United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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zion. Chaplain Peck noted in a letter to the Chief of Chaplains on 11 January 1952 that the supply picture seems to be clarified. Comment on Training It seemed to Peck that much of the training time at Camp Pendleton for chaplains ordered to Korea was not really justified. He wrote to the Chief of Chap- .ains on 29 December 1951: The type of operation the Division is presently engaged in makes the necessity of a long training period open to ques- tion. Of course the situation of a year ago could repeat itself out that is unlikely. It appears from here that the Pendleton training for chaplains without prior Marine experience would :Je sufficient with a maximum of 20 days. Further, a period Jf 7-10 days should be sufficient for chaplains with prior Marine experience. I am convinced that the medical phase of the Pendleton training is of little value .... At the present time there are Hospital Corpsmen stumbling over each other throughout the Division. That is to say, the medical people have their own program well-organized. Even if the Division should become engaged in full-scale combat, there would be no necessity for a chaplain to perform Corpsman's duties, as was the case in the early days of the Korean confiict. On 17 January 1952 he wrote again: At the risk of stepping out of the area of my responsibility, may I state that it is my conviction, based on my own obser- vations and the opinions expressed by many of the chaplains sewing here who have gone through the training at Pendle- ton, that much of the training which is designed either for medical personnel, or for enlisted and line personnel, is no longer greatly applicable to the work of chaplains in Korea at the present time .... A longer time than the 20 days he had recommended earlier might be indicated for men fresh out of Chaplains School. But I think that for more expe- rienced hands, even the 20 days could be cut in half without any serious loss of effectiveness in their ministry in Korea. The Chaplains Division was of course desirous of giving its men whatever training would render them most effective, at the same time, being short-handed, it could not afford needless delay of chaplains from actual duty. Chaplain Mannion wrote on 6 February from the Chief of Chaplains' ofiice, We appreciate your suggestion to send chaplains . . . without too much delay at Camp Pendleton and are in hearty agreement with you on this score. Composite Picture In order to obtain definite information on the re- ligious coverage within the Division, Chaplain Peck assembled data from which a statistical analysis was made, listing the actual coverage throughout the Di- vision by denominational services held, by chaplains conducting the services, and by units where services were held. One section of this report is included as appendix E to this volume. While obviously some of the information would be out of date by the time it appeared in print, inasmuch as services were fre- quently shifted because of work schedule or tactical situation, the report gives a dramatic sampling of the work actually being done at a particular time. During the period 1-15 February, Chaplain Peck's semimonthly report to the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1, detailed the following chaplains' activities. A. Number of Sunday services conducted-134. Attendance-6,655. Number of week-day services conducted-207. Attendance-4,583. B. Adequate Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish cover- age was afforded all Medical Companies of the lst Medical Battalion. Regimental and battalion aid sta- tions were afforded continued Protestant and Catholic coverage. Cal Number of visits to hospitals and aid stations- 157. fbl Number of patients visited-952. C. In addition. to the above, the chaplains attached to the lst Marine Division, FMF, held 1,327 counselling in- terviews, wrote 157 letters with reference to personnel problems, and conducted 91 special services or Bible class sessions. Typical of other reports for similar periods, the Figures cited here indicated that a higher percentage of the lst Marine Division personnel were attending Divine Service than was probably the case in the aver- age civilian community in the States. Individual Aspects With no decisive battles being fought, the winter and early spring of 1952 were nonetheless grim enough. Taking a religious ministry to the meni of the lst Division was always difficult and often hazard- ous. Algernon M. Oliver, Regimental Chaplain, lst Marines, writing for himself and his associates, Chap- lain Melvin E. Torstrick and Martin Hoar, reported: A large number of services are necessary if all the men are to be given the opportunity to attend. In some cases services are held for units as small as a platoon, since men on the lines often cannot leave their positions to attend services as a company CP. Recently I conducted eight services in one day, on the move from early morning until late afternoon. In a short time you learn every hill in your sector and know just how long it will take you to go from one place to another. Perched high atop Korean mountains, many of the men could be reached only after an exhausting climb up icy, treacherous trails. Word that the padre was about to have Divine Service would be passed from bunker to bunker. The small portable altar --119-

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Hanukkah came while the ship was again at sea. Air operations made it impossible for the Menorah fthe traditional eight-branched candelabrumj to be lighted on each of the eight nights, but on the Hrst night the first one was lighted and a discussion of the meaning of the festival followed. A strong feature of ANTIETAM's Jewish religious program was a weekly discussion held after the Sab- bath eve service. Topics included differences in the three American Jewish communities, as well as such as the following: the American Jew and the State of Israel, religion by television fbased on an article in the New York Timerj, and jewish post-Biblical literature. Division Roster On 1 January 1952 Chaplain Peck sent to the Chief of Chaplains the roster of chaplains then serving with the lst Marine Division in Korea. With the excep- tions of Chaplains Power, Jolly, and Schneck there had been a complete change from that given for 1 August 1951. Peck, W. S., Jr ...... CDR Div Chaplain. PRESBY CUSAD Brooks, W. E .... LCDR 1st Marines. . . BAP CAD Ecker, L ..... LCDR Hdq Bn ....,. RC Starnper, R. L ...... LCDR llth Marines. . PRESBY CUSD Felder, G., Jr. . . LCDR lst Eng Bn .... LUTH Schneck, R. . . LCDR 7th Marines. . . LUTH Pipho, E. W ........ LCDR lst Marines. . . LUTH Ruleman, R. N ...... LCDR 5th Marines. . . METH Oliver, A. M .... LCDR Hdq Bn ...... METH Vierling, W. J ....... LCDR 1st AmTrac Bn. LUTH Lonergan, V. ,I ...... LCDR 11th Marines. . RC Gallagher, J. P. F .... LCDR lst MoTr Bn. . RC Follard, F ...... . . LT Med Bn ...... RC Curtis, L .... LT Serv Bn ...... BAP QSJ jones, B. L .... LT lst Ord Bn. . . METH O,Neill, J. ,I ........ LT 5th Marines. . . RC Fenning, R. C ....... LT lst Sig Bn .... LUTH CMOSYD Power, B. S ..... LT Sth Marines. . . METH Spohn, A. P .... LT 7th Marines.. . LUTH Jolly, E. W .... LT lst CmbSerGp. PRESBY ' CUSD Forney, J. F .... LT 11th Marines. . DISC Torstrick, M. F.. . LTJG lst ShParBn. . BAP KSD Gibbons, A. R ...... LTJG 7th Marines. .. RC Siegel, R ....... LTJG Hdq Bn ...... JEWISH Duncan, H. C ....... LTJG lst Tank Bn. . METH Hoar, M. J .... LTJG 1st Marines. . . RC Wolfe, B. N ..,...,.. LTJG 11th Marines. BAP CSD Korean Wint 67 There was no significant change in the pattern of ground hostilities during the first 4 months of 1952. Peck wrote to Chaplain Salisbury on 4 January: There is no change in the military situation, except the knowledge that the enemy can now bomb us if they desire Therefore our foxholes have been dug a bit deeper thar before, and many rear area chaplains fincluding mell whc formerly hadn't bothered have now what might be called an alternate residence, in case of necessity. Since November, in fact, the Chinese had begun tc show unusual activity in the air. Intelligence reports indicated their possession of 1,400 planes, about half ol them Russian MIG jets.5 For the first time the enemy began seriously to challenge United Nations air supremacy in Korea. As the front lines dug in and became more and more stable, there was less need of close air support. Air Force B-29's continued their smashing of supply and communications lines behin the enemy front, but more and more F-86 Sabre jets were needed to escort them. The area from the Yal River south to the North Korean capital at Pyongyan in northwest Korea was dubbed MIG Alley by UN aviators. In February more than 3,500 sight- contacts of MIG's were made and at least 51 were shot down or damaged in aerial combat? At sea naval units of nine nations maintained a coastal block- ade, and naval bombardment joined artillery and air bombing to reduce enemy logistic support. Enemy guerillas continued to harass the UN forces back of the front lines, larger patrols were sent out into no-man's land , the weather during January and February remained cold, sometimes going to ten or twelve degrees below zero, artillery duels continued. Writing on 25 January Peck told Chaplain Salisbury: One company area received over 600 incoming rounds in one day alone .... So far none of the chaplains has been hit, but it is becoming routine for them to get pinned down a part of each day. In January Peck issued another memorandum con- Combat Service 7 cerning chaplain supplies. The Group chaplain was continued as Division Supply Chaplain. It was noted that an order had been placed with the Chaplains Division, Bureau of Naval Personnel, for certain items of field equipment. The Supply Chaplain was to secure supplies from Navy channels f Chaplains Division, as well as Pacific Fleet Chaplain, FMF Pac Chaplain, or COMNAVFE Chaplainj as possible, and from the Army Chaplains Warehouse, 2d Logistical Command, at Pusan. Fur- ther, each chaplain was furnished a list of all items available to him through his unit S-4 fsupplyj sec- Brita1mica Book of the Year, 1952, article, Korean War? Ibid., 19535 article, Korean War. 'Cagle and Manson, op. vit., pp. 3305. Con Hseaborne artillerynjg pp. 2545. fnaval air missionsj. 118-

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1 1 A Spiritual Haven. As the Korean war rages with fury a short distance away, marines able to attend divine services are calmed by the words delivered by Chaplain A. M. Oliver. would be set up, using ammunition boxes, C-ration cases, or the top of a bunker. Usually the men stood, though when Communion was served some of them would kneel in ice and mud. Under such conditions baptisms would sometimes be administered. On one occasion, within a short distance of entrenched Chi- nese and North Korean positions, with friendly artil- lery beating a deafening accompaniment, Oliver baptized Marinc Pfc. M. P. Longon, using the all- purpose' helmet as a baptismal font. From a news release written by M. Sgt. P. Shee- han, Marine combat correspondent, comes the fol- lowing account of a Memorial Service held by the 5th Marines during the bleak mid-winter. As the strains of the National Anthem echoed away through the snow-covered valley, the Regimental Com- mander, Col. Frank P. Hager, introduced the lst Marine Division Commanding General, Maj. Gen. John T. Selden. He reminded the Marines that we are gathered here today to pay homage to our comrades who are no longer with us. They died with the spirit that is so well known in your unit, the 5th Marines, from Belleau Woods of World War I, to the Pacific islands of World War II, and now here in Korea. This spirit has been handed down to all those who have ever served the 5th. May God rest their souls and may you live up to the spirit for which they died. Prayers were offered by Chaplains Bashford S. Power fProtestantj, James F. Follard fRoman Catholicj, and Reuben Siegel fjewishj. The roll of the dead was read by Chaplain J. P. F. Gallagher. With the reading of the lasf name, a Marine firing squad Bred three volleys and a bugler sounded Taps. The Marines marched off the parade ground. There were tear-stained faces but they all were faces of men who shared a particular pride and a rededicated resolution. On a typical day Chaplain Henry C. Duncan would leave his battalion CP in the early morning, follow- ing the trail used by the Chigger Bearersfi as the civilian Korean laborers were called who carted sup- plies to the front lines on their backs. Accompanied by his assistant, Marine Corporal Keith Bacus, he would climb the trail straight up from a river valley some 2,300 feet to the skyline. Once on the jagged ridgeline he would go from bunker to bunker, hold- ing brief services with small groups of men, as incom- ing mortar and artillery shells crashed around. . After the service the chaplain fa former Marine line officer, with combat service at Peleliu and Okil nawaj would give the men a briefing on the news o the day, including the tactical situation-for fron line troops never know much of the big picture, but only what transpires in their own small sector. He went loaded down with stationery, corncob pipes, and other luxury', items procured from friends and vol- unteer groups stateside, and undertook commissions from the men for money orders to be sent home, radio batteries, and the precious mantles for the gasoline lanterns which provided their light. Each day's ridge-running complete, the chaplain would slip an slide down the precipitous trail to finish his duties aii the CP, ending the day by attending the staff briehngs and working into the night to write his day's report and prepare his messages for the following day. The other chaplains were similarly engaged. Chap- lain Hoar reported: I conducted five services on Ash Wednesday with an attendance of 207. Holy Com- munion was taken to the men on the frontlinesf' Chaplain William E. Brooks reported making approx- imately 650 contacts while visiting Marines in front- line .dug-in positions, and Chaplain Edmund W, Pipho spent the Hrst twelve days of March visiting men on frontline outposts and holding Divine Services there. Chaplain Fredric Forney, llth Marines, organ- ized a chapel choir, reporting that it helped increase attendance at Divine Service. Chaplain Billy N. Wolfe wrote that services were frequently interrupted by artillery fire but always completedf, As a South- ern Baptist Wolfe was accustomed to use grape juice for Communion. f'However, in the Korean winter the grape juice froze solid and I was faced with a hard decision: either deny my men the Communion serv- ice they wanted, or use wine contrary to my churchis -120-