ASSOCIATED PRESS A health official sprayed pesticide today into a tent at a makeshift shelter for tsunami survivors at Bang Niang, southern Thailand.

Returning military
gets counseling first

PHUKET, Thailand » Before they go home, the military personnel participating in Operation Unified Assistance will meet with a chaplain.

Capt. James Danner: He says relief personnel need to process tragedy before coming home

Not necessarily to pray, but more to talk about what they have experienced.

It is part of the mission for 26 military chaplains who have been deployed since last week to meet with soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and debrief them before they return to their regular duties.

Capt. James Danner, the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Command chaplain based in Hawaii, is in charge of the effort.

"These are normal people that have seen some bad things. They always will be normal, but they need to get over the experience they've had," Danner said.

"You have to process some of this stuff before they go back."

The chaplains are certified in critical incident stress management.

Danner said the chaplains will meet with the service members in groups, probably based on their unit, so they can interact with each other and talk about what they have seen and experienced. Follow-up care will be available back home for those who request it. Chaplains will also try and follow up as much as possible when they return home.

Earlier this week, Danner met with 10 members of a Navy SEAL unit who were involved in search efforts off Phi Phi island in Thailand.

One of his men, a chaplain based in Singapore, was on vacation in Phuket when the tsunami hit, Danner said. After making sure his family was OK, Danner said the chaplain then went to work checking on people in local hospitals.