United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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V einem, Worship at Sea. A weekday mass is held aboard the HELENA while in Korean waters. The officiating chaplain is John J. McGowan, Jr. chaplain. John J. McGowan, Jr., was relieved in the HELENA by Chaplain Jerome J. Sullivan in Septem- ber. Chaplain Benjamin J. Davis served in the JUNEAU from March 1949 to March 1951, 2 years being the. normal tour of ship-board duty. Chaplain Barnes sent to Chaplain Salisbury further information concerning naval activities in the Far East. He wrote: At Yokosuka the buildup is like a mushroom g something like 7,000 there now, and to go higher. Supply is bringing in staff to serve 10,000. The dispensary is now a hospital, the wings IformerlyJ occupied by dependents being rapidly re- converted to wards. By the end of September they expect to have a 2,000-bed capacity. There were 431 casualties there the day I arrived. He continued: At Sasebo the harbor is full of ships. It looks like Pearl lduringJ the last war. Chaplain McGann called a meeting on his ship the 7th. There were nine of us in attendance: McGann, Cook, Vaughan, Knapp, Wolf, Curry, Zoller, Meade, and myself. Chaplain Francis L. McGann, then Assistant Fleet Chaplain on the stafi' of Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet, was in the Far East area on temporary duty with Commander Service Division 31. Matthew A. Curry was aboard the cruiser WORCESTER, being detached shortly thereafter. Robert A. Vaughan and August J. Wolf were both in destroyer tenders, the DIXIE and the PIEDMONT respectively. Barnes concluded his letter to Chaplain Salisbury: Shortly the ship will put to sea again on further op- erations. I will keep in touch with you and Chaplain fEdward B.J Harp fFleet Chaplain, Commander Serv- ice Force, Pacific F leetJ as opportunity to get mail off is afforded? The fleet too was getting prepared' for the next move: Inchon. Chaplain SOP After each combat engagement Marine line oHicers write a Battle Report, which is afterwards closely studied in order to improve the Corps' Hghting efH- ciency. Such reports were of course mandatory for the line but were not regularly asked of staff components. Although they had accompanied Ma- rines in many engagements, chaplains had apparently never made an official Battle Report. At the conclu- sion of the Marines' involvement in the Pusan Per- imeter campaign, and while aboard ship en route to the Inchon landing, Chaplain Ingvoldstad compiled a summary of the work of the Brigade chaplains from their departure on 14 July from San Diego through operations down to 12 September 1950. fSee appen- dix Bf lj of this present volume.J The value of chap- lains thus incorporating their experiences and activi- ties into official records is revealed by the events which followed. As the Battle Reports of the lst Provisional Marine Brigade were being forwarded to Marine Corps Head- MIQL

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One interesting pause in the midst of feverish war activity deserves noting. On 15 July a ceremony was held in front of the Perry Monument at Kurihama, Yokosuka, to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the landing of Commodore Matthew G. Perry in Japan. Chaplain Edwards gave the opening prayer and Chaplain Beukema a benediction. On 22 July Chaplain James E. Reaves reported as relief for Beukema, both men wrote the Chaplains Division asking that Beukema be allowed to remain for at least several months. On 28 july Reaves wrote the Chief : Yesterday I made the ward rounds at the dispensary and found it impossible to get away under 3 hours. The patient load is increasing there daily, and the senior medical officer indicated to me that they expect it to mushroom out of all proportion to its present size. As the buildup continued and casualties began pouring in in a flood, the chaplains found their energies taxed to the limit. The Chaplains Division advised that the chaplains consult their command with reference to the establishment of additional chaplain billets as it was the responsibility of the latter to initiate a request of this nature. Chaplain Beukema was detached, and Edwards and Reaves carried on. Chaplains in the Fleet Large carriers were entitled to two chaplains. Harold E. Meade had reported aboard the PHILIP- PINE SEA in July as Roman Catholic Chaplain. The same month Chaplain Charles W. Nelson, an Epis- copalian, who had been serving in the ship since January, was hospitalized and ordered stateside for treatment. Chaplain John E. Zoller, attached to Commander Service Force, Pacific, whose regular duties carried him throughout the Pacific Fleet visiting auxiliary vessels too small to rate a chaplain, was temporarily on board from 11 July to 7 September. Ernest R. Barnes reported for duty as the ship's Prot- estant chaplain on 6 September. And thereby hangs a tale. Barnes had been serving as Camp Chaplain, Marine Barracks, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He had been issued orders the middle of June to 3d Naval District where, in September, he expected to begin duty under instruc- tion at Union Theological Seminary, New York. The beginning of the Korean War, however, caused the cancellation of the postgraduate study program and Barnes was ordered instead to the PHILIPPINE SEA. Detached from Camp Lejeune on 7 August, before the arrival of his relief, Chaplain Abbot Peterson, Barnes spent the next month trying to catch up with his ship. Finally, on 9 September, he wrote the Chief of Chaplains from Sasebo, Japan, where he had man- aged to report aboard. I shared your concern about getting to the ship as rapidly as possible. By keeping in touch with the Command people I was able to avoid the mistakes which several of the local Air-Traffic Control officers were about to make in routing me, thus -arriving in Sasebo just 2 hours before the ship dropped anchor. Had I not kept in touch with the high echelons, I would have missed the ship, inasmuch as the traffic people were going to route me to Okinawa. Later on, when Chaplain Barnes was assigned in May 1951 as Wing Chaplain, lst Marine Aircraft Wing, Chaplain Zoller would again be temporarily aboard the PHILIPPINE SEA, from 15 April to 3 June. Meanwhile he had served temporarily aboard the cruiser ROCHESTER Q7 October-3 November 19501 and the oiler KASKASKIA Q3 November- 25 November 1950j while those ships were operating in Korean waters. From 8 December 1950 to 9 january 1951 Zoller was temporarily attached to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Yokosuka, japan. The short- age of chaplains and the exigencies of sudden war had made necessary many expedients, not the least useful of which was the attempt to supply as wide- spread a ministry as possible by means of such circuit-riding activities. Of one of his experiences, when assigned for a brief time to a fleet tug, Zoller wrote as follows: One Sunday, in extremely heavy seas, it seemed impractical to try to hold Divine Service. However, this was the crew's first experience of having a chaplain on board and . . . they had particularly requested Holy Communion. It was almost impossible to stand upright unassisted .... To ask the men to come forward for the Sacrament would be impossible by reason of llimitation oH space and the ship's movement. Further, the coordination of eye and muscle involved in serving by intinction seemed unattainable under the circumstances. Yet I felt that to deny them the Sacra- ment would be a grave error. The solution was to prepare strips of bread approximately one-half inch square and 2 inches long and to fill the chalice one-fourth full. At the appropriate time lafter the elements were consecratedl, the men were instructed to take a strip of bread as I passed among them, if they desired to receive Holy Communion. Following this, I passed among them again with the chalice and each man dipped one end of his bread into the cup .... He concluded: It was a bit awkward, and surely un- orthodox, but the service was solemn throughout and the men spoke later of the blessing they had received. Aboard the VALLEY FORGE were Chaplains Ab- ner R. Cook fMethodistj , who had reported in March, and Paul J. Knapp QRoman Catholic, , who reported in May. The cruisers normally carried only one ..11-

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quarters, Chaplain Ingvoldstad's report of the. work of chaplains received' special attention. On 24 October 1950 Lt. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, wrote to Chap- lain Salisbury QChief of Chaplainsj , saying in part: I have recently read the report of Chaplain O. Ingvoldstad, jr., on the operations of the lst Marine Brigade in Korea from 14 July to 12 September, and consider it outstanding. If this report has not been brought to your attention, I sug- gest you read it and I am sure you will agree with me that the advice obtained therein should be passed on to all chaplains operating with Marines in the field. It is the first time that I have ever seen anything in writing relative to what chaplains should do in combat and I think the notes jotted down by Chaplain Ingvoldstad may well be reproduced in pamphlet form to be included in instructions for young chaplains, especially those going to duty with Marines. In his letter of acknowledgment of 30 October, Chaplain Salisbury called Ingvoldstad's report an excellent piece of work and stated that it is our plan to have it reproduced for use by chaplains going into such combat. On 29 October the Division Chaplain, Robert M. Schwyhart, sent a letter to all regimental chaplains attached to the lst Division requesting each to com- with the purpose of preparing a Standing Operating pile facts and information based upon experience, Procedure Qreferred to as SOPQ for chaplains. The material gathered was edited by Chaplain Schwyhart and submitted as a recommendation to the Force Chaplain, FMF Pac, for approval. The result was Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, General Order 19, dated 28 March 1951, Subject: Standing Operating Pro- cedure for the Chaplain Service of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. This order extended over eight mimeographed pages and spelled out in detail the duties expected of a Navy chaplain serving with the Marines. fSee appendix C.j A similar order was subsequently drawn up for Marine chaplains serving in the Atlantic, which appeared as Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, General Order 41, dated 31 July 1951. Letters of Condolence One section of the SOP for chaplains, FMF Pac, read as follows: When practicable an individual picture of each grave with the appropriate chaplain standing by in benediction should be taken, so that families may secure copies if desired. This was done as far as possible throughout the Division Chaplain's Headquarters. The division chaplain was located in this tent which is at the command post of the division. I ak I , . i ,Eh H 2' 9 r if f ' , f. f . 1 -- f . ,y,. .135-f . x - ,- , W , I 5' iii if kkgx C. F V, ,. ,. Wvggqq, V K. ,Q ..- . 1 V We .... :w-.,v Q -va 'fr 'L I S -W .s.' i ' ,' ,, . J, K .gt H I 1,1 i kg: kk ,,,:,,,. Wi,.,Q., 51 . 'i I . t ' . aut? as rsr - A 1. I so I r . 1' 1 .ara + 1 f ' es 'gs v 1 s rrrr 'bij' N My - 0 gy ,,y,, .,,. . 1 I -Y z L V W .jew 1 , H xr .f . it '. . 'ala . ,, .,,, . 1--W - , ,..,,. A u Kiwi' as .,,, 1 ' .La V - .W ,. -13-