It is a distinct honor to speak with fellow Marines, especially because in this group there is a breadth of experience in the Corps which spans the sweep of contemporary Marine Corps history. Here in this room are men and women whose service exemplifies the globe- spanning image of our Corps, much of our experience coming deployed under arms and in harms way. It is because of this breadth of actual combat experience, I intend to speak with yourather than to youabout the religious nature of our experiences. Because we speak as fellow Marines and combat veterans, I will try to avoid the technical language of professional preachers. Rather, my hope is to provide all of us with helpful patterns to organize our responses to combat within a religious framework