MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.; -- He was a "lighthouse" for local Marines caught in one of the darkest chapters of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, Navy Lt. Brian D. Weigelt has been singled out for service that outshined the work of every other chaplain in the Marine Corps -- all 275 of them.

Weigelt's service was particularly vital during a bloody seven-month deployment with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. His actions there and on Camp Pendleton keyed his selection for the Military Chaplains' Association 2005 Distinguished Service Award.

The award is given yearly to one chaplain from each Department of Defense service branch.

"In terms of the award, I imagine it's one of the highest recognitions for chaplains," Weigelt said. Serving with Marines in combat was the last thing he thought he'd do as he mulled a career direction in high school, he added.

"He represents what all the 1st Marine Division chaplains have done," said Cmdr. Bill D. Devine, who shepherds the 1st Marine Division's chaplain corps. Ultimately, Devine nominated Weigelt "not only for what he did in the theater but also for what he did in the rear."

"I think it's a tremendous honor for our community," said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert P. Palisted, a religious planner who worked with Weigelt during his deployment. "Of all the Marine chaplains, he's the one that got it," he said.

During the deployment, Weigelt not only performed religious services, but was available to 1,225 Marines for combat stress counseling.

"I did the same thing every chaplain does," Weigelt said. "We were there for the Marines to stay connected to each other."

That connection was particularly important on April 6, 2004, a bloody day for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. Thirteen Marines died that day. They were among 34 from the battalion who fell before Weigelt returned to the states.

"His job was to provide religious and moral support, but with all the casualties we took, he became a lighthouse and someone the Marines could look towards," Palisted said.

The battalion was on the firing line during the height of the insurgency. The heavy toll on Marines triggered a Marine offensive that quieted the enemy somewhat, but not before insurgent mortar fire, small-arms ambushes and roadside bombs had inflicted some of the biggest U.S. losses to date.

"There were times I felt threatened during indirect fire -- times we felt more vulnerable," Weigelt said.

Weigelt grew up on a farm near Fessenden, N.D., before he got a call to join the ministry. The specific call to become a chaplain came during his first year of seminary.

"If there was an award for someone who would have never served in combat with Marines, it would have been me -- in high school, in college, and during seminary school," he said.

Nonetheless, Weigelt was called to serve his country.

"It was a God-directed thing," he said. "At first, my interest was sparked by some of my peers who were in the Chaplain Candidate Program, but ultimately I felt drawn toward it."

Weigelt wasn't sure he'd made the right decision. But a call-up to active duty reassured him.

"This award is an affirmation to the direction I've taken," Weigelt said. "The recognition doesn't define who I am, it confirms it."

The clear calling to serve Marines didn't make it any easier to be away from his wife and daughter.

"I counted the days," Weigelt said. "It's hard to imagine anything measuring up to that."

He made the most of it by serving "one Marine at a time," he said

"He wanted to be there and to help," Palisted said. "He wasn't just trying to put bullets on his eval."

Weigelt received the award at the Military Chaplains' Association National Institute Banquet in Washington, D.C., April 16.

As a chaplain, Weigelt says he's "both an officer and a man of God." He wears both an officer insignia and the cross on opposite sides of his collar -- but one weighs more heavily on his character.

"This right side is just for the sake of knowing how much to pay me, but this is my true identity on the left side," he said, pointing to the small cross on his uniform collar

E-mail Lance Cpl. Krusemark at renee.krusemark@ usmc.mil.