United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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but there was no indication of what had become of the men on Reno. It was known that many of them had been killed and that perhaps a few had been captured. Among the men on Reno was a Navy Hospital corpsman from Fort Worth, Tex., named Thomas Waddill. About 2 weeks after the engagement Mrs. Waddill wrote to the regimental chap- lain of the 5th Marines stating that she had received a tele- gram from the Navy Department informing her that her her son was missing in action. Since there were no survivors from Reno it was not known what had become of any of the men. It was believed that most or all of them had died, although this information was not conveyed to her. The chaplain's closing sentence of his reply was, We unite with you in our prayer for peace and for safety of your son. Again Mrs. Waddill wrote a beautiful letter to the chap- lain in which she said, While we still hope, it is good to know too that Tom enlisted in the Navy, and also volunteered to go with Marines to Korea because he considered it his duty, that he had hospital training to offer. He believed the war worth while. In closing she stated, Our faith is in God, and in the ultimate goodness of his plansf' The chaplain was amazed to see Corpsman Thomas Wad- dill walk through the line on Thursday as a returned pris- oner of war. Even though Mrs. Waddill was immediately informed that her son was returned, the chaplain wrote to assure her that he was well and on his way home for a happy day of reunion. Such are the experiences of the chaplains at Freedom Village. Each man has his own story to tell. Chaplain Rice concludes, To hear them tell that they did try to gather for Divine Service, that many of them did pray every day shows that these men have the elements of free men in them. They have initiative in them: for even now they feel that others worse off than they should have been released before them land they so told the Commieslg that they wanted to make use of confession and communion, receive a new rosary, say a psalm of thanksgiving, or pray with their Rabbi- these are real men . . . These are the men whose eyes lighted up when the chaplain would tell them: This is 'Operation Little Switch'-We hope it is the start of 'Opera- tion Big Switch,-and the still bigger switch to the ways of Peace. Chaplain Rice seems to express it for all the chap- lains when he says, ult was the most touching thing in my life. Chaplains of the Division observe the Sabbath on every day of the week. Among the accounts of Con- tinuous Sabbath is the one given by Chaplain Rich- ard G. Hutcheson, Jr., which he calls Sunday Comes on Wednesday in Korea. Sunday comes on Wednesday at Easy Battery. The Prot- estant chaplain is a jeepborne circuit rider, with scheduled services at 13 different places each week. So Protestant church-goers at E Battery, 2d Battalion, 11th Marines, congregate at 3 o'clock on Wednesday afternoons. It makes little difference to them. Manning the 105-mm howitzers, light artillery workhorses of the lst Marine Division, is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week job. Days pass in nameless succession for men at war. A jeep, identified as that of the chaplain in appropriately ecclesiastical Old English script, rolls into the Battery area. The time is 1415 on Wednesday, 22 April 1953. For Chap- lain R. G. Hutcheson, Jr., one of the four chaplains serving the 11th Marines, this is the fourth stop of the day. He started the morning with an early, unscheduled visit to a Rockets Battery, where night before last one man was killed and several others injured in an operational accident. From there to D Battery for a 10:30 service and for lunch in the new mess tent Cincoming enemy artillery rounds showed an uncomfortable liking for the vicinity of the old one a couple of weeks agoll. Then on to Fw Battery for another service right after chow. And now UE. This will be thel chaplainis last service of the day, but there is a Bible classl tonight at the CP of another battalion. Easyis guns are quiet now, but the first glance shows that everyone is hard at work on the parapets and bunkers. Winter weather took its toll of sandbags. They were service- able as long as they stayed frozen, but now spring has thawed them and the rotten ones must be replaced quickly, the bunkers rebuilt. It is hard, backbreaking work. The chap- lain makes the round of the gun positions, stopping briefly to chat with the men as they work. If someone has a prob- lem to talk over with him an appointment is arranged after the service. At Gun No. 1 work on the parapet has been completed and several of the men are taking a break. The chaplain sits down to visit. S. Sgt. Stuart H. Floyd of Chester, Ga.-a member of the First Baptist Church there- wonders if the chaplain has heard how many sick and wounded Marines have been returned at Panmunjom so far. What about their physical condition? What have they said about the treatment they received from the Chinese? The talk goes on from there to a discussion of the possibility of a truce, and then to rotation. All topics lead eventually to rotation! It is 10 minutes till 3, and the chaplain walks up to the mess tent, now converted into a chapel. Sergeant Floyd, a regular churchgoer, says he will be on up in a few minutes. A look inside the tent shows that everything is ready. Pfc. Kenneth L. Terrell of Des Moines, Iowa, a future Baptist minister and now a very capable chaplain's assistant, has been hard at work. The portable altar kit has been brought in from the jeep and arranged on a mess table at one end. Benches have been placed in front of it, between the tables. The folding organ is open, in its place to the left of the altar. Hymnals are on the benches. Pfc. Edward J. Evans, of Trenton, NJ., has arrived early for a few words with the chaplain before the service starts. Last Wednesday Eddie was baptized, and a letter is now on the way to Ewing Township Presbyterian Church in Tren- ton, asking that he be received into membership. His wife is already a member, and he hopes, sometime after next Octo- ber, to walk into that church with a brand new baby to be baptized! Eddie has been reading his Bible regularly, and he has come across a passage in St. Matthew that he doesn't entirely understand. After a few minutes' discussion its meaning is cleared up. The congregation is arriving now. As the men take their seats rifles are laid aside, but kept close at hand as regulations require. Attendance is small today. Most of the regulars are present, though. S. Sgt. Philip L. Foss, of the Elm St. Methodist Church in South Portland, Maine . . . Phil was 178-

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Thomas H. Waddill is given communion by Chaplain Vaughan Lyons at Freedom Village. Waddill was captured by the Communists in the Reno action. ,they said we don't know what you are doing. Since there are captive priests admittedly, and these could have been made available to the Catholic men, it is apparent that these men were deprived of an essential element of their religion-namely, the administration of the sacraments by legitimately ordained priests. Some of the men made their own crosses and cruci- Fixes by melting down the metal from their toothpaste and shaving cream tubes. There are a number of per- sonal accounts given by chaplains. Chaplain Rice tells how, One man really touched me. He sat down at the coffee table, I introduced the Protestant chaplain and then my- self as the Catholic priest. He told us that he had not been to the Sacraments the whole 2 years in prison. He said his rosary had been taken from him. He asked for a rosary and also to go to confession and communion. He then looked around, his eyes twinkled and he said: Gee, I'm free. And then he filled up, sobbed heavily, and after a few sobs said Gee, Father, Ilm sorry I'm cryingf, I said That's all right-I'm with youf, And I'm sure those others sitting at the table with him were crying too. The Division chaplain, Chaplain Meachum, stepped up behind the man, braced the manls shoulder and said: i'All right son, come along and you'l1 be all right. We all stood up and directed him to the chapel. I took him by the arm and led him to the chair for confession. He was then ready for communion. As he sat down to make his thanksgiving I gave him a rosary. He asked me to put it around his neck. I suppose his feeling was: On my neck it's more my own. Also, the rosary is an- other one of the signs we use to indicate the members of the union of communion of saints. As he stood up I put my arms around his shoulder and led him to the man who was to take him to the Army hospital just outside our tent. I hope to see you back in the Statesf, I said in farewell. Other Roman Catholic Chaplains were also serving. Chaplain Elmer F. Ernst was with Chaplain Rice. Chaplain Andrew J. Barry was on hand to as- sist where the British Commonwealth men were being processed. Chaplain Thomas Edwards assisted with other UN troops. Two other chaplains, Edward Kelly and John T. Moore participated. The Jewish chaplain attached to the Division at this time was Chaplain Murray I. Rothman. I-Ie worked along with the other chaplains in both g'Little and Big Switchf' Chaplain Lyons adds this story, About a month before Marines of the 5th Regiment were engaged in a heavy battle for three forward outposts. Out- post Reno and Vegas were completely overrun by the Com- munist forces. A few Marines were recovered from Vegas, -177-

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'ery active in his home church, President of the Youth Fel- owship at one time, and secretary-treasurer of the Sunday lchool. Cpl. Allen N. Turner, of Statesville, N.C.-former iunday School superintendent at Pleasant Grove Presbyte- 'ian Church. Cpl. Samuel M. Baer, member of the Lu- heran Church in Watsonville, Calif. Cpl. Samuel B. Fielder, lr., of Bel Air, Md., where he belongs to Mount Zion Meth- ,dist Church, Cpl. Gayle E. Bracken of Mundy's Corner, 'a., member of Pike Brethren Church. Pfc. Harrison C. Grimes--not a church member at present, but thinking of oining--a future Baptist. The service opens, as usual, with hymns requested by the nen. Today the first request is for Jesus Calls Us, O'er he Tumultf' Then Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus , 'KI Qove to Tell the Story , Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Al- nighty g and 'KRock of Ages, Cleft for Me. Nobody asks 'or The Old Rugged Crossi' today, although that one is eldom overlooked! Time for hymn singing is about up, and the more formal Jart of the service begins with a responsive reading. Today's .election is entitled Trust in the Lord -part of the 63d Psalm. During the reading the guns of the Battery, silent 1ntil now, open up with a K'Battery one. Temporarily the foices are drowned out. The worshipers are conscious of the 'act that outside the tent their buddies in the parapets are still fighting a war, that a few thousand yards to the north tre the Chinese Communists who will be on the receiving end mf the rounds that just left the guns, that a few miles to the Nest sick and wounded prisoners are being exchanged at Pan- nunjom, that truce talks will reopen there on Saturday, in 1 renewed attempt to end the war which is all around- Nhich, in this service of worship to Almighty God is so far xway, yet so very close. The service continues with prayers, 1 Scripture reading from the Book of Job. The chaplain, ,n his sermon, talks about the way Job met tragedy and suf- fering in his life. He knows that one of the buddies of the fnen present was killed 2 weeks ago and that they felt it deeply, he knows that before rotation date rolls around oth- ers may be touched by tragedy. The sermon is designed to show that in a firm faith men find their greatest strength to meet life's hardships. The men sing Faith of Our Fathers as the service closes, and as always they sing heartily. After the benediction they pick up their rifles, shake hands with the chaplain, and return to the guns. Ser- geant Foss sticks around for a minute. He has just received the first pictures of his brand new daughter-taken 12 hours after she was born, on April 3d-and he wants the chaplain to see them. He is very proud of her, and he has a right to be. A few minutes and the church is folded up, packed away in the jeep. The tent is once more a mess hall. Sunday is over, and it is Wednesday again at Easy Battery. But for a short time 11 men, from 10 States, from 7 denominations, have been a Christian Church. It happens hundreds of times every day, in the lst Marine Division and all across the Korean front. It is a commonplace, a normal part of service life. But it is a source of pride, too, this knowledge that wherever the American Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Ma- rine is, there the Christian Church is. About this time Chaplain Kenneth D. Killin was awarded a Letter of Commendation for the period 26 November to 20 April 1953. Chaplain Killin is de- scribed as one who constantly disregarded his personal safety and comfort in order to minister aid and com- fort to the wounded . . . His determined efforts and selfiess devotion to duty served as a constant inspira- tion to all who observed him. The Ist Marine Air Wing The chaplains continued their Hne work at the 1st Marine Air Wing. There were few changes in the Roster of Chaplains. Chaplains F. P. OiMalley and F. Cloonon, Roman Catholics, were MAG 12 Chapel CExteriorj. This chapel was located at K-6, south of Seoul. Note the sandbags on the roof placed there to protect the roof against high winds. 535332 0-60--13 - MAG 33 Chapel. Using flat stone from the ocean floor on the east coast of Korea this chapel located at Pohang CK-3D has a striking appearance. The bell was specially cast in Taegu and was paid for by selling fertilizer bags from the air strip.