United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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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-

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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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lthemj to the Masan Seminary which was forced to leave Seoul. There were about 90 students and 10 teachers and they were attempting to carry on their classes in various homes and churches. In order to realize any shelter from these eight tents, we placed four tents over four in such man- ner that the bullet holes would not be in the same places. Under these the seminary was able to carry on its work for another month until it was moved to a former Japanese Temple. He also tells of the remodeling of the churches men- tioned above but states that the Methodist Church had been destroyed by fire. We gave an offering to either one of the churches, the orphanage, the sem- inary, a kindergarten, or the Korean hospital. He states that his unit, the 1st Amph. Traction Battalion raised 31,396 for these causes. In Chaplain Austinis monthly report of 30 July 1951 of the Chapel Fund it was indicated that the of- ferings were given to the Reverend Kim Chang Ho, president of the local pastorls organization, for dis- tribution among refugees, school children, and orphans. Chaplain Rice adds color to ones view of Korean life by telling of the . . . festival of the eighth moon and the town of Masan- like other towns in Korea-would celebrate the harvest with 3 days of festivity. To us Americans it seemed strange to see this type of Thanksgiving Day. The fields of grain were ready for cut- ting. The stems of high grass weighted with grains of rice waved gently in the paddies. Sorghum stood, with bent tas- sle, like the blossoming corn at home. Children stood guard over every terrace-acting as live scare crows. Here was a harvest yet to be taken. Masan has something to be grateful for. The path of war has not shattered the mud walls of its homes. The guerillas are not active in this area. The military salvage points give the refugees a great deal of work. The people seem ever to be on the go-either to market or home again-but they realize little for all their work. Problems face this harbor town. Sewage and garbage disposal seem to be nonexistent-or perhaps it is that the open sewers were adequate when the town was smaller. . . . To make the festival of the eighth moon a better day-to show that we Marines noticed their sorry plight-a group of Marines decided to do something. We could brighten the day for the most abandoned at least on this festival. Clothing had been sent from the States and By this time we knew fairly well the need of the people. The directors of the homes of old ladies, for orphans, for the refugees, know that the chaplain will listen to their re- quests. By this time we had a list of all the asylums in town. So one fine day off we went. Captain Davis, six Marines and the chaplain headed for the neediest homes.', Under the bridge there lived some 38 women, as many men again, and children. In all about S0 people lived under that bridge. The roof was good, if a little damp: it was a concrete bridge. The floors of the shacks underneath were more scanty: they were drafty, and would let in the flow of water when the stream would rise. The Marines went to each woman and presented her with a bundle of clothing--trying meanwhile to avoid a stampede. Then we went off to the refugee centers. They live in tents. By now the tentage has faded under the sun and has been beaten by the weather. No longer does it keep out the rain. In an area 20 by 20 there will be 8 families housed. We brought the truck in close to a building allowing room for a single lane of persons. When the women came through that lane they could not stampede the Marines. By the time we had given out the bundles a few had caught on to the idea that they could crawl under the truck and beat the line. Next we went down to the beggars' center. Before we reached this place we sent our interpreter ahead to speak to the boss and tell him what would happen. One Marine spotted a dirty old beggar, crouched against a fence. He brought her a bundle. She took it with joy and sorted its contents. Right before our eyes she changed into the clothing. She was very modest about the whole thing. A person in the latest beach tent could not have changed clothing better. One Marine said: I'll never forget that sight till my dying dayf' At the old ladies' home the poor old folks came out to meet us. These little people greet you like grandma on Mother's Day. They will work these pieces of clothing over. At the end this clothing will meet the Korean size and style. We did not hesitate to leave old overcoats and those old kimonos, night gowns and house dresses here. They will all be used. The old ladies once asked for a sewing machine. Now I see why. . Up to the orphan asylums we drove. The collectionsi donated at the Catholic and Protestant services on Sundays had helped these places. In one place the Sunday collection was enough to put in a radiant heating system Cfor S50 the Koreans can install such a system: they merely have a small stove at a very low angle on one end of the house. As the Hue rises, it proceeds diagonally upward under the floor, so that the flue rises at the other end of the house. Meanwhile the heat of the Hue will heat stones under the floor and provide the heat.j As a result of our visits to these orphan homes the children knew us. They put on a little show for us. We left them sweaters and whatever little bit of childrenls clothing we had. The festival was a happier day-for the orphans, house girls, people living under the bridges, beggar centers, refugee In all, some 750 bundles were given out-clothing for an estimated 2,000 people. And the Marines were happy in this task. When asked why his eyes were so red one Marine said: 'Tm allergic to the dust we pick up in the warehouse when we opened those bags: but I love this job.', Most likely these poor people we helped were amongst the people who could not afford to buy a ticket for the arena. That afternoon we saw a thousand people or more peeping over the fence watching the ox fight, a mild Korean custom. centers- and many more. Another city in this area was Chinhae. It was here that the PIEDMONT left gifts of money and clothing according to Chaplain Harold F. Symons. 216-