United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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june 1951, summing up the regiment's operations dur- ing the preceding 2 weeks. Colonel Brown wrote: A lot of comrades, officers and men, have died or been injured in this police action.', I fear that more, very prob- ably, will be before it is over. But you are making tradi- tions of valor and professional skill that will rank alongside of, or outrank, the achievements of Marines of the First World War, the Second World War, and all our minor cam- paigns. And I urge you all to believe, whether or not you are, or have been, religiously inclined, that in this struggle for decency among men, we are fighting on the side of the Lord. The Communists who oppose us are fighting to deny His existence. One thing at least is plain: The Communist in- vasion of the Republic of Korea had shown itself a serious menace to the spirit of freedom 5 this was no minor police actionf, but full-scale war, and in the balance lay the future of, at the least, common decency among mankind. Just as plainly the balance had been tipped by the United Nations forces in the di- rection of victory. Truce Talks At this juncture the Communists made a new move. On 23 June 1951 Jacob A. Malik, Russian delegate to the United Nations, in a radio address in New York suggested the possibility of truce talks in Korea.17 Y' For brief introduction, see Cagle and Manson, op. fit., pp. 3103.5 includes extended quotation from Cthenl Rear Adm. Arleigh Burke, Deputy Chief of Staff, ComNavFE, the second Navy member of the UN delegation. Admiral Joy was, of course, head of the delegation. Two days later the Chinese Communist regime un- oiiicially endorsed the proposal. The United Nations Command immediately signified its willingness to dis- cuss preliminary terms, and on 8 July truce negotia- tions began at Kaesong, a site near the Parallel and just inside the Communist lines. This date marks the end of the 5th Korean Campaign. The first meeting of the main delegations was sched- uled for 10 July. Although the talks had begun, ac- tual fighting did not stop, though limited to minor skirmishing and patrol actions. Writing to Chaplain Salisbury on the 10th, Division Chaplain Kelly said: The best news that our Division received was the word that we are to go into Corps Reserve of the X Army Corps. The plan is that we are to pull out of the line and move down near Hongchon for rest and training. The boys really need the rest. It has been a long hard grind, and our casual- ties have been heavy. We have been attacking and being attacked since February. And during that time we stopped two major offensives. ' The move to the rest area was scheduled to begin 15 July. A little more than a year had passed since North Korean forces had crossed the 38th Parallel, the year of the heaviest fighting during the whole con- Hict. Five of the ten campaigns which would be rec- ognized by the Defense Department had taken place within this period. It remained to be seen whether a military truce might be arranged which would allow representatives of the contending powers to work out a settlement for the political future of Korea. .,.91m

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Over and over again chaplains wrote to the Chief Worship at Sea. Chaplain Robert A. Vaughan conducts services aboard the DIXIE. ComDesRon 11 La Duca, P. JI. .... LTJG RC ComDesRon 16 Lee, E. ji. ..... , LTJG BAPT CSD ComDesRon 13 Moran, Ll. ..... LTJG BAPT CSD ComDesRon 1 . Powell, W. D. ---. LTJC BAPT C57 ComDesRon 5. Smith, L. C .,., . LT LUTH ComDesRon 7. Thomas, R ..... LT PRESBY CUSAD DIXIE ........... Vaughan, R. A .... LCDR METH PIEDMONT ..... Wolf, A. J! ....... LT RC PRAIRIE ........ Wren, L. J ,... . . LCDR RC 1 Ordered to report. 2 Ordered detached. The ships listed were destroyer tenders. Some notice has been taken already of the work of chaplains assigned to destroyers operating in Korean waters. Chaplain John R. Thomas reported amaze- ment on the part of tincan sailorsn when he first came aboard that the Navy was interested in them and that chaplains were willing to serve aboard destroy- ers! In 15 months of such duty he had made 23 transfers among the ships of DesRon 7. Chaplain Willie D. Powell reported extending his destroyer min- istry to three British ships, finding excellent attendance at Divine Service. tHe also reported holding services on a British hospital ship.j Powell served in Com- CruDesPac from February 1951 to January 1952. Many chaplains reported that they organized re- ligious schedules in each of the ships of their squadron so that, during the chaplain's presence in one of them, the personnel of the others would be prepared to carry on weekly Bible classes, Rosary services, and even Sun- day Protestant worship. This was of course part of an expanded emphasis upon lay leadership which was everywhere receiving attention during this period. Destroyers are often referred to as the 'fwork horsesn of the fleet. Certainly their chaplains worked as hard as the other tincan sailors, and by their efforts suc- cessfully pioneered one further area in which the Chaplain Corps was learning to carry on its mission. Why We Fought that an important part of their work was trying to give their men satisfactory answers to the frequently asked question, Why must I be here? Though it bore more urgently upon the men in the war zone and upon their families, it was a question on the lips of many others, especially Reserves whose peacetime lives had been interrupted by sudden recalls to active duty. And indeed it was a question the nation asked itself repeatedly. One answer, which may commend itself to some, was given in a memorandum by Col. W. S. Brown, Regimental Commander, 1st Marines, issued on 14 190.-

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CHAPTER 6 UNITED NATIONS SUMMER-FALL OFFENSIVE 9 July-27 November 1951 The last 2 years of the Korean War included few outstanding military campaigns. The peace talks which began in July 1951 dragged on through inter- minable rdlelays and exasperating double-talk until the armistice was finally signed on 27 July 1953.1 There were of course combat operations during these 2 years, the Department of Defense has recognized five dis- tinct campaigns, each of which entitles personnel who participated in it a battle star on the Korean Service ribbon. For the most part limited to actions seesaw- ing back and forth from one hill to another, for the men who fought in them these operations were never- theless often as perilous and always more monotonous than had been the more renowned battles of the First year of the war-and mostly without the glory. War has a way of becoming commonplace to those on the home front. 93 Breathing Spell The 1st Marine Division had enjoyed a brief respite during the winter of 1950-51 at Masan. On 15 July 1951 it went into 8th Army reserve in the Hongchon area, its second and last relief from the line until May 1953. Division Chaplain Kelly suggested to the Chaplains Division that the truce talks might provide a good time for rotation, but it was felt that until the cease-Hre negotiations should have taken effect, it was best to leave the current rotation system in operation. On 20 July Kelly held a meeting of the Division chap- lains, which was addressed by Colonel Platt, G-1 C Di- vision Personnel Ofiicerj and Colonel Hager, G-4 fDivision Logistics Oflicerj. Both stressed the im- portant work being done by chaplains and expressed command appreciation for it. Chaplain Kelly em- phasized the primacy of the chaplain's spiritual minis- try and the importance of his own attitude toward his work. The job ahead of us,', he told them, is tough, but we are dedicated to God and therefore we 1See C. Turner Joy, How Communists Negotiate fNew York, 19551. Foreword by Matthew B. Ridgway, and Vatcher, Wm. Jr., Panmunjon QN.Y., 19581 should be ready to make sacrifices. Certainly we all want to go home when our time is due, but we must not build up arguments with men for getting out of here. We must help them to realize what personal sacrifices may be required. In the rest area, although the Marines were engaged in training, there was time for athletics and amateur entertainment, the chaplains had a hand in arrang- ing these. Kelly felt that they were also showing ugreat ingenuity in constructing chapelsf, From this period of relative quiet Chaplain Keene H. Capers recalled the following delightful incident. We had built a beautiful little chapel in a grove of trees. The chapel area was surrounded by a rail fence made of rough logs and painted white. The altar was made of stone. Probably more than any other chapel, this one was mine. I had cut the logs, carried the stones, built the fence. We were having our regular Sunday morning service. I had asked our Jewish chaplain, Elihu Rickel, to preach the sermon. My organist, a Korean, was playing the prelude. For some reason the music was not having its usual quieting effect. There was more talking than usual, even laughter, and then I realized what it was. The organist was playing the old hymn O Happy Day, That Fixed My Choice on Thee My Saviour and My God.', But to the Marines he was playing Nobody Knows How Dry I Am! Work Goes On During these days Kelly was visited by Chaplain Ivan L. Bennett, Staff Chaplain, Far East Command fGeneral Ridgway's commandj , Chaplain Tobey Q8th Army Staff Chaplainl and Chaplain Jones QX Corps Staff Chaplainj. At the request of Chaplain W. A. Mahler, ComNavFE Staff Chaplain, Kelly lent him Chaplain Austin on Temporary Additional Duty, with the proviso that in case of emergency he would have to be immediately recalled. Several chaplains had been ill, usually with dysentery, Chaplains Uber and Wissing both contracted hepatitis, and although Uber was returned' to duty after hospitalization aboard the HAVEN in Pusan, Wissing had to be evacuated to Japan and did not return to the Division. ..92..