United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Methodist, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist, and Roman Catholic Missions. They had constant calls for clothing, never seemed to have enough to go around, and they either knew the people asking for clothing or else often investigated the family before giving fan important point, since Koreans have been known to feign extreme poverty, accept clothing, and then sell it at the marketj. Other clothing we took directly to orphanages and to the Old Folks, Home at Tongnae, near Pusan. . . . H and S Battery held a Christmas Party to which 60 orphans from the Cross Orphanage were invited. In addition to clothing, canned and packaged foods, candy, and toys were given to the orphans. At the same time, all the firing batteries held parties to which they invited the chil- dren of the villages located near them and gave them similar gifts. The children of the Cross Orphanage were trained to put on a show consisting of tumbling, singing, and skits. They staged their show at each of our batteries at least twice, always receiving an offering in Korean money for the support of the orphanage besides other gifts. Not all of the relief items necessarily arrived at their destination. Chaplain Philip P. Shannon, Roman Catholic, states that several cases of powdered milk, . . , destined for an orphanage in Pusan and transported from the States aboard the GENERAL STURGIS, were seized by Japanese sentries in Yokohama as possible black market merchandise. The reporting chaplain was simply'l attempting to leave the milk with the port chaplain, Yoko- hama, for the first available 'shipment to Pusan. Since the GENERAL STURGIS was departing immediately for Inchon, a frantic call was made to the port chaplain's office. However, time did not allow the black marketing chaplainu to see the outcome of the incident nor has he ever found out what became of the skimlac. Chaplain Preston C. Oliver, Presbyterian CUSD, in the USS VULCAN met a young Korean who was attending the seminary in Pusan who became his interpreter. Later the chaplain arranged for the man to attend seminary in the United States. There were a number of recipients of relief goods. These included the Christian Social Service Center CMethodistj, the Chief of Chaplains of the ROK Navy for further distribution and others. The CON- SOLATION aided the Maryknoll Clinic. One of the relief projects was 4'Operation Goodwill which was put on by the MT. MCKINLEY. Her Chap- lain, Thomas M. Gibson, reports that Clothing was collected on the west coast and delivered to the Hope Hospital in Pusan, a hospital sponsored by the Re- formed Church of Holland, Mich. Chaplain Ken- neth W. Carlson tells of ships making contributions to Pusan after her disastrous fire. M asan About 30 miles to the west of Pusan there was another city which was assisted by our forces. It was the city of Masan. Chaplain William A. Rennie tells of the winter of 1950-51. The Medical Bat- talion was invited by the neighboring Presbyterian Church to use their sanctuary for worship. For the Christmas Eve service, one of the Catholic corps- men volunteered to create a manger-scene tableaux with about 10 of the children of the church. Everything went off fine, as by candlelight, with the Korean congrega- BATAAN Delivers Clothing. Crates of clothing are brought on Navy trucks to the Mary- knoll Sisters Clinic at Pusan. Lt. Joseph Holtzer Qleftj , Chaplain John J. Coffey fcen- terj, and Cmdr. Ralph W. Arendt of the BATAAN pose with children at the Sae Dul Children's Home in Pusan. They helped deliver over 7,500 pounds of clothing brought by the ship from San Diego to the Far East. 214- l nr

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Ewha University. Dr. Helen Kim, president of Ewha University expresses her appreciation for the aid given by U.N. troops in Korea at services at the lst MAW. S Ofg QF ll ff it Dedication of the 11th Marine Memorial School for Girls. Bishop Choi delivers a brief message during the dedication of the school at Masan to which the 11th Marine Regiment contributed S12,000. noted the seminary had only two squad tents and nondescript shacks constructed of surveyed material given by the military. It was here that they lived and studied. OH'erings were taken at the services of the 1st MAW and given to the president of the seminary. As the only institution licensed by the government to grant a B.D. degree, they continued under these adJ- verse conditions to turn out ministers for work in their country. Another institution that had moved to the Pusan area from Seoul was Ewha University, one of the old- est institutions of higher learning for women in Asia. It, too, was aided by the Marines. Later the New York Times in an editorial of 18 June 1956 called attention to the 70th anniversary of the university and stated that it had an enrollment of 5,000 students. It further stated that gifts from the United States made possible the dedication of a new building and facilities this weekn at Seoul. Clothing was given to orphanages and Light- housen-the Korean organization for work with the blind. The existence of the Korean Blind School in Pusan has previously been noted. The USS BATAAN delivered 4 tons of clothing to a transport for transshipment to Korea. Chaplain John J. Coffey was among those who accompanied the ship- ,ment to Pusan. It was thought that this ship was the first to collect and deliver a large load of clothing to Korea. Distribution was made to the Maryknoll Sis- ters Clinic, the Sae Dul Children's Home and the Cen- tral Presbyterian Church. The REPOSE gave 82,000 to Pusan Orphanage the winter of 1952. Chaplain Fenstermacher tells of the situation in Pusan during his stay there, There was no combat in the Pusan area during the period I was there. It was a rear area, and since it is a large city it became one of the main havens for refugees and was filled to overflowing with people. The overflow built themselves makeshift shacks of any kind of scrap materials they could gather-wood, tin, discarded beer cans---in any open spaces they could find in alleyways, along the edges of fields or the banks of the river, and on the hillsides. Then came the prob- lem of making a living for the family in a city already over- staffed with employable people. The orphans took refuge in the many orphanages which had been set up in and around the city. These were filled, but they always seemed to be able to make room for more. Some orphaned children roamed the streets and slept wherever they could find room, such as at the railroad depot or under the piers along the waterfront. On inquiry I found that many of these did this by choice, they had been admitted to orphanages, but would not submit to the discipline and attendance at school demanded by the orphanages, or else felt they could get more food by begging or by some other means of their own. So they left the orphanages. Anything we could do would be only a drop in the bucket among so many poverty-stricken people. But as a battalion we tried. We had our personnel write home to ask for used clothing to be distributed to help keep these Koreans warm during the winter. The response was very good. Packages of clothing began to arrive within several weeks, and con- tinued to arrive from then on. As much as possible I had the men themselves deliver the clothing for distribution to the needy. Since all the firing batteries were located near some village, some of the clothing went to these villages to be given to the needy in the villages, the deputation of Ma- rines often consulting with the head men of the villages to determine the needy. Other clothing went to the Baptist, -213-

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,Q wi JSMC Marines Discuss School. The future of the llth Marine Regiment Memorial School in Korea is discussed by, left to right, Lt. Col. R. D. Heinl, Jr., executive officerg Chaplain Leo F. Rice, M. Sgt. 1. D. Sharpe, M. Sgt. R. M. Tarltong and Col. James E. Mills, com- manding officer of the regiment. tion as our guests, the choir sang Silent Nighti' and the lifelike tableaux was posed in a corner of the church. Corpsmen and Marines placed their gifts at the foot of the cradled-babe. A very effective service of worship and dedication was the result. Incidentally, a few days later, the pastor of the church, in order to show the appreciation of his people for the gifts given to the church, presented me with about 180 pounds of roasted peanuts for the church men and sick patients. Chaplain Bingamanix affirms that the offering taken from January to May 1951 resulted in the eventual establishment of a Catholic parochial school. The Protestant offerings were distributed to the seven na- tive congregations. It was through these offerings that the Methodist and the Presbyterian congregations were enabled to renovate the interior of their sanc- tuaries. The parochial school referred to above was built by the 11th Marines and was called the 11th Marine Memorial School for Girls, for St. Joseph Catholic Schoolj Hin memory of our Regiment's dead and disabled. Chaplain Kulinski credits the build- ying of the school to the desire of the Marines to make amends for the devastating artillery damage suffered by the city. It is interesting to note that some of the funds contributed to this school came from the contri- 3 See p. 62f. bution of refunds on 'fcokew bottles. Chaplain Rice writes, The education problem is great. The children love to learn. There is a big beautiful school built by the 11th Marines in town: It is a middle school, for girls, and trains 500 girls between 12 and 17. There are several other middle schools and many grammar schools. But some of the classrooms are made of salvage tenting. One principal had a plan for a good school. The people were willing to help-but a hill occupied the spot. The Marines sent out bulldozers and leveled the place that would have taken several months by Korean methods. In another note Chaplain Rice states that the girls of the school put on a parade to show their apprecia- tion of the 512,000 contributed by the 11th . . Marinesf' This chaplain also tells of . . . a village of some 7,000 people right behind the stay- back-line. The interpreter helped us when we distributed candy and clothing. When I asked him if the people had any religion, he said: g'We are all Episcopaliansf' Monsignor Carroll at Pusan was able to send me a hundred bags of clothing from the NCWC. Chaplain Waters tells of aiding a seminary in Masan, In May 1951, I fsurveyedl eight shotup tents and gave 215-