United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Outdoor Worship. Chaplain A. W. Robertson mounts his portable altar on a T46 tank at a forward outpost in Korea and conducts services. lain serving with the Division was ordered detached after 6 or 7 months, the actual date of detachment, within the terms of the Bureau of Naval Personnel orders sent to Division Headquarters, was left to the discretion of the Division Chaplain. Normally de- tachment was effected in order of priority of report- ing, though the overriding consideration always was the most economical distribution of chaplains through- out the Division's units. Siegel, of course, had to await the arrival of a Jewish relief, being the only chaplain of that faith in the Division. Chaplains E. A. Wolfram, Jr., and Ward D. McCabe completed the list Qincluding the six abovej of eight chaplains who had reported before 31 January, who could expect rotation in accordance with the earlier policy. Chap- lains reporting on or after 1 February would be ex- pected to serve 10 months in Korea. Chaplain Distribution The administrative processing of chaplains attached to the lst Marine Division was a G-1 fDivision Per- sonnelj function, acting for the Chief of Staff and with the advice of the Division Chaplain. The chap- lains had no direct command link with the Division Chaplain, once assigned they were under the mili- tary jurisdiction of their respective commanding of- ficers. The Division Chaplain served, however, as an effective liaison between the various unit chaplains and the Division subordinate commands. Chaplains were reassigned within the Division from time to time, so much so during certain periods that trying to follow them resembles unscrambling a maze. There is clearly much in favor of keeping a chaplain with the same unit for an extended period, and in peacetime, at least, as long as both unit commander and chaplain are satisfied, long pastoratesv are more likely the rule. Under field conditions, however, itinerancy provided the only adequate and economical distribution of the services of a limited number of chaplain personnel ffrontier churches had of course had the same experience in the early days of the west- ward expansion of our countryj. It was the function of the Division Chaplain to see that the available chaplains were so assigned that their ministry might be utilized to the benefit of the largest number of personnel. According to the Divi- sion TKO the Division Chaplain and all others not assigned to regimental organizations were carried by 138-

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' ' T ' M' man Catholicj, Siegel Cjewishl, and Oliver fProtes- tantj took part. Twenty-live of the chaplains as- signed to the Division were present. Regarding the military picture Slattery Wrote: Action remains sporadic. Chaplain Robertson who is with Tanks had a narrow squeak recently. He was with one of his companies when a considerable amount of incom- ing arrived. His jeep was damaged but, thanks be to God, Chaplain Robertson was not in it at the time. I worry about these lads so much and keep urging them to be extremely cautious. They are prudent but even that is not a safeguard against the dangers which surround them. Chaplains Duncan and Mendonsa displayed courage and their spirit of dedication a week ago in remaining at a for- ward aid station through a mortar barrage. Rotation of Chaplains On 19 May Slattery submitted a periodic roster to the Chaplains Division. He noted: We now have 17 Protestant chaplains, 9 Catholic and 1 jewish chaplain. With Torstrick detached we will be one Protestant under the minimum need. I understand that Chaplain Pat Adams is due here, which will bring the number of Catholics up to 10. Do you intend it to be so or have you plans to detach one of the Catholics sooner than expected? Naturally we can use everyone you send and more, but I do not want to be piggish about it. ROSTER OF CHAPLAINS, 79 MAT 7952 Name Rank Arrignment Church afliation SLATTERY, E. A ..,...,. BOWLING, H. O., JR ,... OLIVER, A. M.1 ...,... PRIOKETT, AD. .. LUSTIG, v. J ..... WEBER, O .,.......... MULLER, J. H .....,,.,. WOLFRAM, E. A., .IR .... NOWAKOWSKI, B. J .... SIEGEL, R ......,...... BARLIK, R. E ....,.,. ROBERTSON, A. W .... BOYER, A. W .....,.. WOLFE, B. N.1 ..,. JONES, E. s .,.,. MO CABE, W. D.2 ..... CALLAHAN, J. T ..... TORSTRICK, M. E.1... MENDONSA, A. E2 .... ELLIOTT, O. JR ..... DUNCAN, H. on ...... WILLETS, R. H.2 ..... HERRIOK, c. W ....... GUILLAUME, L. A .... LANE, W. PJ ....... FORNEY, F. J.1 ..,.... Mo DOWELL, N. L ..... .......... DUGGAN, O. T. .......,.... ,..... CDR ,....... . . LT ...... . . LCDR. . . . . LCDR. .. . . LCDR. . . . . LT ..... . . LTJG .... . . LT ..... . . LT ...... . . LTJG .. . . LTJG .,.. . . LTJG .... . . LTJG .... . . LTJG .,.. . . LTJG ............. FIRST MARINES LODR .........,.. LT ..... . . LTJG ............. FIFTH MARINES LT ............... LT ..... . . LTJG ............. Div Chaplain .......... . . . RC lst Cmb Ser Group ..... . . . METH Headquarters Bn ..... . . . METH Headquarters Bn. . . . . . BAP CSI lst Medical Bn .... RC lst Medical Bn ..... . . . LUTH lst Shore Party Bn ...... . . . REF lst Engineer Bn .......... . . . lst Amphibian Trac SEVENTH MARINES LT ............... LT .......... . . LTJG .... ......... LUTH CMoSyQ RC Headquarters Bn ......... . . . JEWISH lst Medical Bn ......... . . . RC lst Tank Bn ...... BAP QSD lst Motor Tr Bn ...... . . . PE lst Service Bn .......... . . . BAP CSI lst Armored Amp Bn ..... . . . METH 2d Battalion .... PRESBY QUSAJ 3d Battalion .... RC lst Battalion .... BAP CSD 2d Battalion .... RO 3d Battalion .... PE lst Battalion .... METH lst Battalion .... BAP CSD 2d Battalion .... 3d Battalion .... ELEVENTI-I MARINES LCDR .,.......... LT ..... . . LT ...... . , LTJG .... . . PRESBY CUSAD RC Headquarters ..... RC lst Battalion .... DISC 4th Battalion .... BAP QSD 3d Battalion .... RC 1 Indicates chaplains ordered detached. 2 Indicates regimental chaplain. Of the 27 chaplains shown on Division Chaplain Peckls roster of 1 January 1952, only Chaplains Dun- can, Torstrick, Oliver, Siegel, Wolfe, and Forney re- mained. Since that date 22 new chaplains had arrived, making a total of 28 on the 19 May roster. Chaplains Prickett and Duggan had reported just prior to this roster, thus making possible within a few days the detachment of two of the five designated as awaiting detachment. According to rotation policy then in effect, a chap- 137-

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Headquarters Battalion, to form a pool,' upon which the Division Chaplain could draw for assignments to the separate battalions. The First roster given in this account, that of Division Chaplain Schwyhart on the eve of the Inchon landing, indicated such a distribu- tion? Under field conditions, however, it usually proved more satisfactory to attach a chaplain directly to the Headquarters Company of the separate bat- talions. In most rosters such distribution will be seen. Each regiment was entitled to three chaplains, normally all attached to the regimental headquarters, the senior being regimental chaplain and a member of the regimental staff. He was responsible for the place- ment of himself and the other two chaplains within the regiment. An infantry regiment had, besides its Headquarters and Service Company and 4.2 Mortar Company, three infantry battalions. Under combat conditions it was customary for one chaplain to be with each battalion, the regimental chaplain also main- taining contact with the regimental CP and providing a ministry there. Usually the Headquarters would be located near enough one or other of the battalions to make this feasible. Since there were normally two Protestants and one Roman Catholic per regiment, a certain amount of rotation within the regiment was usually thought necessary for religious coverage. In addition exigencies arising under field conditions dic- tated rather frequent shifts, so that a chaplain would be-found now in the first battalion, later in the third or again in the second. Regimental chaplains were not always in agreement with one another on the best policy regarding this point, some of the differences stemmed from the na- ture of the varied operational assignments. One would keep himself in Regiment and assume respon- sibility for one of the battalions, and then assign, semiofficially and temporarily, one chaplain to each of the other two battalions. Another regimental chaplain, feeling that all three chaplains should be sensitive of their responsibility to the entire regiment, would keep himself and both the others attached to Regiment, but working in more or less orderly rota- tion throughout the subordinate units. While the Di- vision chaplain would be advised on these shifts, the actual placement of chaplains within a regiment, once assigned there, was the prerogative of the regimental commander with the regimental chaplain as his adviser. As a member of the Commanding General's staff the Division chaplain found many of his duties to be 4 See ch. 1. administrative, though he furnished a ministry repre- senting his particular faith at the Division. CP and Headquarters Battalion. Also at Headquarters would be a chaplain of the Christian faith different from that of the senior chaplain, for instance, through most of the period here under review, Chaplain A. D. Prickett, Southern Baptist, worked with Chaplain Slattery. In addition, the single Jewish chaplain was always assigned to Headquarters Battalion, though his duties carried him through the entire Division and on occasion he would be given temporary additional duty orders to one or other of the separate battalions. Sometimes this was necessary to provide a chaplain in a given battalion, besides, it gave the chaplain an opportunity to gain experience as chaplain in an inde- pendent unit. One or both of these chaplains were sometimes referred to as assistant division chaplain. In filling the regimental chaplain billet seniority naturally was an important factor. Usually a lieu- tenant commander was assigned, though on many occasions a lieutenant filled the billet. For instance, on Slattery's 19 May roster only the lst and 11th Ma- rines had a lieutenant commander fMcCabe and Lanej, while the 5th and 7th Marines each had a lieutenant CMendonsa and Willetsj. As far as pos- sible these billets were rotated among Protestants and Roman Catholics. All other factors having been weighed, it sometimes happened that all three regi- mental chaplains would be of the same faith, but with new arrivals shifts would be made to bring that aspect of the distribution picture into normal alinement. Other reassignments were made, as chaplains at- tached to separate battalions became senior to more recent arrivals and were shifted to regimental chap- lain billets and relieved in the separate battalions by their less experienced colleagues. Sometimes chap- lains were shifted from separate battalions to regi- mental billets, because of their own request for infantry duty, or because they seemed to the Division chaplain especially suited for such duty or because denominational and rank requirements dictated such changes. Chaplains serving with regiments would sometimes be reassigned to rear-area battalions, on occasion it was felt a chaplain had had all the front- line duty he could take for a while, or again he would have displayed particular abilities that recommended him to the Division chaplain as the right man for a particular assignment. One such situation can be in- ferred from the following paragraph in Chaplain Slattery's letter of 5 lNIay to the Chief of Chaplains. Chaplain Stamper took over in Combat Service Group when conditions there were, to say the least, unsavory. The -139-