As a young man, Steven Jensen dedicated himself to helping others. He noticed that veterans returning from Vietnam were having difficulty with civilian life. These observations helped to inspire Jensen's desire to become a Navy chaplain. As a newly minted chaplain, Steven Jensen, faced a life-threatening situation on one of his first assignments. He shares the story with his friend, Andrew Gaspar.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Steven Jensen: My name is Steven Jensen. I'm about to be 75 years old, and I'm here with Andy Gaspar, a good friend.
Andrew Gaspar: Chaplain Jensen served 27 years in the Navy and continues to serve wounded warriors and veterans today. Chaps, can can you share a little bit about the early days for you?
SJ: I got a call from the police department indicating that a sailor at Philadelphia Airport had snatched the weapon from an officer, fired around and ran into a construction trailer. He was threatening to kill himself and others if the Navy didn't release him immediately from active duty — and he wanted a signed document. So they asked that a chaplain come and talk to him.
The district chaplain wanted to find out what denomination first. Well, as it turned out the individual was Lutheran, and that's my denomination. I was tasked — with basically no training — and went over the trailer. He opened the door a bit, saw me, and understood that I was the chaplain there to respond to him. And so, with a weapon pressed against my forehead, he brought me into the trailer and told me that he wanted me to give him communion or an absolution so that if he did kill himself, then he was assured he, in his words, would go to heaven. So I told him I needed a little time to get the materials from the base and that I would have to ask somebody outside to get that. So as I opened the door, the police commissioner and the assistant were there. And I told him I needed to talk with them, apart from the reporters. And so he allowed me to go outside but within clear view of him.
I mentioned then to the police commissioner that my plan was to get him to bow his head for a blessing and have them in as witnesses — telling him I needed that, without telling him who they were — and they would then jump him and wrestle the gun from him. The commissioner came in and as the man pulled the weapon, he put his knife hand between the hammer and the weapon and it closed on his hand. But he was able to wrestle it away from the individual and they were able to bring him then to the Naval Hospital and and deal with this mental health issues. So, welcome to the Navy.
The full interview will be preserved in the Library of Congress. Access the full interview between Steven and Andrew at the StoryCorps archive.
See more local stories from the Military Voices Initiative at hawaiipublicradio.org/storycorps
In June 2022, HPR teamed up with StoryCorps to gather audio conversations from Hawai‘i residents about their military experiences. The Military Voices Initiative provides a platform for veterans, service members, and military families to share their stories. In doing so, we honor their voices, amplify their experiences, and let them know that we — as a nation — are listening. These interviews were facilitated by Hazel Diaz, Isabella Gonzalez, Cole Johnston and Franchesca Peña.
The audio segments were produced for Morning Edition and All Things Considered by John Kalani Zak. He shares his perspective on working with the Military Voices Initiative segments in his producer's notes. HPR and StoryCorps encourage our community to tell their own stories using the StoryCorps app. Learn more at StoryCorps.org.
Local support for this series comes from Hawai‘i Pacific University.
