United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Korean Lepers. One hundred forty of the 300 patients of Son Ke Won Leper Colony crowd into their small church for Sunday services conducted by Chaplain Muller. The girl on the left is collecting the church offering. Operation Love. Chaplain Martineau shows Whang In Sun a part of a bolt of white English wool sent by the BOXER as a part of Opera- tion Love which brought over 30 tons of clothing to Korea. Chaplain Muller tells somewhat in detail his work at Ascom City and environs in his book 'SWearing the Cross in Koreafi S He restored the brick chapel there for worship which he calls second to none in Koreaf' Through the contributions of an aunt, Della Muller, the Hrst Christian church was erected in a Korean Veterans' Camp QWha Rangj. Chaplain Muller tells of the new building constructed for the Yaktai Church and a framed tent church for the Sixth Presbyterian Church at Inchon, and also for a new church at Ta-nam-lee. Chaplain Muller performed outstanding work with the leper colony at Song-Ke-Won, about 2M miles from Ascom City. At his first service he had 150 present. Through gifts of the men at Anscom Chapel and a group of Army personnel at Inchon Chapel and friends in the United States, together with a small gift from the lepers themselves, a chapel was con- structed and dedicated on 23 November 1952 with an attendance of 405. Chaplain Muller also conducted a successful work in the Prisoner of War prisons. Kim QMok san-nimj , Muller's interpreter, planned to become a minister and it was the ambition of the Ma- rines of Muller's unit to help him do so. Chaplain John W. Robb, when he went to Mem- phis from duty with MSTS, showed colored slides and because of the interest created in that U.S. city money 'lThe Society for Reformed Publications, Grand Rapids, 1954. See also p. 260. was sent to the Kae Sung Orphanage. The LOS AN- GELES also contributed to the Sung Kwang Orphanage which was established by Capt. Joseph Bolan, Jr., UNCACK representative in Inchon. One of the cleverest young hoodlums of the city was per- suaded by Bolan to recruit other boys to clean the ground for this orphanage and thus aided in its estab- lishment. Also noteworthy was 6'Operation Good Willi' which brought assistance to the Star of Hope Orphanage QCatho1icj. Chaplain Edward R. Martineau, Chairman of the Armed Forces Assistance to Korea Program, spurred by the success of his 1953 Christmas party set in motion his HOperation Lovew with mimeographed letters being sent to the United States. Beginning on the east coast with 60 barrels of clothing the operation ended in the fall with over 30 tons at Inchon harbor for distribu- tion by the chaplains of the 1st Marine Division? Seoul Chaplain Theobald, who had sailed into Inchon Harbor on the Hagship of the 7th Fleet for the libera- tion of Korea in 1945, states concerning the capital city, after seeing it again in 1955, HNow, the streets and buildings of Seoul bore little resemblance to the ones I saw in 1945. How could this little country ever recover from such complete destruction?,' Because of its size and importance Seoul had many 9 See also p. 64. -219-

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machine. The crew of his ship heard of this and four machines were obtained in Japan together with 19 bolts of cloth. Over and above this, materials were brought back for the use of missionaries. Chap- lain Richard Holmes in the ELDORADO spent many months at Inchon during which time he states that a great deal of work was accomplished among the refugees and the orphans. Food, clothing, and toys were supplied to two orphanages in Seoul, two in Inchon, and two in Pusan. In addition assistance was given to a hospital. The hospital ships, REPOSE and HAVEN, brought food, milk, sewing machines, spoons, bowls, etc. Chaplain O'Leary states that the HAVEN brought about 10 tons of supplies in Janu- ary l953 including in addition to the above: medi- cines and bedding. Forty boxes and burlap bags of supplies were brought over in 1954. Surveyed medicines were given to the clinics. A number of ships contributed to the Womanis Police Orphanage. Some of these were the GEORGE CLYMER, CONSOLATION, and the LOS AN- GELES. Letters of appreciation were received from many groups of which the one from this institution is typical, this civil war has made plenty of poor orphans who are lost their parents and warm cradle, they were wandered on the cold street during cold winter night, but now this orphanage fortunately have men like you who are very kind helper in the world especially UN force, We have feeling very thankful day and night fEnglish translation of the Koreanj. In addition Chaplain Black of the CONSOLA- TION speaks of interest in the work of the First Presbyterian Church of Inchon among widows and unwed mothers. A number of the chaplains of the lst Division speak of aiding Inchon orphans. Most of the ships mentioned above and units of the lst Division supported the Star of the Sea Or- phanage and hospital operated by the sisters of St. Paul. Parentless babies were cared for here. Most of the major equipment had been destroyed by the Red troops, but an up-to-date dispensary was able to care for most medical needs. The Catholic institution also cared for many older children. The story of a foundling is interesting. He was found on the dusty, war-torn streets of Inchon. He was temporarily cared for at the dispensary of the Army Service Command headquarters, commonly called '4Ascom City, from there he was transferred to The Star of the Sea where Chaplain Edward O. Riley became interested in the lad. Chaplain Riley of the POINT CRUZ brought the child aboard the CONSOLATION for a physical examination. It was after the examination that the examining doctor told the chaplain he wanted to adopt the child. Arrange- ments were made. The child was brought aboard the chaplain's ship for transportation but was sud- denly transferred to the transport GENERAL GAF- FEY to go to Seattle, much to the consternation of the carrieris personnel. Father Riley was temporarily de- tached from his ship to escort the baby to Seattle. Because the child was nameless he was called George Cruz Anscom. It was also at Inchon that St. Paul's Cathedral, which was badly damaged by the North Koreans when they occupied the city, was redecorated by the volun- tary contributions of money and labor by UN forces. A unique establishment was that of Inchon Sungyuk, on the island of Fushi fFussito, Fusshi-doj. When the Communist invaders entered Inchon they took over the buildings of the Inchon Christian Orphanage, which had been established in 1946 by Holiness Church Missionaries. The children were left to fend for themselves. Kwak Sun Yong, a Holiness mission- ary, picked some of them up, but he was caught be- tween enemy Hre. He finally brought them to the island where he and his wife took on the responsibility of caring for the group which consisted of 34 little boys in addition to his own family. The children learned gardening and fishing, both of which are im- portant vocations on the island. They also were given basic education by their parents The Family,, was found and mentioned aboard ship by a working party of the ST. PAUL which was sent ashore to set up a navigation rnarker. It was nearly an all hands evolutionl' in an attempt to aid the orphanage? Chaplain Faber H. Wickham lists the work done by the ST. PAUL for this group during the winter of 1950-51. Housing facilities were rebuilt, food, cloth- ing, and money were donated. Requests made to U.S. families for help, as in other instances, met with a fine response. The LOS ANGELES, in which Chaplain Organ 'Q was assigned, took over the project I from the ST. PAUL. There was also an assist from the TOLEDO according to Chaplain Vosseler. By this time the number of orphans had risen to 42. 5 See article entitled f'Armcd Forces Care Through CARE,l' U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. August 1955, vol. 81, No. 8, pp. 897ff. 5 An interesting side note concerning this chaplain is that he repairs watches as a hobby. His repair equipment was so bulky that when the question of his detachment came up, his commanding officer requested that he be retained until the ship came back to the States so that the equipment could more easily be removed from the vessel. This was granted. 7 This ship reports having aided 10 orphanages and hos- pitals in Korea.

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1 Severance Hospital. Chaplain Kenneth D. Killin visits the orphaned sick and crippled children at Severance Hospital. X relief problems. There were many institutions that tried desperately to cope with the needs. One of these was the Sam-Ae Children's Home. This orphanage had 365 children many of whom came from North Korea. It was located in an old Jap- anese Buddhist temple. The lst Division gave this group assistance. Severance Hospital was a recipient of aid from the MAW. Comdr. Calvin T. Doudna, chief medical oflicer, took a special interest in this institution, which had been founded in 1884- and is partially church supported. It had trained almost one-third of the doctors in Korea C1,300j and 500 nurses. Three invasions of the city had left its first modern hospital in shambles. Wiped out were the maternity ward, three nurses' residences, the auditorium, the main classroom of the medical school and other buildings. The situation was further complicated by the scar- city of usable equipment. The prewar bed ca- pacity of 150 had been built back to accommodate 66, but crowds, mostly destitute, appeared daily for help since the reopening of the facilities in 1951. Dr. Florence J. Murray stated nearly 125 patients are treated daily at the clinic. No one is turned away without aid . . . although we cannot afford all the medicines and supplies needed and considered necessary in a modern hospital? Some supplies were delivered by Commander Doudna and Chaplain Kenneth D. Killin. A number of the 1st Division chaplains speak of contact with Methodist missionaries. One was Dr. W. E. Shaw whose son had been a Naval Intelligence 220 -