United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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mit through which all replacement and rotation personnel are processed. Itami Air Force Base is also the facility used as a meritorious rest and recreation center for personnel of the First Marine Aircraft Wing. Approximately 65 officers and 385 enlisted men from units in Korea are temporarily attached at all times in addition to the regular complement. In view of these factors it is highly desirable that proper religious guidance be available. The situation is aggravated by problems involving relationships with Japanese women. Since the Air Force chaplain aboard was also a Prot- estant, Roman Catholic ministrations continued to be furnished by American missionary priests. Relief Work With the Wing headquarters now located near Po- hang, Chaplain Parker took an active hand in the affairs of the Marine-supported orphanage begun there with the help of Chaplain Cleaves. Cleaves had joined with American Presbyterian missionary William B. Lyon and the Pohang Presbyterian ministers to ini- tiate the project. With money given by Air Wing Marines some land and a few buildings were pur- chased, a board of directors organized, and the insti- tution incorporated in the name of the Presbyterian holding body as the Marine Memorial Orphanage. After a few months 50 children were being cared for. The directors were soon faced with a choice be- tween seemingly endless expansion on a day-to-day basis or an attempt to make the home self-sustaining while caring for fewer children. The solution was a compromise: limited expansion little by little, and at the same time the purchase of productive rice land. Less than a year after its start, the orphanage owned over 2,000 pyong fa plot 6 feet squarel of rice land. On one occasion, as he presented the latest Marine contribution!four and a half million won fS750j-- Chaplain Parker commented, Much of the food on which orphans will live this winter will be harvested by the older children off their own paddies. By this time next year, if donations do not fall off, there will be enough rice to feed them all year and perhaps some left over to marketf' MAG 12 moved to Pyongtaek, on the west coast, some 250 miles from the Wing headquarters and MAG 33. There Chaplain E. R. Weidler was instru- mental in establishing a new orphanage. In his reply to the Corps historian's questionnaire of March 1954 he noted that before the home was set up, children had been living in caves and trenches. He added that Commander Lederer had contributed S550 from what he had received for the story he had written about the work of MAG 12 with Korean orphans. Three chaplains of the lst Marine Aircraft Wing were cited during the period under review, one re- ceiving the Bronze Star and two, Letters of Commen- dation. Chaplain Edward M. Lynch was awarded the Bronze Star for service from 9 April to 15 August Marine Memorial Orphanage. Gifts of clothing, shoes, and dishes are left by the wing chaplain for the orphans. l--1 y F -157-

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pendable altar supplies and monthly reports. The chaplains were advised of the Wing Chaplain's planned itinerary for the forthcoming month. The Memorandum of 13 June reminded the chap- lains that according to the 1949 Geneva Convention their ID cards should be stamped with a red cross, they were referred to Bureau of Naval Personnel letter 31-52, dated 29 February 1952. There were two other reminders: that chaplains' records are retained in a Marine unit's Medical Ofhce and that the Chap- lains Division expects to receive direct from each chaplain concerned a complete set of any change of duty orders, with all endorsements. Chaplain Lynch was hospitalized in Naval Hospital, Chaplains Aboard From Chaplain Parker's roster submitted on 8 July theafollowing distribution of chaplains in the lst MAW appears: Wing .... F. Parker ,.... CDR BAP QSJ Wing .......... E. C. Mulligan.. LCDR RC MAG 33 ....... H. A. Seymour. . LCDR METH MAG 33 ....... E. M. Lynch ..,. LCDR RC MAG 12 ......, E. R. Lineberger, Jr LTJG LUTH MAG 12 ...,,.. P. J. La Duca. . . LTJG RC MWSS-1 W. B. Conn ..... LT METH fltamij lst 90 AAA ..... C. R. Harrison, . LTjG DISC Welcome and Farewell. Orphans and Christians from a Methodist Church hold a dinner for Chaplain Edwin R. Weidler who was returning to the United States, and for Chaplain Ernest R. Line- berger, Jr., who is Weid1er's relief. Lynch had reported on 7 April relieving Chaplain Sullivan. Lineberger reported on 15 May relieving Chaplain Weidler. Chaplain Conn reported on 22 May and was assigned to Itami relieving J. C. Brown, who was transferred to the lst Marine Division after 2 months duty in the Wing. Mulligan arrived on 14 June, replacing Chaplain Horvath. Only Seymour had been with the Wing longer than 8 months. Parker wrote to the Chief: The average tour of duty is seven Q75 months for aviators and ten 1105 months for line and staff. I understand the present policy of the Bureau is to keep chaplains in Korea for the same length of time as other officers. Parker asked for a Roman Catholic when Harrison should be relieved, Conn could then be assigned to the AAA Battalion and the Catholic assigned at Itami, where the Air Force already had a Protestant. Chaplain Mannion replied for the Chief of Chaplains concern- ing the matter of chaplain rotation: It is our intention to make the tour of duty with lst Marine Air Wing in Korea 12 months: however, if other offi- cers remain there only 10 months we feel that we should fall in line. Let us put it this way: The duty will be 12 months but we will attempt to relieve chaplains at the end of 10 months. Yokosuka, in June. He returned to duty after a month but, not recovering satisfactorily, was detached to the States. In October Chaplain Conn also became seriously ill and was transferred stateside. The roster of 1 October showed the following: Wing. . . F. Parker ....... CDR BAP QSD Wing. . . E. C. Mulligan .... LCDR RC MAG 33 E. R. Linebergerhlr LTJG LUTH MAG 33 G. J. Clark ....... LT RC MAG 12 H. Lampe ...... LCDR PRESBY KUSAQ MAG 12 P La Duca ..... LTJG RC MWSS-1 J. W. Paul ,..... . LCDR METH fltamib - 156 Lampe had reported on 7 july, Clark on 10 September and Paul on 11 September. Chaplain I-I. F. Fenster- macher reported on 18 October and was assigned to the AAA Battalion at Pusan. The lst Marine Aircraft Wing was thus better sup- plied with chaplains than at any previous time. Its complement was actually six, but having to cover the AAA Battalion Cwhich had no chaplain allowancej and the Service Squadron at Itami fwhich ordinarily might have been expected to be with the Wing head- quartersj raised the requirements. Concerning Itami Parker wrote on 28 October: MWSS-l has an average strength of 600 oHicers and enlisted men permanently attached and in addition is the

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Visit to Buddhist Temple. Chaplain Stephen G. Horvath talks to a Buddhist priest at a Korean temple a few miles from a forward airbase of the lst MAW. 1952, his citation mentions his faithfulness in minis- tering to the spiritual needs of his men and cites his outstanding work with the orphanages in the Pohang vicinity. A diligent and tireless worker, he traveled regularly to hold services and consultations with men stationed at a remote camp. Chaplain Stephen G. Horvath's Letter of Com- mendation, covering the period 19 July 1951 to 18 June 1952, noted that his excellent cooperation with chaplains of other faiths was such as to gain him re' spect and popularity. The chaplain was commended also for work with orphanages at Pusan, Kangnung, and Pohangg he had raised over a thousand dollars for the Roman Catholic orphanage in the latter place. The Letter of Commendation awarded Chaplain Edward R. Weidler for service from 22 August 1951 to 19 May 1952 singled out for special praise his work with Korean civilians, including North Koreans who were enduring the hardships of a severe winter with inadequate means of subsistence? The citation concluded: Lieutenant Weidler's activities throughout were completely dedicated to the humanitarian principles embodied in the precepts of Christianity and in the Charter of the United Nations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Chaplain Parker was cited by the Republic of Ko- rea. This citation in part reads, Despite the tremendous hardships Chaplain Parker de- voted much of his time to organizing specific aid projects and allocating the vitally needed relief goods for those lost children. The sympathetic concern exhibited through the establishment of an orphanage at Pohang on May 10, 1952, for alleviating the suffering orphans confronted with the threat of disease, starvation, and exposure has made sub- stantial contribution to our relief works and has materially raised the standards of care in the institution. -158-