NEW YORK — Whether you think the war on terror is bad or good, the issue is much deeper than that.

That’s the view of Philip Mango, a licensed psychotherapist in New York and the founder of Warrior Brothers.

“We have to see them as individual soldiers going out there to fight for something at the risk of their own lives,” Mango said. “We must honor that.”

Warrior Brothers is a lay Catholic movement dedicated to developing men into authentic husbands, fathers, friends, workers, professionals and apostles. Although it includes men from all walks of life, Warrior Brothers’ military structure is an added attraction for former military personnel who seek ways to meld their military background with their lived faith.

“I received a call from a Marine in Iraq,” Mango said. “He’d been listening to my tapes and called to say he can’t wait to come back and get involved. We give them something to look forward to when they get back.”

It’s one of several Catholic efforts to help military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another is the Warrior to Citizen Campaign. Part of the Minnesota Works Together program and organized by the University of Minnesota Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Warrior to Citizen is a non-denominational coalition of Minnesotans who work at the grassroots level to provide enduring support to returning soldiers and their families.

The core of the campaign’s mission is to challenge citizens at the community level to find ways to tap the new skills and experiences recent veterans have to offer.

“Returning soldiers aren’t to be pitied, they’re to be valued,” said Dennis Donovan, spokesman for the Warrior to Citizen Campaign. “The community can benefit from their experience and skills.”

Donovan cited the case of a U.S. soldier who had been in charge of installing an Iraqi water system. This gave the soldier a great deal of knowledge and expertise to offer his own community’s public water system back home.

A new initiative, Warrior to Citizen is being tried at a number of Minnesota sites. One of them is St. Bernard Parish in St. Paul.

To launch the program, St. Bernard’s has enlisted the resources of seven parishioners who meet weekly to assess needs and plan future efforts. So far, they’ve discussed the possibilities of creating a modern and upbeat VFW Post in the old bowling alley beneath the church hall, working with the University of Minnesota Continuing Education Department to develop materials for teachers of military children, and organizing a job fair for returning veterans.

Barbara Rath is a member of the St. Bernard’s committee.

“We need to do whatever we can for our military personnel,” she said. All alone, we think there’s nothing we can do. But if we network and find resources, we can do a lot.”

“The Church can play a big role in supporting and thanking our returning veterans as they should be,” Donovan added.

Judy McCloskey, founder of CatholicMil.org, an online military resource, suggested contacting military chaplains at military installations, hospitals or Veterans Administration offices before starting a project.

“Do not take it upon yourself to guess what they need,” she said. “Instead, collect information first. Too many times, we’ve witnessed others spend months gathering supplies that are in fact not needed. The chaplain will know what the specific needs are in the specific areas.

“Offer what you have, but leave it open for him to say No. It’s better to give him a call and say, ‘I want to help. Tell me what you need.’”

Supporting the military doesn’t have to be a major effort. McCloskey encouraged Catholics to work on the parish level. Simple things like creating a prayer list of parish military families and posting it in the vestibule or bulletin, organizing a weekly holy hour or a special Mass for the military, gathering volunteers to mow lawns and shovel snow for families of deployed soldiers, or structuring a mom’s night out for military wives can do a great deal of good.

The little things count, too, she said, like offering a few words of thanks and respect to those in uniform when you see them or volunteering to greet returning veterans at the airport.

“It doesn’t have to be big,” she said.

Those who’d like to join in larger initiatives might want to start a local chapter of CatholicMil or participate in the Catholic Care Packages program available on the CatholicMil.org website. The program makes packets of Catholic materials and sacramentals available to service members free of charge.

Pat Covalesky identified a need four years ago and has been filling it ever since. Dipping into her retirement fund, Covalesky founded the Scapular Project and has distributed more than 17,000 packets of scapulars and religious medals to both Catholic and non-Catholic military personnel at home and abroad. Because each packet contains a brief explanation, it has become a unique evangelizing tool.

“I was visiting my mom one day,” she said, “when I saw a picture of my brother when he was serving in Vietnam. I couldn’t believe how young he was. Then I realized that’s how young the solders are who are serving now. I was overcome with a driving desire to keep them all safe.”

The supplies are obtained through The St. Michael Shop in Flemington, N.J., and assembled with the help of a few close friends. The demand has been so great that Covalesky has exhausted her own funds and is seeking donations to keep the project going.

“When Mrs. Covalesky first approached us,” said St. Michael Shop owner Charlie Gordon, “we thought she’d need 200-500 scapulars. None of us had any idea how big this was going to get.”

Marion Rey is a Scapular Project volunteer. She often hears stories of how military personnel have benefited from the project and is glad to be a part of it. “It’s important for people to get involved,” she said. “We need to bring our boys home safe. They need all the support we can give them.”

Vet to Vet

Support happens veteran to veteran at the Father Bernard Youth Center in Mount Angel, Ore. The center offers a program called “Veterans Ministering to Veterans,” which includes a yearly retreat staffed by priests and professionals with military experience and sustained by an ongoing mentor relationship between specially trained veterans from previous wars and recent veterans. The retreats, based on the story of Emmaus, are intense and geared toward openness, reconciliation and the return to the cross. The program is funded by donations from local businesses and is free to veterans.

“It gives the older veterans purpose for the suffering they’ve experienced and makes them tools of ministry for others. It gives the new guys a place to talk it out and be reconciled,” said Tony Morris, Father Bernard Youth Center executive director.

Father Dave Fitz-Patrick, chaplain at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, emphasizes the need to support military families. Having been deployed twice to Iraq himself, he can attest to that need.

“It’s so important for those deployed to know their families are well taken care of,” he said. “Then let them know you’re praying for them. They really like hearing that they’re being remembered.”

Marge Fenelon is based in

Cudahy, Wisconsin.