United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Rear Adm. George A. Rosso, CHC, USN Chief of Chaplains. FOREWORD This is the sixth volume of History of the Chaplains Corps, United States Navy. The first volume pub- lished in 1949 presents a narrative account of the de- velopment of the Corps from the Revolutionary War to the declaration of a state of emergency on 8 Septem- ber 1939. The second volume continues the narrative history of the Chaplains Corps from 8 September 1939 to the spring of 1949. The next three volumes are biog- raphies of Navy chaplains. The present volume narrates the history of the Chaplains Corps during the Korean Conflict from 27 June 1950 to 27 June 1954. It primarily concerns the chaplains in combat. Therefore, naval chaplains who were assigned to the lst Marine Division and supporting units are most often mentioned. The latter category would include the 1st Marine Air Wing where chaplains worked with replacements and wounded brought from the front and still found time to do relief work. It also refers to the chaplains who were assigned to ships which were involved in surface and air action, and those who served aboard hospital and MSTS ships giving needed aid and support to all United Nations troops in Korea. There were others who served in more secondary but important billets. There is always a danger in the composition of a history that almost assuredly some unsung heroesl' will fail to receive recognition for their accomplish- xii ments. Every attempt has been made to let the chaplains speak . Much of this volume will record their own accounts of what took place. The History of the Chaplain Corps, United States Navy, volume VI, has been the product of three chaplains working successively. As a result there was the situation of planting, watering, and reaping. The last writer has attempted to retain much of the structure and planning to which he fell heir. Chaplain Clifford M. Drury fretiredj , formerly the Chaplain Corps historian and writer of the first four volumes, started this history. Chaplain Paul S. Sanders continued the collection of material and organizing the book. Special tribute should be given to Reserve Chaplain W. Ivan Hoy, associate professor of religion at the University of Miami, who was the final writer of the text. He successfully followed the pattern set by previous writers, coordinated the loose details, and completed the volume for publication. This volume has evolved from the plans to publish a volume of the history treating with the period from the spring of 1949 until the present. One chapter was to have dealt with the Korean Conflict. It became apparent that one chapter of reasonable size in a volume of this type would not do justice to the activi- ties of the chaplains in Korea. It was, therefore, de- termined that a separate volume on Korea be pro- duced. This was to be followed with the publication of the other material in an additional volume. Be- cause of this decision some of the material from For- mosa, Japan and other Far Eastern areas has not been included. It was decided that the present volume should deal for the most part with chaplains immedi- ately concerned with the conflict. It is to be desired that all material not directly concerned with Korea, but dealing with the Orient, be considered in the volume yet to be produced. In these pages you will find the thrilling and in- spiring service of Navy chaplains. Their dedication to God and their country should go down in the an- nals of our great nation. As the present Chief of Chaplains I look back at the Corps during those fateful Korean War days and proclaim that I am proud to be associated with such a dedicated group of clergy- men. They answered a call to serve and they did so in an outstanding manner. GEORGE A. Rosso, Rear Admiral, CHC, USN, Chief of Chaplains. November 1959.

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APPENDICES-CODtiDUCd BIBLIOGRAPHY .......... INDEX PROPER NAMES .... . . . INDEX COMMANDS, OPERATIONS, SHIPS .... . GENERAL INDEX. . . Page 260 261 269 277

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INTRODUCTION TO HALT AGGRESSION On 25 June 1950 North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel and began an invasion of South Korea? Two days later the Security Council of the United Nations condemned this act of aggression as a breach of world peace and requested its members to come to the assistance of the Republic of Korea. The same day President Harry S. Truman announced that he had ordered United States naval and air forces to give the South Koreans cover and support. A blockade of the entire Korean coast was instigated? Japan- based Air Force units were authorized to bomb specific military targets north of the 38th Parallel. Gen. Douglas C. MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of Far Eastern Occupation Forces, with headquarters in Tokyo, was made the Commander in Chief of the United Nations Command. On 29 June the President authorized him to employ certain supporting U.S. ground forces in Korea. ' For background on Korea and events leading up to the North Korean invasion, see L. M. Goodrich, Korea: A Study of U.S. Policy in the United Nations CNew York, 1956j, chs. I-IV. Chap. V deals with the United Nations response to the armed attack upon a free republic. See also: Lynn Montross and N. A. Canzona, U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950-53, vol. I, The Pusan Perimeter fWashington, 19542, chs. I, II and the beginning of ch. III. Ibid.g vol. II, The Inehon-Seoul Operation fWashington, 19551, ch. I. Also M. W. Cagle and F. A. Manson, The Sea War in Korea CAnnapolis, 19571, ch. I. The North Koreans invaded the Republic of Korea at 0400, Sunday, 25 June 1950. Since Seoul is 14 hours ahead of eastern standard time, that was 1500 in New York and Wash- ington fthen on daylight timej, Saturday, 24 June 1950. Dates in this book are those of the place under discussion. The U.S. State Department received official notice of the invasion from Ambassador Muccio shortly past 9 p.m. on the Saturday night. By 3 a.m. of the Sunday morning Secretary General Trygve Lie of the United Nations was given the news at his home. The United States asked for a meeting of the Security Council, which met at 2 p.m. on Sunday. With the Russian delegate voluntarily absent and Yugoslavia abstain- ing, the Security Council put the blame for aggression directly upon North Korea and ordered a withdrawal of its troops from the South. 2 A lively account of the 7th Fleet's involvement from the beginning is Walter Karig, M. W. Cagle and F. A. Man- son, Battle Report, vol. VI, The War in Korea CNew York, 19521, chs. 1-5. On the Navy's blockade and bombardment missions, from the beginning to the end of the Korean War, see Cagle and Manson, op. cit., ch. 9. Neither moral suasion nor economic sanctions had been sufficient in the years preceding the outbreak of World War II to prevent or halt the aggression of japan, Italy, and Germany. The League of Nations, helpless before naked power, had been eFfectively de- stroyed as the agent of international order. Now the United Nations Security Council Qwith Russia volun- tarily absent and Yugoslavia abstainingj determined not only to condemn but also to combat aggression. F ifty-three nations fexcluding only the U.S.S.R. and her satellites Poland and Czechoslovakia of the entire United Nations membershipj approved the decision of the Security Council and pledged military, medical, and economic assistance. A remote Asiatic peninsula, whose very location was unknown to many Americans, thus became, before the end of the year, the scene of the fourth most costly war effort in American history, both in blood and money? When hostilities began the Marine Corps had two divisions, both seriously understrength. Even with most of the men of the 2d Marine Division trans- ferred to the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif., the combined strength was still so low that Reserves had to be called to active duty to build the lst Division up to full wartime strength. The mobili- zation of the Marine Corps Reserve was ordered by President Truman with the sanction of Congress on 19 July? Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith assumed com- mand of the 1st Division, consisting of the lst, 5th, and 7th Marines Cinfantry regimentsj and the 11th Marines Can artillery regimentj, together with the usual supporting battalions QHeadquarters, Ordnance, Medical, Supply, etc.j. Reserve units hastily as- sembled at Camp Pendleton were integrated into the Division. Only a cadre had been left at Camp Lejeune, N.C., around which to rebuild the 2d Divi- sion, largely of Reserves. A reinforced battalion of some 900 men Q3d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine ,lil Montross and Canzona, op. cit., vol. I, p. 1. - . ' Marine Corps Gazette fSeptember 19515. E. H. Giusti, Minute Men-1950 Model: The Reserves in Action. Also Montross and Canzona, op. cit., vol. I, ch. III, vol. II, ch. II. 3 ..1..