United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Diary is that of the Chaplain Section, where Barnes notes that the offering amounted to 21572.14 In the afternoon he visited the seminary and presented the Marines, gift to the 5 teachers and 108 students. Some of the chaplains' work was reminiscent of Stateside duty. We are operating our Navy Relief drive about a month later than stateside. I think it will go off well. I have not done much with it except to set it up and run off some dodgers for distribution. El Toro Navy Relief has been very good to our people. It is hoped that their appreciation will be shown by their contributions. Barnes would later report that 351,694.80 was Con- tributed and remitted by the command to the Navy Relief Auxiliary, Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, Calif. Supplies were of course a continuing problem. Barnes noted that the Army had set up a warehouse for chaplain supplies at Pusan to serve all chaplains in Korea, including the Marine Division and Air Wing. Shortly after John Murphy departed, Kelly was here from the Division. We worked out plans whereby I will ship air freight to him the expendable supplies he needs for his chaplains. Noting that the Army Chaplains' Warehouse would also share books, magazines, and comfort kits, Barnes reported that he had already shipped Chaplain Kelly 27 boxes of such items. On 29 June Chaplain James A. Sullivan reported as relief for Chaplain Webb, who departed 2 July. The Chaplain Section of the Wing was still under- staffed, because of the particular dispersal of the Wingls various units, the Itami contingent had no chaplain at all and needed one pressingly. Barnes wrote that as soon as his complement should be filled, he would detach one chaplain there. Chaplain Salis- bury wrote in reply: fronted with taking a bus which was carrying all naval personnel to Yokosuka. Writing to Chaplain Salis- bury, he described his adventures in characteristic vein: Three of us were assigned to Tokyo and we tried to talk our way there. No luck, and since our luggage was all headed for Yokosuka we decided to trail along. We arrived there tired, hungry, and dirty. I was determined to get to Tokyo that day or bust. A LCDR aviator and a pay clerk decided to string along with me. So, followed by my little army of Two, I started out to find a way. Going around the corner who do I bump into but fa mu- tual friendj. Boy, I was never so glad to see anyone in my life. Tears as big as baseballs welled up in my eyes. Wiping the tears from his own, he officially welcomed me to Japan, asking about the fChaplainsJ Division and his old friends SWS fChaplain Salisburyl and DFM lChaplain Meehanl. I explained my situation. Follow me, he says. That I did, that I did, and in a short while we were on our way to Tokyo with all our gear, in a truck. Arrived in Tokyo the chaplain was billeted at the Dai Iti hotel. Last night I had quite an experience-I took a bath in a. Japanese tub. Experience is the only word for it. I had been invited to Admiral Morehouse's fComNavFE Chief of Staffj home for dinner . . . so thought I should scrub up a bit. You won't believe it, but the tub was so crowded there wasn't room for the soap! You get in with the aid of a shoe horn. I managed finally to get myself out of the thing, leaving bits of the tub hanging to me, and presented myself at the Admiral's quarters right on time. Right now my problem is this: Should I just be content with being the dirtiest chaplain here or get another tub? Your advice will be appreciated. ComNaUFE Chaplain Roster On 6 July 1951 Chaplain Edward B. Harp, Jr., Pacific Fleet Chaplain, issued a roster of chaplains in the Fleet and Pacific Ocean Area. was then current in ComNavFE. The following slate Up to this moment we have not been able to improve your Force Chaplain W' A' Mahler ' CDR RC situation. Our shortage of chaplains is proving very em- ComNaVFE ' D-R'KabC1C ' LCDR LUTH aarrassing, and we are frequently forced to do things which Cqnmander Serv' S' E' Anderson LCDR BAP ls? we would not prefer to do. Let us hope matters improve in Ice' Squadron 3 the near future, once our involuntary recall program has C9mma1?f1CrSffv- T'-I' Burke' LCDR RC swung into high gear. ICC' Dwlslon 31 W Fleet Activities, J. E. Reaves ...... LCDR METH JOTVINGUFE Yokosuka. E. D Bennett ..... LT METH The expansion of Admiral Joy,s command during -I ZNCQ1 G the early months of the war led to the establishment of LTEG DISC h Staff Chaplain billet 1-OI' COIUNHVFE. The Hrst to H.. Tillbtirg-in . LTJG PE e, assigned was Chaplain Walter A. Mahler. Ordered Feet Activities, E. M. Turner ..,.. LTJG PE rom supervision of the Reserve program in the Chap- Sasebo ains Division, Mahler reported on 20 November N131 91' Station' C' L' Suuenberger' LT CONG 1950. Arriving in Yokohama the chaplain was con- Navjfiospital C W Lawler LCDR RC 14 Filed in the Library, Historical Section, G-3, Hendqnnr- Yokosuka C'H-ShaCkC1f0fd-- LCDR PRESBY Vers, Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. lUSAl I - 87 - M

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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...

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Yokosuka Chaplain Swift served in ComNavFE from Febru- ary 1951 to July 1952. As Ships and Docks Chap- lain, Yokosuka, one of his main duties was visiting ships in the harbor. He reported some 355 separate visits to ships ranging from landing ships to fast carriers. Most had no chaplain 3 even on the largest there might be only one, and if he were Roman Catholic Swift would offer to conduct Protestant wor- ship. In his questionnaire he recalled the following incident: On one particular Sunday a service was scheduled for a Destroyer Mine Sweep, to be held on the weather deck. However, it was raining, and no other space was available. Across the pier from this DMS was an LSD lLanding Ship, Dockj. I contacted the officer of the deck and asked if the LSD would be willing to act as host for the service. Ar- rangements were made and the service transferred to the LSD, with personnel from both ships in attendance. The chaplain had additional duty at the Naval Air Facility at nearby Oppama. Frequently I would conduct an early service with Holy Communion aboard a ship, then conduct my regular service at Oppama, and then take a third service aboard an- other shipf' Representative as it must be thought to be of the work of other ComNavFE chaplains, that of Swift was different in at least one respect. Belonging to the Disciples denomination, he practiced baptism by im- mersion. Several persons were baptized in the swim- ming pool in the early morning. It was very peace- ful, he wrote, and I feel that God's Presence hallowed the settingf' Swift also served as supply chaplain for the Far East, setting up a supply center at Yokosuka and shipping religious gear to chaplains in Korea and in ships at their request. His supplies came out aboard MSTS ships, under an arrangement with the Staff Chaplain, MSTS, Pacific. Upon being transferred to Sasebo, where there was no swimming pool, he asked the maintenance officer to rig for him a portable baptistery. Instead, he selected a spot between the chapel and the waterfront which was semisecluded and constructed a con- crete baptistery. Not only did I use it, but it was made available and used by ship's chaplains who practiced immersion. NEW JERSEY The second battleship committed to action in the Korean War was the NEW JERSEY, which received its baptism by Ere on 20 May 1951 at Kangsong.15 'S Cagle and Manson, op. cit., p. 306. Moving on to participate in the siege of Wonsan, she was hit on the 22dg one man was killed and three wounded. Chester L. Hults, Episcopalian, was chap- lain from October 1950 to January 1952. In his reply to the Chaplains Division questionnaire, he noted that the ship raised approximately 36,500 as a memorial to that man. Upon returning to the United States the gift was presented to the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, this organization having been chosen by vote of the crew. Chaplain Peter H. Brewerton served as the NEW JERSEY's Roman Catholic padre from January 1951 to January 1953. Other Ships Chaplains prosecuted their duties of many kinds. Faber H. Wickham, in the ST. PAUL from July 1950 to August 1952, reported that during their first Ko- rean tour they lost 8 shipmates, and during the second, 30. Many came to the chaplain for assistance in those dark hours, he reported. The sobering effect of these events cannot be underestimated. Chaplain Charles B. Robinson, assigned to the escort carrier SITKOH BAY in July 1951, encouraged small groups of men to arrange services of their own. He reported that the Latter Day Saints personnel fre- quently did so. Charles W. Ackley reported a group of six men in the submarine tender SPERRY planning to study for the Christian ministry after discharge from military service. He organized them into a Pastors Class, meeting regularly on Friday noon, for study and dis- cussion of their intended profession. Ackley also wrote that he inherited and further developed one of the best hobby shops in the Pacific Fleet. He also gave much attention to developing an excellent shipls li- brary, a resource for study and recreation that chap- lains have long considered it a privilege to encourage. Collateral duties occupy a good deal of the chap- lain's effort, especially on shipboard, where every officer is likely to wear several hats. If sometimes a chaplain has thought his commanding officer rather trespassed on his primary responsibility of being a clergyman, another has often thought that his collateral ministry not only offered an avenue of service to me not directly interested in hisspiritual functions bu sometimes established relationships which paved the way for future religious ministries. Chaplain Merlin A. Ditmer, Jr., serving in the BRYCE CANYON, a destroyer tender, from Novem- ber 1950 to October 1952, wrote that he had organized volunteer variety shows which entertained casualties in the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan. Chaplain