United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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In presenting the chapel Colonel Cook began by saying: One of the finest traditions of American military life is the desire of men to build a House of God wherever duty may take them. In addition to providing a place of worship, it gives beauty to things sometimes drab, its skyward-pointing cross inspiring men to finer living. Recalling how so many activities had built chapels dur- ing World War II, taking the materials at hand to fashion some kind of suitable place of prayer, the Colonel continued: 5'Today we dedicate a new and beautiful chapel in this command. Its doors are being opened while we are continuing projects to build quar- ters, shops, offices, and recreational facilities. He concluded: It is my pleasure to present this chapel to the officers and men of the lst Combat Service Group lthat it may be dedi- :atedl to the worship of Almighty God. May the prayers that are said here be for the comfort of our comrades in arms, for the realization of freedom through the world, for the binding together in love of our families, and for the hope of peace among men. Marine Air During the intense fighting incurred in the drive :oward the Punchbowl the Division had, fortunately, the close air support of elements of the lst Marine Air- :raft Wing. The Wing was still under operational :ontrol of 5th Air Force, with a joint operational center at Seoul, but after two squadrons had been installed Jn an airstrip at Hoengsong CK-4bj, by informal ar- 'angement 5th Air Force designated them to provide support for the hard-pressed Division? That ar- rangement continued until 13 July, by then the truce talks had begun and the Hoengsong field was closed for repairs. As the period under review in this chapter opened, the lst Marine Aircraft Wing was disposed as follows: Wing Headquarters and Marine Aircraft Group 12, with three squadrons, were at Pusang Marine Air- craft Group 33 was at Pohang with two squadrons, and VMF-312 was operating from the light carrier BATAAN. Late in May the forward air strip was opened at Hoengsong with the arrival of VMF-214, followed in June by VMF-312, while VMF-323 went aboard the SICILY. New Wing Chaplain On 16 May Ernest R. Barnes reported to relieve John P. Murphy as lst Marine Aircraft Wing Chap- lain. Barnes had come from the PHILIPPINE SEA and Murphy reported there on 2 June. In his first letter to the Chaplains Division, Barnes wrote that he had spent a day at Marine Aircraft Group 33 with Chaplains H. Markley and C. E. Webb. Among other things John fMarkleyl and I visited MGCIS- 3 unit out on a coastal point about 22 miles away. There are roughly 200 people attached. Following their morning services at MAG 33 John and Charlie fwebbl go out to the point for services, returning in time for afternoon Mass and evening vespers at MAG 33. I would say that chaplain coverage up there has been excellent. The field is known as K-3 and is located on the east coast near Pohang. 13Montross, Advance to the Punchbowl, pp. 21f. Chaplain Arthur M. Kulinski celebrates mass at the Catholic dedication ceremonies of the new chapel Colonel Cook presenting the chapel. Chaplain Kulinski is at his immediate right and Chaplain Trower is on the right of Chaplain Kulinski. 85-

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First Permanent Chapel. Many services were held in Korea out in the open or in tem- porary shelters. This permanent building with a seating capacity of 200 served U.S. fighting men and Korean Christians. Chapel Dedication. Chaplain Ross H. Trower talks with members of his con- gregation after the dedication. The chapel was built in two weeks. didn't know what was wrong but who couldn't go back on the hill. And I knew at once that Sam wasn't afraid of any rendezvous with death which might be waiting him on the hill.'l His problem was more subtle than physical fear. Sam was afraid he would be afraid. If that seems an anomaly, any man back from the fighting in Korea can explain it to you. I'll try to explain it myself a little further along, because it lies at the root of what's happening to your man in this war. QI say your man advisedly.l You may have sent away a boy, but a man will return in his place, and of that you may be sure! I got Sam talking about himself. He was an only child, and he and his mother had been very close to each other in the little midwestern town where they lived. As he talked the boy pulled out a badly cracked snapshot and a much- folded and grimy leaflet. That's my mom, he said simply, offering the snapshot for my inspection. I studied the portrait of a rather pretty woman who appeared on the youngish side-a typical, whole- some, small-town mother. And here's my church bulletinf' he added, unfolding the grimy leaflet. See-where's my name, right here!', The church bulletin, I noted, was dated sometime ago, and an- nounced that Sam was slated for service in Korea. He'd been carrying it with him as a pitiful link with a safe past amid the confusion and death of battle. But, as he said, there was his name, right there. The rest of my conversation with Sam need not be de- tailed here. I reminded him that we were not alone-that there was Another present-and that if he really wanted to, we three could lick any situation. I also pointed out to him-and this is terribly, terribly true-that it's easier for us to be courageous as we get older and experience more things. Sam was pretty new to combat. I knew that if I could help him overcome his fear of fear itself-get him to want to go back up there on the hill some way-half of his battle would be won. He was at the low point through which every man must pass on the road to becoming a battle-seasoned veteran. Things couldn't possibly get any worse for Sam, they could get a lot better if he rose to the challenge. Eventually, we got to talking about the prospects of hot chow-always an absorbing speculation at the front. Then I sent Sam to the nearby river with instructions to jump in, dunk himself in the shallow water, relax, soak up as much sunshine as possible, and pick me up at my tent later in the afternoon. Before the sun set I walked with Sam back up the hill to his unit, and I left him with the reminder, Son, don't forget you're never alone. There's always One other with you! It was a month after this little episode that Sam appeared at the memorial service for the captain. I taxed him with the query, I hear you turned down a chance to go down the hill? And he gave me the ringing answer: Should .ruth a man ax I fiee? An American man had been born. First Permanent Chapel The lst Combat Service Group, located in the vi- cinity of Masan, achieved the distinction of having the first permanent chapel of any Marine group in Korea. f Permanent meant anything not a tent.j Consisting of a double Arctic Quonset hut, erected on the initiative of the command, the chapel .was dedi- cated on 20 May 1951.12 At a military ceremony a 0930 the chapel was presented by the commandin oflicer, Col. John H. Cook, Jr., USMC, and accepte by the senior chaplain, Arthur M. Kulinski. Regu- larly scheduled Divine Services followed. In the after- noon Chaplain Ross H. Trower presided at a Protestant Service of Dedication, at which the choir of the Chun Ang Methodist Church sang. At the Roman Catholi Dedicatory Mass music was furnished by the choir o the Masan Catholic Church. Besides military person- nel from neighboring Army activities and the destroyer escort WISEMAN, guests included other chaplains in the area and local Korean Christian clergy. 12 Information from material on file in the jacket of Chap- lain Ross H. Trower in the Chaplains Division.

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Things were pretty quiet by then in the vicinity of Pohang-or so it seemed. 'cBy May of 1951 fChap- lain Markley and Il, wrote Chaplain Webb in his questionnaire reply, had become so confident that we no longer felt that we needed the help of our assistant who had been accustomed to 'ride shotgun' with us on our trips to a radar station some 20 miles from K-3. Emboldened by the show of friendship of the natives along the way, I decided there would be no danger in making the trip alone on Monday nights lfor a study classl, and forth- with dispensed with the company of PFC Choyce Hoy, our genial assistant from Dallas, Tex. On 21 May 1951, while making this trip in a jeep that could not be moved out of second gear because of a mechanical defect and which re- quired, as a result, to be stopped several times along the way to allow it to cool off, an untoward incident occurred. About 2200, while returning from the radar station, I had stopped the jeep for about the third time to allow the cooling-off process to set in. Walking down the road a short distance for a bit of exercise, I heard a noise behind me and turned to find a Korean native about 5 yards away coming stealthily in my direction with what looked like the largest knife I had ever seen gleaming in his hand. His intentions were Obviously evil, and in the ensuing struggle I was for- tunate enough to take away from his knife and throw him over a steep embankment, after which I ran back to the jeep and drove to the base at high speed with no more delays .... Needless to say, the remaining Monday eve- nings on which I went to the radar station were in the welcome company of PFC Hoy. At least one had been overlooked in the Divisionfs famed Pohang guerrilla hunt. Chaplain Markley, who had been in Korea with Marine Aircraft Group 33 since the early days of the war, was relieved on 19 May by Chaplain Richard D. Cleaves. Cleaves and Webb continued work on the Quonset chapel, the start of which has earlier been noted. Barnes in his first letter to the Chaplains Division referred to it as Mprobably the Hrst permanent Marine chapel in Koreaf' but as we have seen, Com- bat Service Group, not having to depend on volunteer labor to insert 11,000 screws, built their chapel in 4 days, and dedicated it 2 days before Barnes wrote. Further Activities Barnes, letter to the Chief of Chaplains continued: The airfield here is K-1 fPusanj. We have the Wing Headquarters and MAG 12 on this side of the field and on the other side MACC-2 fMarine Air Control Group 2D and an Army antiaircraft battery of about 200 men. The Ma- rine Ground Control Interceptor Squadron and the Marine Tactical Air Control Squadron came out piecemeal but now a command unit has arrived, namely MACC-2, with a full colonel in charge to coordinate the whole activity. They have a TKO for a chaplain as well as a doctor, the latter is already here. The CO was asking me yesterday and again today how soon he could expect his chaplain to arrive. They have 800 people .... The Wing coordinatest its air support and movements to the need of the Division. As the situation changes they move their closeup Helds .... In order to give proper cov- erage for the fluid and widely scattered aspects of this organ- ization, it seems important that we obtain enough chaplains to fill our TKO. Presently we are understrength by two. One Catholic and one Protestant would seem a minimum. He wrote that the Marine Aircraft Wing units at Itami, Japan continued to be covered by civilian priests and Air Force Protestant chaplains. Later, on 26 June, he would write that he had visited Japan and hoped to borrow a chaplain, if only for a few months, from Chaplain Walter A. Mahler, Staff Chaplain, Commander Naval Forces, Far Easti Counting transients and R8:R lrest and rehabilita- tionl personnel, Itami usually has about 1,700 thereff Speaking of Chapels, Barnes' survey report continued: The chapel here is just a bare Japanese prefab building used for lectures, movies, and Divine Services. It is closely flanked on one side with a new Quonset NCO Club and or the other by the enlisted beer hall. My request for a Quonse1 Chapel has been turned down by the Chief of Staff. He ha: agreed to designate the present building as chapel only ano make some improvements. However I don't see how he wil' be able to avoid using it for lectures and when cold weathei comes, for movies. Also the location is undesirable. I wish a high level decision would be reached that at al Marine and naval establishments, when transition from Heli, tents to permanent buildings is initiated, chapels be assigne at least as high a priority as beer halls, NCO clubs, and oliicei clubs. I have a feeling the American taxpayer would wan' it that way. Whether the latter opinion be true or not, many an- other chaplain has echoed the underlying sentimen' here expressed. Barnes had another constructive criticism tc register. At the present time there are only two enlisted men in tht Wing with spec. number lmilitary occupational specialty MOSl as chaplain's assistant. I have recommended to G-' that appropriate request be initiated for four more. Th: struggle for clerks is so keen that the chaplain hardly has 1 chance. My contention is that if BuPers Hlls the TKO witl six clergymen, the least the Marines can do is make everj effort to supply six assistants. This too would elicit a hearty Amen from many 2 chaplain. On Barnes, second Sunday in the Wing, 27 May an offering was taken at the Protestant service fo: the Chosin Presbyterian Seminary, formerly locatea in Seoul but now established in tents in Pusan Among the entries for that date in the official Wing. ..g5...