Staff Reports
MOULTRIE — A bomb doesn’t care if you’re an infantryman or a truck driver, an officer, a medic or even a man of the cloth.
And because bombs don’t care, a Moultrie minister has received the Purple Heart, the military’s award recognizing soldiers injured in combat.
Bishop Larry L. Shaw, pastor of Greater Union Grove Church of God in Christ and a chaplain in the Army Reserve, received the medal May 16 at Fort Stewart from U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, also a Moultrian. The award recognizes Shaw for injuries he received from an Improvised Explosive Device during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
During his remarks at the awards ceremony, Chambliss said when he read about Shaw being awarded a Purple Heart, he asked, “What is a chaplain doing getting the Purple Heart?”
“We normally think of chaplains sitting in an office counseling soldiers,” Chambliss said. “Soldiers have problems just like civilians do as Chaplain Shaw was doing that part of his job (when he was hit). He took the opportunity to help, and that says a lot.”
Shaw served active duty in the U.S. Army for more than 23 years, according to a release about the ceremony. He has continued his service to his country as a military chaplain in the Army Reserve for the past five years.
In January 2007, Shaw answered the call to serve as a chaplain, mentor and pastor of Camp EERGS in Afghanistan. It was during this tour that he suffered injuries from the IED attack.
In addition to the Purple Heart, Shaw received the Combat Action Badge, the Joint Service Meritorious Service Medal and the Branch Service Meritorious Service Medal.
Shaw became pastor of Greater Union Grove Church of God in Christ of Moultrie in January 2009. He is one of 200 bishops serving worldwide within the Church of God in Christ. He is also jurisdictional prelate for the Historic First Jurisdiction of Southern Georgia, Churches of God in Christ, and he serves as the executive secretary to the Board of Bishops of the Churches of God in Christ. He has founded churches in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Virginia and Korea.
“When you see me standing here, I stand here in the name of those who came before me, and those who will come after me,” Shaw said during the ceremony.
Shaw is currently being treated at Fort Bragg in the Warrior Transition Battalion. His plans are to finish his career as a soldier and retire in the Moultrie area, where he will continue serving his jurisdiction as bishop.
