United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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before.26 Chaplain Uber tells of good attendance from the 120 men attached to his unit. Chaplain Brosius tells us of Pak and Lee. It is presumed that it was the same man to whom Chaplain Capers made reference. The first mention of these two civilian la- borers was when they volunteered to leave North Ko- rea and embarked with the 1st Division from Hungnam in December 1951. Chaplain Brosius spotted Lee in his first service with the group be- cause of his beautiful baritone voice. He was used in the choir henceforth. Pak repaired an old smashed Japanese organ which he practiced upon assiduously. Both managed to be assigned to work in sick bay. Pak gave much of his life's blood for an American marine. In September 1951, during the battle for Hill 749, one of our men tripped off a Communist shoe box mine just a short distance from our battalion forward aid station. The enemy spotted the explosion, and began dropping mortar rounds into the general area. Without stopping to think twice of their personal safety, Pak and Lee grabbed a stretcher and ran through a mined area ahead of a corpsman. They began evacuating the marine, and in so doing Pak also set off a mine and was critically wounded. He lost a leg, was partially blinded and received many severe wounds in his efforts to assist one of our men. Lee remained with us as a faithful 20 In Ch. V of his book Wearing the Cross in Korea. assistant up until the time I left the lines. These two men were truly God's own, serving to the best of their ability where their duty called. Chaplain Felder obtained a series of phonograph records in the Korean language. These records in- clude hymns, scripture passages and sermons. As a result of these records several men volunteered to conduct further Korean services. As a result of these services, other Korean services were started in other units. Two of these units were C and DU Company of the lst Engineer Battalion. These were two outlying companies serving the in- fantry regiments on the lines. These services brought about a better understanding between the Koreans and the American servicemen as was evidenced in their contacts with one another. On Christmas at Midnight 1951 the Koreans worshipped at the midnight services with American personnel. At the conclusion of the midnight services practically all personnel in attendance walked to the side of a mountain where a public address system had been rigged previously. From here the Ameri- cans and Koreans sang Christmas carols together. They sang carols alternately, that is the Americans would sing one in English and the Koreans one in their native tongue. A solo was sung by a Marine major and a solo sung by a Korean Christian. A truly inspirational Christmas Serv- Final Tribute for a Korean. Taps is sounded at a funeral service conducted by Chaplain joseph Gallagher for a member of the Korean Service Corps who was killed in action while carrying supplies to frontline infantrymen of the 1st Marine Division. - 233 - .-N A '

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AJ --v Interpreter. Kim Hae Jong interprets for Chaplain John H. Muller as he delivers a Monday night sermon to his congregation of 200 at the Song Won Leper Colony. Joint Sunday Service. A Korean and an American Navy Chaplain join in conduct- ing religious services for American and Korean marines in Korea. ROK ensigns who were aboard a destroyer for train- ing. They expressed an interest in his religious min- istry as it might pertain to theml' and requested assistance in English grammar and speech. For 2 months they met and discussed these subjects. Chaplain Crabtree tells of meeting Lieutenant Colonel Choi, who was in command of a battalion of the Korean Marine Corps and who was a sincere Christian. In March 1953 Lieutenant Colonel Choi invited the chaplains and the commanding officers of the units in the area to attend a Korean Memorial Service. '6This service generated unity, understand- ing, and good will among Koreans and Ameri- cans . . . Chaplain Robertson for a time conducted services for the Korean Marine Corps Tank Company before they were assigned a Korean Chaplain. The services of Chaplain Ruleman held for an attached Korean Marine Tank Company are described as follows: . . . Seated cross-legged on immaculate mats with shoes removed and carefully lined along the center aisle, were 75 Korean Marines, among the toughest fighting men in the world. Captain O, commanding oHicer, had told them all men should be present and should remain quiet. He re- mained for the service and joined in the warm hearted singing from the United Nations Hymnals printed in both Korean and English. . . . Lt. Hong, the interpreter, was raised as a Presby- terian Christian who hopes to study in America after the war and return to Korea to build a new school. Chaplain E. F. Ernst made a trip of 160 miles by jeep twice a month to visit the island of Kangkwa to preach to the American troops attached to the 2d Guerilla Partisan Pact which was composed principally of North Koreans Fighting on the side of South Korea. The Korean Service Corps The Korean Service Corps was a quasi-military body consisting of inducted laborers organ-l ,ized in 1951 under the control of the ROK army. Prior to that time Koreans were hired directly for certain tasks in the U.S. military installations. The men of the Corps generally worked 10 hours per day and in emergencies 14 hours. A rest period of 24 hours was given every 15 days. The period of en- listment was for 6 months. The Corps was composed of men who failed to qualify for the arrned forces of Korea because of age or some other disability. Some remained in the organization after the 6 month's pe- riod because of the scarcity of employment on the outside. The lst Division had about 5,000 of the Corps attached to it and in addition hired 650 civilian work- ers. The main tasks of the members of the Corps were to carry supplies, evacuate the wounded, and to do general police or manual labor about the camp. Chaplain Capers in his work with the Corps secured hymn books with parallel English-Korean. Through the aid of Pak 25 a large church attendance was at- tained. Chaplain Muller notes the large percentage in his group that had not attended a Christian service cf.p. 231. A ' -232-

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Crazy Man, Crazy. This 'freal gonew troupe of pint-sized song and dance men is celebrating the dedication of Bong III Chon Primary School, one of the 14 projects completed by the lst Marine Division under the Armed Forces Assistance to Korea Program. ice. In the valley below were located several thousand American personnel among whom were patients in two forward hospitals. Schools Interest in the education of the children of Korea was doubtless the concern of many from the beginning of the conflict but it was not until 1953 that the Marines appear to have been able to set up a con- structive program of action. It was during this period that M, Sgt. John T. Cain became so touched by the needs of the children for education that he determined to investigate the matter. After talking with oFHcials at a school near his air base he attempted to change military funds into Korean currency to spend for children's school expenses. Not only was he able to convince the paymaster to exchange his money, but he also enlisted a few other contributors. Thus he was able to have three boys and six girls enrolled that had not been in school since 1950. The tuition was S6 per year per child. The idea caught fire and Cain had to put some Marines on the waiting list until he had screened more children. The second month Cain flew 30 missions and yet worked at his investigations. He said, HI plan to put five or six more children back in school next week, as soon as I can sandwich in trips to the schools between Hightsf' Shortly thereafter he was shot down over North Korea and listed as missing in action. Lt. William P. Lane picked up the leader- ship of the project and the number of children being educated in this manner rose to 20. It was the hope A 2311 of Lieutenant Lane to add 100 more pupils to the program before Christmas. It was grand news when f'Big Switchu brought the return of Sergeant Cain to the Marines. The Marine program had so developed that in No- vember of 1954 members of the 1st Division Head- quarters and the 5th Marines joined villagers in dedicating four new schools. The projects had cost about 330,000 and would provide facilities for 3,742 students. These schools brought to 14 the number of AFAK projects completed in the division area. The new schools included three primary schools at Chug- won-ni, Bong Ill Chon, and Kumchon. The latter was the largest with 1,500 students. The fourth school was the most advanced institution of learning spon- sored in the division area up till that time. It was the Munsan-ni Agricultural High School. It may be assumed that many other schools were as- sisted directly or indirectly. Une such project was to help the Chosen Theological Seminary to reestab- lish itself in Seoul. Books for the library and other items were sought and given according to Chaplain Schroeluke. It is recognized that this chapter gives but a glimpse of what was done for Korean civilians. Only tim will tell how lasting and how valuable the work o the American servicemen has been. It is beyond con- tradiction that it can not help but have its impact not: only in Korea but throughout the Orient. America will fight for freedom, but America also will lend helping hand to those who suffer from the ravages o war.