United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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International Conversation. Chaplain Walter S. Peck talks with Wong Dong Lee of the Korean Navy who is studying methods used by American Chaplains in sewing United Nations Forces. from patients that prayer groups and Bible study groups were held in frontline bunkers by lay person- nel. Ships without a chaplain reported that enlisted men and oflicers were conducting worship services, hymn sings, and Bible studyf' Anchored at Inchon, Olmon was frequently consulted for advice concern- ing such lay work, and made available supplies of religious literature. Well Donev Two of the hospital ships were honored with the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for serv- ice terminating during the period here under review. CONSOLATION was cited for the period 11 August 1950 through 31 August 1951. REPOSE was awarded the KPUC for service from 16 September 1950 through 31 July 1951. HAVEN would later receive the same award for service from 18 October 1950 through 25 June 1952. Korean Navy Chaplaincy Chaplain H. P. White, in the REPOSE, was early in contact with the Korean Navy Chaplain Corps in its formative stage. He wrote to Chaplain Salisbury: I have tried to assist the ROK Navy in every possible way, and in turn the ROK Navy has been very helpful to us in the REPOSE. For sometime, Admiral Sohn lSoh Won Il UH of the ROK Navy was a patient aboard this ship, and we were fortunate in having his Navy band, more than 50 pieces, aboard for a concert .... The Hrst Chief of Chaplains of the Republic of Korea Navy was Lt. Comdr. Dall Bin Chung, origi- nally commissioned a line oilicer in 1948. Graduate of the Kwang Sung Methodist mission school, he later received a divinity degree from the Kwan Sei Uni- versity in Japan. Pastor and teacher before entering the Navy, Chaplain Chung had headed the educa- tional department of Methodist headquarters in Seoul and served as chaplain to the well-known Ewha Girls School there. In the Navy he rose to the position of Chief of Education and Information, and on 24 May 1951 was appointed to head the newly organized Chaplain Corps. Chaplain White's letter continued: When Chaplain Chung was made Chief of Chaplains, I did everything possible to help him get started. Words of gratitude and appreciation arrived from Admiral Sohn for this service. Chaplain Chung's office is not too far from the REPOSE, and I go over there as often as I can to assist him in getting his organization set up. He makes frequent visits to my office, and lim sure this splendid relationship will prove enriching and rewarding, 106-

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On 13 October 1950 a third hospital ship arrived for Korean service. In the HAVEN were Chaplains John Reardon, Roman Catholic, and Paul K. otter, Methodist, both of whom had reported in eptember. Reardon was relieved in October 1951 by Francis Klass, and Potter in December by Edwin R. Howard. Howard in turn was relieved in October 1952 by Chaplain John R. Tufft, and in December of the same year Klass was replaced by Chaplain John D. O'Lea1y. It will be noticed that the average tour was approxi- mately 1 year during the earlier part of the warg after 1952 the time began to be extended to from 18 months to 2 years. In chapter 3 has been mentioned the hazardous minesweeping of Wonsan harbor by the U.S. Navy. At the same time General Walker's 8th Army had captured the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and the need for opening Chinnampo, its port, was im- perative, it too was heavily mined. The Navy took on a second simultaneous minesweeping job. Finally, on 20 November 1950, a deep channel was opened g the first deep draft vessel to be piloted in was the hospital ship REPOSE, with less than 1 foot of water to spare. The officer in charge of minesweeping 'radioed his congratulations to the pilot, an Australian wnaval officer named Gladstone, regretting however that he must stay aboard overnight. Gladstone re- plied that he could doubtless stand the company of 50 nurses for 1 night! 12 , Talking Letters The summer of 1952 saw introduced a novel service for badly wounded patients, unable to write letters home. Free disc recording was instituted by the ship's lwelfare departments. It came about when REPOSE, returning stateside after a 16-month tour in Korean waters, was being resupplied. Professional type re- lcorders were purchased from welfare funds, one for leach of the three hospital ships. It is believed that this is the first time such facilities were made available in forward areas. The chaplains were alerted to watch for an inca- pacitated patient, who was asked if he would like to make a recording and have it sent home without charge to himself or his family. After clearance with lthe commanding officer, the man was given time to plan what he wished to say and a time set for the actual recording. Ten minutes was required to Fill a disc on both 12 Cagle and Manson, op. cit., p. 162. The whole of ch. 5 concerns the Chinnampo minesweeping operation. sides. Often the chaplain would begin, and some- times the ward nurse would add a few words of encouragement for the folks back home. The man himself then used the remaining time, the microphone being set up by his bunk. Enclosed with a letter from the commanding officer, the disc was then mailed in a special envelope first class to any desired address in the United States. The superiority of talking lettersl' over those which otherwise would have been written by the chap- lain or someone else, is obvious. Nothing could more personally convey to a man's family a sense of his individuality than his own voice, even on a record. Services Services of worship were held daily in the hospital ships by both Protestant and Roman Catholic chap- lains. It was possible for men in their bunks to listen in over the head-sets which also carried news, music, and diversionary fare. Usually morning and eve- ning prayers were also carried to the patients in this fashion. The following examples of work by chaplains serv- ing later on may be taken as representative. Chap- lain D. O'Leary noted in his questionnaire reply that his duty in the HAVEN was particularly satisfy- ing, administering Extreme Unction, Confessions, and Holy Communion daily. At the request of the com- manding officer of the Danish hospital ship JUT- LANDIA, he cared for Roman Catholic personnel and patients aboard. Twice a week opportunity for Confessions and Communion was offered confined patients, and each Sunday, ambulatory patients. This schedule was followed from February to June 1953, when the JUTLANDIA returned to Denmark. Aboard both that ship and his own, O'Leary found it necessary to hear the confession' of non-English- speaking personnel. To meet this need questionnaires were prepared in Danish, Greek, Italian, and Korean, keyed to our own English questionnaire. The chaplains found opportunities to minister to other than their own particular parishioners Chaplain L. E. Olmon reported holding services aboard APA's fattack transportsj and CVE's Cescort carriersj without a Protestant chaplain. Special attention was also given to small ships anchored with us and to Fleet Activities and MSTS, Inchonf' As the story of the Korean War unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that laymen were being encouraged to, and were taking responsibility for religious services in the absence of chaplains. Olmon wrote: Reports -105-

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At the time of White's writing, there were nine ROK Navy chaplains on active duty, seven with ROK Marine units, two at naval bases. Further information was supplied by Chaplain A. M. Oliver, obtained from Korean Chaplain Won Dong Lee, sewing the 1st ROK Marine. regiment. Converted to Christianity by Presbyterian missionaries, Chaplain Lee was graduated from the Chosen Presby- terian Theological College and had served one pastor- ate before entering the Navy. He reported a gratifying response to his military ministry, saying that the non-Christians usually re- spected his effort and many listened to his preaching of the Gospel. I believe that one day Christianity will be the dominant religion throughout Koreaf' he added. It is the one cause in which both my people and the North Koreans can always linda common devotion. According to Lee, it was the remarkable impression made upon high ranking Korean military officials observing U.S. Marines attending Divine Service at the time of the Inehon landing that led some of them to ask American officers to explain the place and function of the chaplaincy in the United States military establishment. Although only a small percent of Koreans were Christian, it was decided to organize a Korean chaplaincy. Chaplain Chung Actually it appears that Chaplain Chung had had some such idea all along, even when he entered the Navy as a line jg and spent 3 years doing PIO work.13 The actual beginnings of the Chaplaincy predate its official commissioning. Admiral Soh Won Il, then ROK Chief of Naval Operations, allowed Chung time to carry on his religious ministry, including both counselling and holding services. The latter were held in private homes in Seoul, and after the retreat began, wherever Chung found himself. With the formal establishment of the Corps, Chung's first task was to recruit and send chaplains to the newly organized ROK Marine Corps, placing in direct charge Chaplain C. S. Park. Much time was spent expanding and consolidating the embryonic Corps. Lent a copy of the U.S. Navy Chaplains Manual by Chaplain White, together with copies of the Navy Chaplains Bulletin, Chung drew up a leadership man- ual for his own chaplains, compiled a bilingual hymn- book, a catechism, and a character guidance manual, '3 Navy Chaplains Bulletin CFall, 19545, D. J. Silver, Chaplain Chungis Corps, p. 13. Also A. M. Oliver, Of One Blood All Nationsf, ibid. CSpring-Summer, 19521, p. 12. and began publishing a monthly bulletin. After a while he was able to put chaplains aboard Korean vessels. Chaplain Frederick W. Brink, when serving at Fleet Activities, Sasebo, wrote the Chaplains Division that he had assisted ROK Chaplain S. F. Shin in the baptism of 21 officers and' men from the crew of ROK ship TAEDONG, all previously Buddhists. The sacrament was administered in the Fleet Activities Chapel. Supplies had been begged, borrowed, or scrounged from the beginning. Chaplain White helped when he could, and later, in 1952, Chaplain Harry F. Fenstermacher, lst 90-mm Gun Battalion, FMF Pacific, aided Chung 14 in regularizing the receipt of supplies through the Korean Base Section fArmyj. He managed to submit to the U.S. Naval Korean Military Advisory Liaison Group what one of their officers estimated as one of every three requests for supplies we received V' One of Chaplain Chung's most ambitious projects was the operation of a Navy-Marine Wounded Soldiers Vocational Training School, near the naval base at Chin Hai. The closest Korea comes to the Veterans Administration, one chaplain described it. Under the direction of Chaplain Park Bun, 200 disabled veterans every 6 months were being given vocational therapy and training in such fields as auto mechanics, farming, watchmaking, and even photography. On Solid Ground In 1954 Chaplain Chung, by then promoted to the rank of commander, visited the Chaplains Division in Washington. His dream was becoming an impressive reality. By then his Corps numbered 30 and he had established some 40 Navy and Marine Chapels. In 1953 the first Roman Catholic chaplain was commis- sioned and by 1954 there were four. QKorean Protes- tants are reported to outnumber Roman Catholics by more than 10 to 1.5 There was even a chaplains school, meeting in Chung's office-which will remind old hands of the beginnings of our own training pro- gram. The conduet of common worship held priority with Chungis padres, and counseling next, but there was no charitable cause or work of mercy in which they had not found a way to involve themselves. Described by his friends as a forceful man, Chaplain Chung was not to be satisfied until his work of building was set on a firm foundation. Publicly honored by the ROK Chief of Naval Operations and by the Minister H cp. p. 192. -107-