United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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le Memorial Services, Hungnam. Chaplain Robert M. Schwyhart, Division Chaplain, is shown' participating in the memorial services for marines after their breakout from the Chosin Reservoir. The services are held in the Division Cemetery at Hungnam. Memorial Services, Hungnam. Chaplains Goodman, Killeen, and Schwyhart lead the marines of the 1st Division as they remember fallen buddies at memorial services at the Divisionis Cemetery at Hungnam, following the breakout from Chosin Reservoir. tablished by the Alexander D. Goode Lodge, B'nai B'rith, of New York City. The award honors the memory of the four Army chaplains lost in the sink- ing of the Army troop transport DORCHESTER on 3 February 1943 5 of these one was a Roman Catholic, two were Protestants and the fourth, Alexander D. Goode, Jewish. In February 1951 the Lodge presented a check for S500 to the Chiefs of Chaplains of each of the three branches of the Armed Forces for presentation to that chaplain in each Chaplain Corps who should be se- lectedfas best representing the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation displayed by the four chaplains lost in the DORCHESTER. A committee of Navy chap-

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for in December the Navy found itself ordered to take off 8th Army troops from the west coast, at Chinnampo and Inchon, and X Corps troops from Wonsan and Hungnam on the east. Actually, since a large part of 8th Army was finally able to withdraw overland, the naval redeployment in the west was not a major task, and outloading at Wonsan proceeded methodically and with a minimum of opposition. But it was far otherwise at Hungnam. With three American divisions flst Marine, 3d Army, 7th Armyj, a number of ROK regimental combat teams, and mountains of gear on the beaches, the Navy raised a wall of fire around the port city. As 13 ships poured shells into a perimeter surrounding the area, planes from 7 carriers provided an umbrella overhead. VALLEY FORGE, hastily recalled from the United States, and PRINCETON, newly arrived in early December, joined LEYTE and PHILIPPINE SEA, which had been providing air support for X Corps from the beginning of this operation. Also present were the escort carriers SICILY and BA- DOENG STRAIT, now joined by the BATAAN. In addition to rocket ships and destroyers, naval gunfire was furnished by the MISSOURI and the heavy cruisers ROCHESTER and ST. PAUL. Serving as chaplains in the LEYTE were Clovis A. Frame fMethodistJ and Charles A. Szczesny fRoman Catholicj , both of whom reported on 28 August 1950. In the PRINCETON were Raymond F. McManus CRoman Catholicj, from August 1950 to February 1952, and George J. Enyedi fPresbyterianJ, a Re- serve who returned to active duty in August 1950 and was aboard until September 1951. The light carrier BATAAN had as its only chaplain a Roman Catholic, John Coffey, from July 1950 to July 1952. Chaplain in ST. PAUL, also from July 1950 to July 1952, was Faber H. Wickham, a Presbyterian QUSAJ. End of an Epic Heavy casualties were suffered by the Marines in the withdrawal to Hamhung. Writing to Chaplain Salisbury on 5 December, Chaplain Schwyhart re- ported: I have been spending the majority of time at the clearing center, Yong-po Airport, where they evacuated by air from Hagaru-ri a thousand casualties yesterday and an estimated 1,100 today. Today we begin a heavy schedule of burials at the Division Cemetery. This past week, since a week ago today, has been what Sherman said war was. On 9 December, he wrote again: Yesterday we buried 149 at Koto-ri, today more burials, now total- ing 216, at Hungnam. And on 15 December, in an- other letter to Chaplain Salisbury, Schwyhart stated: At the Division Cemetery at Hungnam, there were 324 graves, mostly Marines, a few Army, 3 British Commandos, and 29 ROKSf' According to oflicial statistics,12 the Marine losses from 27 November to 11 December 1950 were as follows: Killed in action-- -- 432 Died of wounds .... -- 101 Missing in action ..... .... 2 49 Wounded ...... --- ---- 2, 710 Total .-.......... ------------- 3 , 492 In addition there were over 3,600 nonbattle casualties, largely from frostbite. Enemy losses for the same pe- riod were estimated at a total of 37,500-15,000 killed and 7,500 wounded by Marine ground forces, plus 10,000 killed and 5,000 wounded by Marine air strikes. On 13 December a memorial service was conducted at the Division Cemetery at Hungnam in which the following chaplains took part-R. M. Schwyhart CProtestantj, Garson Goodman fJewishJ, and P. A. Killeen fRoman Catholicj. Even as Gen. Oliver P. Smith, the Division Commander, delivered the ad- dress, preparations proceeded for the burial of the last bodies brought down from Chinhung-ni. Chaplain Goodman, attached to Division head- quarters at Hamhung, was the only Jewish chaplain with the 1st Marine Division. On 5 December he conducted two services for Hanukkah. As was to be expected, the number of men of the Jewish faith in the 1st Division was comparatively small, yet at one time Chaplain Goodman found 12 Jewish patients at the 121st Evacuation Hospital and 4 at the Division Hospital, and among markers placed over the mounds in the different military cemeteries were those bear- ing the Star of David. In his letter of 15 December to Chaplain Salisbury, written aboard the BAYFIELD, as it sailed from Hungnam, Chaplain Schwyhart summarized as fol- lows the role played by the chaplains in the Chosin Reservoir campaign: Throughout the operation the chaplains, all of them, gave unsparingly of themselves to render assistance and to min- ister as chaplains wherever and whenever possible. Frankly, it is not possible to point out outstanding performances, be- cause everyone in his own way did just that. Four Chaplains Award, B'nai B'rith Chaplain Schwyhart would be the First Navy re- cipient of the Four Chaplains Award, which was es- 12 Marine Corp: Gazette fNovember 1951 J, Lynn Montross, Breakout From the Reservoir: Marine Epic of Fire and Ice.

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lains appointed by Chief of Chaplains S. W. Salis- bury chose lst Marine Division Chaplain Robert M. Schwyhart to be thus honored. The presentation ceremony was held 31 March 1951, after Schwyhart had been relieved from duty in Korea, at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington, D.C. The citation reads: Commander Robert M. Schwyhart, Chaplain Corps, U.S. Navy has expressed his firm faith in God by exemplifying to the men whom he served, the lst Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, great steadfastness in the face of adversity, notable courage when circumstances tended to promote fear and discouragementg a broad charity which manifested itself in service to all his men regardless of their creed, rank, or position, the spirit of sacrifice which caused him to give of his strength with compassion and to suffer hardship and danger with equanimityg and faithfulness in his stewardship of the things of God which was consistent with that of the four chaplains in whose memory this award is presented. Back to the Bean Patch The battered United Nations forces, including the lst Marine Division, were evacuated from Hungnam during the period 12-24 December, in an amphibi- ous landing in reverse. The summary statistics are nearly incredible: 105,000 military personnel QArmy, Navy, Air Corps, and Marine, together with ROK unitsl, 91,000 civilian Korean refugees, 17,500 ve- hicles, and 350,000 measurement tons of cargo, out- loaded in 193 shiploads by 109 ships.13 Although Communists were beginning to press upon the de- fending perimeter, the loading proceeded systemati- cally. By 15 December the last of the 1st Marine Division sailed for Pusan, where they were soon estab- lished in a rest camp in the for'mer bean field near Masan. The withdrawal from the Chinese trap was exe- cuted against overwhelming odds: 12 Chinese Com- munist divisions, subzero weather, and exceedingly hazardous terrain. By skillful deployment of ground forces and effectively integrated ground-air opera- tions, the Division came through with tactical integ- rity, its wounded properly evacuated and its service- able material salvagedff Meanwhile the enemy had been in large part rendered militarily noneffective and the evacuation of X Corps from Hungnam rendered possible. Military historians were quick to compare the withdrawal to the famous March of the 10,000 described by Xenophon in his Anabasix. Weapons and ideologies had changed, but relying on the same indomitable courage, the same base of training and discipline, and much the same infantry tactics, the '3 Montross and Canzona, op. cit., vol. III, p. 345. 1' Ibid., Ch. XV. Marines like the Greeks before them successfully fought their way through Asiatic hordes to the sea.15 The lst Marine Division freinforcedj was awarded a presidential unit citation for its heroic action during the Chosan Reservoir campaign, covering specifically the dates 27 November-11 December, from the Yudam-ni crisis to the completion of the withdrawal to Hamhung. This was the Division's second PUC in the Korean War, its fifth since the award was first established. The lst Marine Aircraft Wing received the Army Distinguished Unit Citation for the period 22 November-14 December 1950. Operation Helping Hand Worth special notice was the Navy's magnificent job in providing transport for more than 90,000 Korean civilians to the relative safety of South Korea. When the forces of the United Nations drove north- ward, multitudes in the liberated areas had welcomed them with great joy. The Christians among them, many of whom had gone underground, came out of hiding and made themselves known. But when the withdrawal began, all alike viewed with consterna- tion and alarm the new situation which faced them. To remain behind and come again under the Red regime was tantamount to death for the Christian leaders. As the troops of X Corps withdrew into Hungnam, they were followed by hordes of pitiful civilians who were sometimes panicked by the Chinese Communists harassing the rear guard of the Marine column. The long bitter march by foot to Hungnam was marked by miserable circumstances. Babies were born en route. People were cold and hungry. Of necessity the natives left behind most of their goods, taking with them only the barest necessities. They crowded into Hungnam expecting that the U.S. Navy would take them to South Korea-and this the Navy did. The first 50,000 were jammed into three Victory ships and two LST's. It became standard practice to embark at least 5,000 on an LST, not counting chil- dren in arms, and one ship set a record with 12,000. 16 Among the Navy chaplains especially active in help- ing collect and evacuate the North Korean refugees was lst Marine Aircraft Wing Chaplain, John P. Murphy. Later Chaplain Murphy was awarded the Bronze Star. The citation mentions his work with the native Christians at Wonsan, to which reference has already been made, and then adds: '5 Ibid., p. 357. N' Marine Corpx Gazette fDecembcr 19515, p. 25, Lynn Montross, f'The Hungnam Evacuation.