Herman Keizer

Chaplain Colonel (Ret.) Herman Keizer Jr. passed away in 2017 and is remembered for a distinguished career in the military and religious services. Introduced to the idea of military chaplaincy during his years at Calvin College, he was compelled to leave school for Chicago to earn money for his tuition. Upon his return, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and became a chaplain assistant at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Following this two-year military service in the U.S. Army Reserve, Mr. Keizer returned to Calvin College and completed a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and Greek in 1965 before attending the Calvin Theological Seminary, where he achieved a Bachelor of Divinity in theology in 1968. In addition, he later earned a Master of Arts in education from the Columbia Teacher’s College in 1978 and a Master of Theology from the New York Theological Seminary in 1979.

In 1968, Mr. Keizer was commissioned as a chaplain in the United States Army and was ordained as a minister in the Christian Reformed Church. He served as a chaplain for troops in the First and Fourth Infantry Divisions in Vietnam, where he was wounded by a grenade and thrown from a helicopter at 150 feet. He further served as a chaplain for the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and as a NATO command chaplain based in Stuttgart, Germany planning yearly conferences for other NATO country military chaplains. Mr. Keizer advanced to the rank of colonel and remained with the U.S. Army until his mandatory retirement in 1998 but was recalled twice: the first to work at the Pentagon and then two years later by the Secretary of the Army to serve as an advisor to the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom for the U.S. Department of State until 2002.

During his military service, Mr. Keizer was presented with the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, six Bronze Stars, including one with a V for valor in combat, the Purple Heart and the Soldier’s Medal. In 2012, he accepted the David E. White Award from the Military Chaplains Association, which recognizes lifetime commitment as a chaplain, vision for joint service and inter-agency collaboration and overall ministry professionalism. Furthermore, Mr. Keizer counseled for the U.S. Department of State following the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, for which he received a telephone call of commendation from General Colin Powell. Mr. Keizer also organized a round table meeting with the Muslim community in the Washington area to try to ease tensions. He testified on the Hill with Senator Lindsey Graham on or as to the constitutionality of military chaplains.

After leaving the military, Mr. Keizer became the director of chaplaincy ministries for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, where he and his wife were members. Later, in 2012, he became deeply involved in the Moral Injury and Soul Repair Project with Dr. Rita Brock at Brite Divinity School, which was part of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Through the project, they held conferences that dealt with PTSD and moral injury, particularly for soldiers who struggled with doing their duties as members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their religious beliefs. Named a Distinguished Alumnus of Calvin College (now University) in 2001 and Calvin Seminary in 2003, he received the Soul Repair Award from Volunteers of America in 2015 and the Association of Professional Chaplains Distinguished Service Award in 2010. According to his wife, Ardis, he was fulfilling his duties as National Chaplain for the Military Order of the Purple Heart until the end of his life.