GRAFENWOEHR TRAINING AREA, GERMANY –
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- Capt. Derrick Freshour of V Corps guided Allied Soldiers on a spiritual journey that brough personnel across ranks, services and nationalities to points of unique cultural interest across Bavaria.
Freshour, who serves with the “Victory Corps” Headquarters Battalion unit ministry team, collaborated with fellow spiritual leaders and the command team to provide a unique and fulfilling experience Soldiers of all ranks, backgrounds and ages won’t soon forget.
V Corps personnel enjoyed an ideal opportunity to visit several notable Bavarian sites shortly before the corps conducted its signature “Warfighter” exercise, a multinational command post training event conducted between March 4-14 at the Grafenwoehr Training Area.
Freshour, a prior service officer, joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2003 and spent 15 years as an enlisted Soldier before commissioning as an Army chaplain. Freshour reached V Corps, his fist active-duty assignment, on July 14 of 2023. “I wanted to continue to maximize the impact,” he recalled. “I love being a chaplain and doing what I do. To be able to do that in a fulltime capacity is what drove me to become active duty.”
The Soldiers’ first visit was to the legendary Frauenkirche in the beautiful historic city of Munich on Feb. 26. The church, the cathedral of the local archdioceses and a prominent city landmark for centuries, made an ideal venue for the inaugural stop.
“We chose Frauenkirche because it is one of those places that make you stand in awe,” Freshour said. “It speaks and testifies to the enduring undertones of the community, and how that informs people about the history of the post-World War II era.”
The strikingly beautiful church made an impact on visitors across faiths. Spc. Khiam Mercer, a V Corps Soldier who follows the faith of Judaism, enjoyed seeing a Christianity treasure he would not have experienced absent the sponsored trip.
“It was really eye-opening,” he said. “I don’t often get an experience from a different religion. Visiting the Cathedral was really cool and I enjoyed it.”
On Feb. 27, Soldiers had an opportunity to learn about an important but somber part of history when they visited the notorious Nazi-era concentration camp of Flossenburg.
“We chose to go to Flossenburg because we wanted people to understand that bounds of evil and really know no restrictions,” said Freshour. “I wanted folks to grapple with not only what happened to the victims of the tyranny in the camp, but what previous U.S. Soldiers saw when they liberated the camps. I also wanted to talk about ethics and morals, and even the implications for those who worked at the camps – the things they had to suppress or the act of dehumanizing other people, and how that affected their spiritual resiliency and national identity at the time.”
The third trip was Weltenburg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery built in the German valley of Weltenburg Narrows. Soldiers explored the abbey Feb. 29.
“Weltenburg Abbey stands as a testament of monastic persuasion,” Freshour said. “Monks are still there to this day. It also had the world’s oldest monastic brewery, and nearby was a church that wasn’t like anything I have ever seen, and our team wanted to invite people to go on that journey with us, to see something that they can reflect on when they think about their time in Europe.”
Soldiers visited the historic German city of Nuremberg March 1. The Soldiers briefly explored the legendary walled city, much of it restored in accordance with its medieval character. They also toured the infamous former rally grounds of the National Socialist German Workers’, or “Nazi,” party.
“The reason we chose this location was to show the scale at which Adolf Hitler exercised his authority over the national identity of Germany at the time, and how all of us, in some way, can be intoxicated by the applause of people,” said Freshour. “To increase spiritual resiliency, seeing the sites helped us consider how to maintain our integrity as leaders and service members alike.”
The last stop on the journey was St. Peter’s church, an ancient and emblematic parish church in Munich March 2.
“This trip spoke to how one’s faith, or something they find transcendent that drives them to express themselves through artistic realms, was important for people to reflect,” Freshour said of the visit. “I want Soldiers to think, ‘how do I represent what I believe?’ How do I tie something to that in moments of difficulty? St. Peters was chosen to represent this point, specifically.”
The visits allowed V Corps Soldiers to bond with allies in a social and spiritual setting as well as their usual collaboration on training and operations. Personnel from the 1st Estonian Division and 3rd United Kingdom Division participated alongside American allies, contributing to “integration” and “interoperability” on a concrete, human level.
The Soldiers, in town for the corps’ culminating training exercise, appreciated the chance to bond with allies, explore the region and reflect on spiritual matters as well as participate in a rigorous, rewarding exercise in the renowned regional training center of GTA.
“We want to give people opportunities to continue to sharpen their spiritual fitness,” Freshour said. “The inspiration for hosting these trips was that we have a lot of Soldiers going overseas for the upcoming exercise, and they will be away from family and working long hours during the exercise.”
“Our job is to provide world-class religious support,” he added. “And after having conversations with the corps command team, we nested these trips into the operations picture. I was inspired to do that because sometimes Soldiers feel unseen and heard. Your whole image as a Soldier, in and out of uniform, it matters. We want to sow seeds now that not only help make more effective warfighters, but to help make better citizens when the uniform comes off.”