United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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these were active from time to time in the program of the chaplaincy. Chaplain C.'E. Blackler, Baptist CND , performed training duty at Yokosuka as did Chaplain Worth C. Grant, Baptist. In addition to these, Chap- lain Stanton R. Wilson, Presbyterian QUSAQ, began serving as a missionary in Korea at Andong in Jan- uary 1953. Orphans Adopt Marines There were some children that did not want to stay in an orphanage, but persisted in staying at Marine encampments. Chaplain Fenstermacher tells of such a case, One cold night in December 1952 several of our hospital corpsmen heard someone crying outside the fence around our compound, near the sick bay. They called the officer of the day and me, and we went out to investigate. It was a small Korean boy, barefooted, bareheaded, and with only an old burlap bag covering his body for clothing. We took him into the sick bay for examination. 'No part of his body was frozen, but his body temperature was a great deal below nor- mal. The corpsmen fed him and kept him over night in a warm bed, and in the morning my clerk, Sergeant Tracey, and I found him a home in one of the orphanages. He was a refugee from the combat area and didn't know what had hap- pened to his parents or where they were. Later on, but still during the winter, another small Ko- rean boy was taken in under similar circumstances at one of our firing batteries. The Marines kept him and cared for him for a few days, and liked him so well that they wanted to adopt him as the Battery Mascot. However, it was against the policy of the command to have Koreans as mascots. It was felt that if we opened the door to one, more would surely follow and the practice might get out of hand, and that it actually would be a disservice to the mascot in the long run, since living with the Marines would make him become used to a way of life and a standard of living which would make it extremely difhcult to readjust to the Korean way of life after the Marines were gone, and would tend to keep him from attending school. Accordingly, I was called upon to find a place for the boy, now known as Sammy to the Marines, in an orphanage. This I did. But within 3 days Sammy was back at the bat- tery. Upon questioning him through an interpreter we found that he didn't care for the meals served at .the orphan- age nor did he appreciate the discipline and the attendance at school required of him. The diet at an orphanage hardly could compare with the menus served in our mess halls nor did it include the large amount of American candy and chew- ing gum which Sammy received as mascot. As for discipline, by comparison there was none for Sammy with the Marines. So he ran away from the orphanage to return to the battery. Two more times I took Sammy to an orphanage, and each time he returned within a few days. Finally, I made arrange- ments for the boy to be taken to the headquarters of the lst Marine Aircraft Wing, about 90 miles from Pusan, there to be taken in by the Marine Memorial Orphanage which is supervised by and supported by Marines. There Sammy made his adjustment, and seemed to be content to stay. He was still there and doing well when I left Korea. Naturally by the time we found Sammy a home where he would stay, everybody in the Battalion knew him or at least about him and was interested in the final disposition of the case. So we ran an article in the battalion newspaper en- titled Sammy Adopts the Marinesf' in which we covered the history of his case. A number of chaplains tell similar experiences. Distribution It was not always easy to get supplies to the needy, Chaplain Ralph H, Walter, Presbyterian CUSAD Chalice for Korean Church. Maj. Joseph P. Cushing, Commanding Ofhcer of the 2d Motor Transport Battalion, Camp Lejeune, presents a gold chalice to Chaplain Martineau to be delivered to the Immaculate Conception Church which he helped to rebuild in KalkO-ni, Korea. MAG4Marine Orphanage-Keoksa-ki, Korea. An aerial view of the building and grounds of the orphanage supported by the Marines. r L iff xi 5 as f 230 - P

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if This Is School. It looks like tent city but it is part of thc Kumchin Primary School. The school was composed of but two small permanent buildings and the rest of the classes were normally held in these unheated tent-classrooms. As many as 80 children attend classes in each of these tents. Marinr-s of the 5th Regiment and Korean school officials are inspecting the school with a view toward improvement of facilities. brought food, clothing, firewood . . . lThel project lasted 14- weeksf' Kumchon The lst Marine Division occupied the Kumchon area on the west coast from March 1952 until August 1953. Of the 112,701 civilians in the area 69,369 were refugees and 319,755 suffering from causes other than land lossesf' The Civil Affairs group organized a 4-H Club, PTA, and Korean Young Men's Associa- tion. Aid was given in getting basic industrial plants into operation. Orphans were processed through the Civil Affairs Section and turned over to the Po Wha Orphanage at Seoul. The Division maintained seven refugee camps with the total population given as 14-,355. The two main relief organizations were the Federation Farmers Association, which was Korean and distributed grain for seed and relief, and UNCACK, which was the UN agency for the distribu- tion of grain and supplies for relief. This gives some idea of the broader relief program. More specifically Chaplain Vinson tells of the work which was done with the Presbyterian Mission of Kumchon. Particular interest was shown in its school which grew from 75 in January to 225 pupils by Au- gust. The Marines gave surveyed tents and fixed Harnmo box decking for additional school rooms. Some civilians were treated at the lst Corps, Civil Affairs, lst Marine Division Kumchon Hospital. An- other source tells one that the 7th Motor Transport Battalion donated and erected the Presbyterian Church at Kumchon. Toward the end of 1954 it was stated that 1,500 students were to be taught that year in the 3 buildings of the Kumchon Primary Schools constructed under the sponsorship of lst Battalion, 5th Marines. The school was said to be the largest of any of the Armed Forces Assistance to Korea Schools QAFAKQ to date.2' Otherr The Nam Buk Orphanage in Yongdongpo, and the Christian Children's Home in Anyang were aided by the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines and the 1st Service Battalion. There were numerous institutions that were aided by the Marines but not a great deal of information is available concerning them. Among these were the Catholic Orphanage at Anchoong, which cared for 125 children, St. Camellia's orphanage operated by French nuns, Childrenis Garden of Holy Mind at Bup Yong, an Orphanage at Wonju, and at Kecksa-ri and the Dong Dwang Orphanage which was almost fully supported by the lst Division. uOperation Uncle was a program led by the chap- lains of Marine units which had as its goal the adop- tionn of 3,000 orphan boys. Inactive Reserve Chaplains in the Far East Chaplain Whitman notes the presence of three inac- tive reserve chaplains in the Far East. At least two of 2' See p. 234. -229-

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Chung Im Protestant Church. This small church at Chung Im, Korea, was financed with gifts of marines. The Koreans spoke of it as Parker Memorial Church. Distribution of Scripture. Chaplain E. R. Barnes is pictured with Korean children who have just received a copy of the scriptures. states that many times I have lugged gear over the side only to have to lug it back to another port until I was able to find some kind soul who would deliver it to Korea. In addition to food and clothing there was the distribution of the Scriptures. Chaplain Taylor tells of giving Korean New Testaments to civilians and to Korean Marines serving with his unit. Chaplain Barnes distributed Bibles to Korean children. There was a call for Greek New Testaments by refugees on an island who had established a Bible class. Building Churches As has been mentioned before, a number of churches were built.22 It should be noted that Chaplain Rains helped in the design and building of a church, Chap- lain Horvath worked to open a Korean chapel and Chaplain Spohn lent a tent to a young minister so that he could organize a new church in a nearby community. And so it goes, some were temporary structures, others were rather impressive. One of them was the Chung Im Protestant Church which was financed by Marine gifts. Civilian Worship There were any number of contacts which chap- lains made in the conduct of worship services. To :ite a few, Chaplain Mulligan visited another island, Cheju-do, where prisoners were kept, and held serv- 22 The work of Chaplain Muller and .others has been previously mentioned. ices. In the case of Chaplain Martineau, he was adopted by a refugee group as their priest, since the regular came to them only twice a year. The Interpreter Very few chaplains could speak Korean, as a result great use was made of interpreters. One chaplain in answering his questionnaire spoke of his Uinterrupterf' Although this is probably a misspelling it is all too true. One preaches for a minute or two and then waits for the translation, and so it goes. Chaplain Wolfe used a Korean Marine Chaplain 5 Chaplain Capers had the services of a son of a Methodist Ko- rean pastor named Pak.2i' Chaplain Forney states that his civilian interpreter was introduced to Christianity, accepted Christ and was a great help to him. Almost entirely on his own the Korean learned to play the pump organ. Chaplain Crabtree says that it was the work of the Marines at an orphanage in Kang Wha Do that won his interpreter to Christianity. Were all the facts available, the story of winning Koreans, interpreters and others, to Christianity by the chap- lains would be quite revealing. For example, in the case of Koreans, Chaplain Muller lists 1,256 conver- sions 24 during his tour of duty. On Land and Sea Chaplains were in touch with Koreans aboard ship as well as on land. Chaplain Symons writes of two 25' Cp. pp. 232f. 2' In addition 106 American servicemen conversions are listed by this chaplain. 231 - M