United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Q Memorial Service. A battalion commander in the 5th marines calls off names of men killed in the Vegas,' operation who were members of his unit at a regimental memorial service near the front. is now held by the forces of the United Nations. The men who fought so hard for those hills are not there now. Some of them have gone home, some are resting, in reserve areas, some are still in hospitals, and there are many who are gone forever. Chaplain E. Vaughan Lyons, Jr., Presbyterian, USA, adds the information that he and Chaplain Ed- ward Kelly, Roman Catholic, were with Chaplain Moore. He adds, It seemed as though the stream of wounded and dying would never cease. All night long the chaplains knelt be- side the steady How of litters, sometimes to repeat a passage of scripture, sometimes to give words of reassurance or com- fort, sometimes to hear confessions or to administer the last rites, sometimes to merely joke or light a cigarette, but al- ways they knelt beside each man to pray. For 5 long days the chaplains kept their vigil beside the wounded, while nearly 1,000 men passed through the aid stations. Thanks to the heroic and tireless efforts of doctors, corpsmen, and litter bearers hundreds of them are alive and recovered to- day. Few of them were evacuated without the ministry of a chaplain. When it was over three weary chaplains tired, hungry, and dirty, returned to their tents to face the grim task of writing the heartbreaking letters informing the next of kin that the battle is forever ended for their husband or son. Not until this was done was there time for reflection. What about those who live through such an experience? What happens to them? Combat is both a terrifying and an exhilarating experi- ence. The pressure of combat intensifies the whole range of human emotions. Men in the strain of battle hate intensely, love intensely, fight intensely, and at the same time exhibit intense compassion for their buddies. Friendships are for- ever solidified. A spirit of camaraderie develops which is un- like anything else. No one thinks of himself as a hero. Afterwards, each one thinks only of how much more he could have done or should have done. Whatever he did, it was not enough. He was there to do a job and at the time he did it as best he knew how. Rifiemen, mortar men, wiremen, machine gunners, corpsmen, platoon leaders, doctors, chaplains ac- cepted their role with only one thought and prayer. Lord, give me the strength to do my job as well as possible. Afterward, whatever was done never seems to have been sufficient. Chaplain Lyons said concerning the evacuation of the dead and wounded from Reno, It was like the blind leading the blind. Some could not see, so others car- ried them along and held them up. Many of the men couldn't bring their stretchers off the hill. An observer says that through the maelstrom of flying metal and destroyed life went the chaplain and his 20-man crew -cooks, clerks, radiomen, messengers, supplymen, truck drivers, and mess waiters, but all Marines? It was their job to save the remnants of the unit that had faced a thousand Chinese troops. -172-

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A chaplain recalled to duty from his civilian parish finds that there is little here in Korea to remind him of the vast sweep and scope of the fast moving actions of World War II days. The front lines facing no-man's land extend for miles up and down hills, winding like the Great Wall of China across rolling terrain, rice paddies and great jagged peaks. The men live in sand bagged bunkers, two, three, and four to a bunker. The architecture and innovations in these dwellings depend upon the ingenuity of the occupants- and the American young men have never lacked in original- ity and imagination. Some of the bunkers are veritable bear traps and pitfalls of gadgets, latches, stoves, collapsible bunks, pinup pictures and the ever present supply of C-ration cans mixed with a ready stock of hand grenades. Prac- tically all bunkers have some type of stove for heating and coffee making. In most cases one hot meal a day is carried up to the lines or troops are brought down in reliefs to ad- vance mess tents. The chaplain fmds that his congregation on the line does not lead a safe and comfortable life. These men are harassed by rats and insects to say nothing of mud or the reddish colored Korean dirt. In spite of all this the morale of the troops on the front lines is the best in the service. It is here that one enjoys that peculiar feeling only experienced, unfortunately on the field of battle, the feeling that everyone is concerned with taking care of the other person. Such great passages as Greater love, hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend, becomes a beautiful common experience. Marines will not be stopped from go- ing out under fire to get a buddy. None complain if they have to carry a friend a great distance to the forward aid bunker. As for the battle actions, they are usually localized strug- gles involving squads, platoons and companies, sometimes battalions. However, the size of the units fighting is not a measure of their bitterness as far as the individual is con- cerned. The actions that carry up steep, 60 slopes in face of artillery and mortar fire and the desperate last stands of small units on outposts are as grim in their ways as any- thing the Marines witnessed on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, or Saipan. Many of the actions consist of night patrols and ambushes well forward of the lines, fought out in the dark at conversational range with both sides making desperate attempts to capture prisoners. Then again there are the quiet periods of waiting, listening, but little action for days or weeks at a time, and then it may break wide open. Chaplain James C. Moore, Methodist, describes his experiences in the Reno and Vegas operations by saying, The Chinese began an assault on these positions just at dusk, preceded by a tremendous artillery and mortar barrage which was to be numbered in the thousands of rounds. Such an assault meant casualties, so the chaplains gathered in the aid station at lst Battalion. The first casualties were already there, having been hit in the battalion command post itself. Shells were still coming in intermittently, so each man had his eye on the nearest hole. The wounded were taken care of, put on ambulances, and sent back to the medical companies in the rear. The doctors, the corpsmen, and the chaplains, settled down in foxholes to wait for the first load of casualties to come from the line. Everyone knew that the night would not be used for sleeping. Those waiting at battalion aid pieced together what news they had. Outpost Reno had been overrun, and all the men on it were lost-Vegas had been taken-all the men were lost or captured- Fox company, from the 2d Battal- ion, was going out to Reno-the outposts must be retaken- there were many casualties. And so they waited. The first wounded from the line came in. Bodies torn and bleeding-minds shaken from the incessant pounding they had received. The doctors worked quickly-putting on bandages-giving life-saving albumin-directing the corpsmen. The chaplains knelt over the men. The priest heard confessions and gave absolution-the Protestant chap- lains prayed with them-Mall trying to comfort men whose bodies were suffering. And the casualties continued to come. Some of the men had no wounds on their bodies, their tags having only one word- concussion. These men were wounded in their minds. They needed rest and sleep to wipe away the shock which had numbed their minds to reality. Some were shaking uncontrollably-some muttered words without meaning-but most just sat and stared-their eyes blank-seeing nothing. The doctors asked the chaplains to take care of the men suffering from concussion, for the seriously wounded were demanding all their attention and skill. Then, the chap- lains began a process which became all too familiar in the days which followed. The less serious cases were led away to places where they could sleep, the more serious were taken to one side and held for the doctor's examination when the rush slackened. The human mind can take great pres- sures, up to a certain point, and these men had passed that point. On the outposts, the fighting continued, while in the rear areas, all efforts were turned towards assembling enough men and material to drive the Chinese from our old positions. The coming of day brought to light many things. The supply tent near battalion aid, had received a direct hit from an enemy shell, but of all the medical supplies stored there, only a bottle of poison ivy lotion was broken. Around the aid station was the evidence always left by the wounded, blood-soaked clothing-torn and muddy-gaping helmets- empty boots, all bearing the individual imprint of their for- mer owners. The Marines began to send more men out to Vegas, so the chaplains had another task to perform. They hurried to the areas where the men disembarked from trucks, before be- ginning the long trek out to the hill. There, if time allowed, short services were held, and at the very least the Navy padres had prayer with the men. Whatever hour the men went out, the chaplains tried to be there-from early in the morning, until late at night. One day ran into another, the fight went on without let up. All through the days and nights, the wounded con- tinued to pour in. Men became groggy from lack of sleep, and the few minutes they managed to spend napping, only served to emphasize their need for real rest. The infantry went out to Vegas, were relieved, only to go out again. Men lost all sense of time. You know the rest of the story. Vegas was retaken, and 171 -

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V Chaplain Edward Kelly, Roman Catholic, is re- ported 5 holding the services on Palm Sunday for the veterans of Outpost Vegas by John Casserly. The reporter records. I looked about the small, windblown tent at the faces of these young men. Some of their lips trembled out swift, short prayers. Others had their heads bowed, almost rest- ing them on the backs of crude wooden benches . . . A young leatherneck's field pants were ripped down the left leg from the hip to his ankle. The back of his right boot was cut away. He wiped bleary eyes on a sleeve that had hit the dirt many times. He walked to the Communion rail with a limp. Others followed .... After the service a sergeant asked, What about the men on Reno?,' . . . He quickly added: What about the last few men?'l They're all gone, I said. He looked away and put his helmet on and began walk- ing down the steep hill . . . Shortly after the battle a Marine correspondent, T. Sgt. Bill Daum, described a memorial service con ducted by a chaplain, With the First Marine Division in Korea- Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The words echoed between the brown hills and were swept away on a chill spring wind. This was Korea. The men assembled with bowed heads were Marines-members of the 5th Regiment-gathered in a. memorial service for buddies killed in action on bloody Vegas. Most of these men had lost someone during the 3-day siege which saw first Chinese, then Marines, holding the battered knob. Anyone watching the hundreds of battle- hardened Leathernecks would find it hard to believe that 10 days before, this silent, prayful group had shattered one Red assault after another in a life and death struggle. Battalion commanders called off a somber roll: Marines who would never again answer up at a muster. These were the dead. Three volleys rang out and were lost on that same chill wind which took the chaplain's prayer. Then came Taps , the finale in this drama of battle, its emotions and men. Two chaplains were released from duty with the Marines in June and were presented with awards? The first was Chaplain John P. Byrnes who was awarded the Bronze Star with a Combat UV. His citation reads in part, When elements of the regiment were sommitted to the main line of resistance and subjected to intense enemy ac- tion, he traveled over roads that were under constant enemy ' In the Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 March 1953. ' These awards are noted here because of their application to this period. observation administering both spiritual and physical aid to the wounded. Disrcgarding his personal comfort, he made continuous daily visits to men on the front line exerting every effort to render spiritual guidance to those in need of his services. Often, whenever patrols and raids were con- ducted forward of the main lines, he would spend long hours awaiting their return to be of whatever assistance he could.' The second was Chaplain Gerald E. Kuhn who received the Commendation Medal with the authori- zation of a Combat HV, concerning this award was the following statement in part, He provided moral and spiritual guidance and comfort to the personnel of the regiment and during periods when the unit was engaged in extensive combat operations, he disre- garded his personal safety and comfort in order to assist in caring for the sick and wounded. Although frequently ex- posed to the hazards of enemy small arms, mortar and ar- tillery fire, fhel helped evacuate the wounded and tendered spiritual consolation and peace to the severely injured. Chaplain Walter Nordby, who was involuntarily re- called to active duty, wrote, I have learned much more during this tour in Korea and Pendleton than I did all during the last war. I am sold on the Marine Corps 100 percent. My ministry has surely been a rich one with the Marines. In reserve my Character Guidance lectures were very well received with good discus- sions following. After the word got around that I wasn't trying to deliver sermons I even had the company command- ers and platoon leaders attending. Things like that made me feel like a part of the fighting team. It was at Easter time that Chaplain Matthew Strumski crusaded for Peace in Korea by traveling with an officially consecrated Pilgrim Virgin Statue sent from the Bishop of Fatima, Portugal. Chaplain Samuel Sobel, Jewish Chaplain, was de- tached from the Division on 13 April. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his activity. His citation states in part, Carrying out frequent trips to the front lines, he imparted strength and peace of mind to the troops throughout many days and nights while under heavy enemy artillery and mor- tar fire. Conscientious in his devotion to the fulfillment of his mission, he ministered to the spiritual needs of the wounded and dying at the front lines, forward aid stations and medical companies of the division. His inspiring efforts, resourceful initiative and unswerving devotion to duty throughout reflect the highest credit upon Lieutenant Sobel and the United States Naval Service' 'This chaplain was also awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained 27 February 1953. sThe Purple Heart was also awarded for wounds sus- tained on 29 March 1953. -173-