United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Our greatest need is for adequate shipping instructions. . . Please let us have your G-4's reaction to this. Air Wing From the Punchbowl area and the Division's front ground lines our attention must be turned now to the air-support units and their headquarters far to the south. On 12 August Wing Chaplain Barnes wrote to Chaplain Salisbury: As for the truce', talks, no appreciable progress seems to have been made. The troops at the front have had a lull, but not so the aviators. This command is carrying as heavy a load as ever or more so. We are regularly losing planes and pilots. The ground fire has seriously increased in volume and accuracy. With the arrival of Chaplain Stephen G. Horvath the lst Marine Aircraft Wing was able to provide Roman Catholic ministrations for its personnel at Pusan. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Cushman, command- ing the Wing, wrote to the Reverend Brian Geraghty, Superior of the St. Columban Missionary Society: During the absence of a Catholic chaplain . . . you and other priests of the Columban Order have graciously extended to us the deeply appreciated ministry of your services at Mass, Confessions and personal counseling. Please accept my grati- tude and that of my officers and men. Some of the more interesting of Wing Chaplain Barnes' reports concern the work of Marines in aiding the often destitute and homeless Korean civilians. On 12 August he wrote: My work here has thrown me into contact with mission- aries and refugee church groups, as it did John Murphy. Among others is a Presbyterian Seminary, which, formerly in Seoul, is now in Pusan. Out of a student body of 300 they have assembled from the far corners 170 students and 5 pro- fessors. Their Christian faith and courage is astounding. We and other commands have helped them with offerings, sur- veyed tenting, and scrap wood. They are living and holding classes in two squad tents and a few nondescript shacks they have built .... Their chow consists of two bowls of rice per day. It was my privilege to give one of the commence- ment addresses via interpreter, who by the way was the dean of the seminary and holds a Ph D. degree from Toronto University. The whole of South Korea is filled with amazing stories, stories which should thrill the church at home with the heroic Christian courage of this infant church to absorb punishment, adapt itself to disruptive and chaotic conditions, gather together in the most unexpected places, and hold church, Sunday School, and study classes. One group of refugee pastors on Chejudo Island of all things asked me to get them 20 Greek New Testaments! Believe it or not, they were organized into a Greek New Testament class, meeting every day. The singing of these church people is inspiring. I have invited two Korean church choirs and the Korean Navy Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus to K-1 IPusanJ for con- certs. The officers and men could hardly believe their ears when these people rendered portions of the Messiah, Open the Gates of the Temple, Stephen Foster folk songs and other numbers, and all in English. fThe Korean Navy organization was acquired by simply taking the whole Seoul symphonic organization, men and women, into the Korean Navy.D The Wing continued short of its complement of chaplains. On occasion Chaplain Cummins of MAG 12 went for a week to the Itami fJapanj units, and Barnes had himself gone over twice for counseling on some critical cases. The Wing's new commander, Maj. Gen. C. F. Schilt, on his own initiative pressed the matter of chaplain shortage, especially at Itami. Barnes wrote to Salisbury: I gave him the picture and told him I had been in correspondence with you and that you were aware of the problem and were doing everything possible to bring us up to TKO. Moral Welfare Program Barnes wrote that General Schilt was greatly con- cerned about the moral problems confronting the command. During June Chaplain Cummins was given T.A.D. ftemporary additional dutyj at Itami to cooperate in a venereal disease control program di- rected by the Medical Department. On four after- noons the chaplain and a doctor gave lectures, and the new film produced by the Chaplains Division To Be Held in Honor was shown. During July and August the film, borrowed from ComNavFE Chaplain Mah- ler, was shown in all units of the Wing except a few isolated radar groups. Writing to Chaplain Edward J. Hemphill, Assistant to the Chief of Chaplains for Material and Special Projects, Barnes reported agree- ment among doctors and chaplains that the film was well done. The response of the men had been favor- able, although some wiseguys always find opportunity to make cracks. Hemphill in his reply emphasized the importance of audience preparation. It was not intended that this film would be shown . . . without first preparing them for the subject it treatsf, He suggested the fol- lowing as a useful procedure: 1. A lecture by the chaplain on the moral factors of lnC0ntll'1CI1CC. 2. The screening of the film. 3. A discussion by the group of the meaning for them of the points included in lecture and film. 4-. Second screening of the film. Barnes and Mahler were agreed that Far Eastern commands deserved a high priority on distribution lists for moral guidance materials. Hemphill replied: We are quite conscious of the fact that you are located in -100-

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Seminary Gift. Chaplain Richard E. Barnes looks on as Sergeant Powers hands Dr. Kim Cha Choon, Acting President of Chosen Presbyterian Seminary a monetary gift for his institution. for keeping the Chaplains Division cognizant of the situation there. I would appreciate, for example, a weekly letter from you, no matter how brief, which will enable me to keep abreast with the status of our chaplains in the Division. Any letters of length which you have time to prepare will also be much appreciated, since we peruse every line with an eagle eye. We shall expect you to make recommendations with regard to your chaplains, particularly if any are not well or should, in your opinion, be rotated for other reasons in advance of the normal date. We would also like to receive from you a monthly roster of your chaplains, indicating especially their current as- signment and their date of reporting to the Division .... For your information, I send the word that we will no longer order chaplains to Korea to relieve others by name. We have found in several cases that the system resulted in some chaplains serving over the required time and others being returned to the States short of their normal period. We shall instead detach chaplains on or about the seventh month after reporting regardless of the arrival of reliefs and will depend on you to keep us current at all times as to the number of chaplains aboard, desirable denominational dis- tribution, and any other matters of that sort on which you have an opinion. We want you to feel that you have top priority of all commands in the field, and that you will get what you want if you let us know what it is, within the limitations under which this ofiice works. On October 13-16 Pacific Fleet Chaplain George A. Rosso and FMF Pacific Chaplain Martell H. Twitchell made a visit of inspection, and were af- forded opportunity to see many of the chaplains in the field. On 29 October Peck issued his First Memorandum as Division Chaplain, establishing an SOP for the requisition of chaplain supplies and appointing the Combat Service Group chaplain as Supply Chaplain. Apparently the problem of supplies was a continuing one, for on 4- December Chaplain P. Mannion, Assistant Director, Chaplains Division, wrote to Peck as follows: We are constantly receiving complaints regarding the availability of chaplains supplies and equipment for the Division. The truth of the matter is that we have never received a request from the Division since it has been in Korea for either supplies or equipment. We know that some supplies have been furnished by the Staff Chaplain, Com- mander, MSTS, Pacific. It is proper to rely, in so far as necessary, upon the Army for equipment and supplies. However, there are certain items . . . which we normally supply which the Army does not have available. Would it be possible to discuss the following with your G-4? We are quite willing to make available, without re- imbursement, all portable equipment needed by our chap- lains. We anticipate that under the conditions under which! you operate you need both equipment for immediate use and equipment in reserve. If you will give us your requirements by letter or by requisition, we will act on it immediately. 535332 O-604-S - 99 -

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an area which justifies the use of a great amount of program resources in the field of morality training. As you know, there are no established Training Aids Sections nearer than Guam. We are quitevwilling to furnish the program re- sources if you or Chaplain Mahler will indicate from where they can be circulated. From here, we are not certain where the program resources should be sent that they may be available to a large number of chaplains. I am sure I speak for the Chief when I say we want our chaplains in the forward area to receive everything they think they need. We are willing to reduce supplies for other chaplains in order to meet this top priority need. Therefore, feel perfectly free to come directly to us with your require- ments, making sure that the shipment instructions are ade- quate to insure delivery, and we will get the material to you. We can worry about going through channels when you are out of an emergency situation. In August Barnes fiew to Japan to confer with Mahler and others about the marriage of Marine per- sonnel to Japanese nationals. More than once the chaplains pointed out that their approach to problems of .morals and morale aimed to be positive, not simply prohibitory. Strenuous efforts were made to acquaint service personnel with the better aspects of Japanese and Korean culture and life, and to remind them of the values of their own. On one occasion, 3,000 pa- per bound books were received by air shipment and distributed through the Wing. Early in June Chap- lain Barnes had taken steps to secure books through the Library Services Branch, Bureau of Naval Per- sonnel. Venereal disease was of course a continuing prob- lem in units more or less permanently located. While the chaplains willingly cooperated with their com- mands and Medical Departments, their primary con- cern was never either disciplinary or therapeutic measures, but moral and spiritual health as a positive factor in a happy, wholesome life. The chaplain's ministry is first and always a concern for the well- being of total personality. Barnes subsequently wrote that an active moral guidance program was under way and indicated that the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Chaplain was in an excellent position to act as custodian and distribution source for chaplains, films. Therefore in December 1951 Chaplain Mannion, Assistant Director of the Chaplains Division, made arrangements for certain films to be forwarded to the Wing Chaplain. He wrote: As other films become available, we shall forward them directly to you for use with the Wing and the rear echelon units of the 1st Marine Divisionf, Late in April 1952, after Chaplain F. Parker, S. Baptist, had become Wing Chaplain, the Chaplains Division would send to the Wing two of the recently developed Black Magic' boards with accompanying cardboard symbols to be used in moral guidance lec- tures. This expensive visual aid equipment was in- tended to be circulated from the W'ing Chaplain's ofiice for use in individual commands. Chaplain Barnes' Diary The following notes have been taken from Chap- lain Barnes' monthly contribution to the lst Marine Aircraft Wing Historical Diaryf They are here paraphrased. 13 July 1951. Visited Dr. Appenzeller, Executive Head, Church World Service in Korea, at Pusan. Delivered to him eight cartons of refugee supplies shipped from churches in the States and Kobe, Japan. 17 July. Accompanied Wing Surgeon to visit Danish hos- pital ship JUTLANDIA and refugee childrenis hospital, Pusan. 18 July. Attended commencement exercises of Chosan Seminary, addressed them through an interpreter. Marines of Air Wing and Protestant congregation at Pusan contrib- uted S280 and scrap lumber for rebuilding. 29 July. Offering of S68 for a graduate of Chosan Sem- inary going to Japan for further study. 30 July. Address through interpreter at commencement exercises of Methodist Seminary of Seoul, now in Pusan. Needless to say, such contacts between Navy chap- lains and the leading institutions of the Korean Chris- tian community were helpful in building good rela- tions between United States military forces and K0- rean nationals. 2 September 1951. Visited Chosan Seminary with Ser- geant Powers to present donation of 600,000 won 181001, a gift from Powers' mother's church in Texas. PIO pictures and story prepared for release in San Antonio papers. 12 September. Concert by the All-Korean Pilgrim Choir, 30 trained voices, all in English. Reception at Gen- eral Schilt's quarters for distinguished missionaries and Ko- rean guests before concert. 22 September. Chapel at K-3 Pohang finished and fur- nished except for seating. Chapel chairs on order. 24-28 September. Attended Protestant Chaplains an- nual retreat at GHQ Chapel Center, Tokyo. Speakers were George Buttrick, Edmund D. Soper, and Laton Holmgren. Arranged by Army chaplains in Tokyo. Barnes' letters to the Chief from the middle of Sep- tember on indicated the lst Marine Aircraft Wing in process of moving most of its units, thus requiring new plans for chaplain coverage. Chaplain Edwin R. Weidler, Evan. 81 Ref., had reported on 21 August, relieving George W. Cummins in MAG 12, who left for home. On 17 September Chaplain Howard A. Seymour, Methodist, arrived, and was assigned at Filed in the Historical Section, G-3, Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C. -101-