicism is only considered in passing. Only scant attention is paid to the growing debates over the relevance of religion within American society. How did chaplains respond to the cover of Time Magazine in 1966 that posed the question: “Is God Dead?” Fighting in a country with a Buddhist majority, how did chaplains, especially from evangelical denominations respond to this religious pluralism?

In her studies of the postwar chaplaincy, Anne Loveland has stressed the uses of the chaplaincy by military leadership. During the Cold War, chaplains were tasked explicitly to embark on troop indoctrination through character education. There is a vagueness in Whitt's study regarding the expectations and value placed on the chaplaincy by senior military leadership. Did William Westmoreland and his successors embrace religion, or were chaplains simply a grudging necessity for any army?

Whitt does seek to gauge the long-term impact of service in Vietnam on chaplains. There remained those who left Vietnam unshaken in their faith and the righteousness of the American cause. Some chaplains joined other Vietnam veterans in expressing resentment at the betrayal of the home front. Others left Vietnam profoundly disillusioned, in some cases openly denouncing their military service. Again, Whitt's narrow range of sources consulted leaves some surprising omissions. For instance, the chaplaincy and postwar career of Navy Chaplain, John J. O'Connor warranted greater attention, especially since he went on to become a Roman Catholic Cardinal and head of the New York Diocese, one of the most prestigious sees in the country.

These limitations aside, Jacqueline Whitt has made a valuable addition to the literature. Students of the Vietnam War and those examining religion in American society would profit from reading this book.