United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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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.

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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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When the evacuation of Wonsan and Hungnam became necessary, he worked endless hours with military and civilian agencies in planning and effecting a safe evacuation of thousands of Christian North Koreans to a place of safety. And so the United Nations Command saved not only its troops and equipment but thousands of helpless civilians as well. In Time of Trouble Northeast Korea had proved a peculiarly dangerous and costly area of combat. As the closing months of 1950 saw steadily mounting casualty totals, chaplains in ships were more and more engaged in ministering solace to the wounded and honor to the dead. By faithful performance as well as in word they pro- claimed, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Even before X Corps went ashore the fleet was encountering serious difiiculties-from mines, often simply let loose upstream and floated into the sea.17 The first casualty was the destroyer BRUSH, on 26 September. Rendered instantly helpless, her bow a full fathom low, much of the ship open to the sea, her forward steering gear gone, BRUSH was taken in tow and escorted 470 miles to Sasebo, Japan. Thirteen men had been killed, 34 seriously wounded. Chaplain Charles L. Dickey, in the WORCESTER, wrote in his questionnaire reply: We had 34 casualties aboard for the 3 days we were ac- companying the BRUSH to Sasebo. I had prayers with each man every day, and two yeomen to read and write censored letters for each man. Chaplain Edwin F. Carr, in the ROCHESTER, flagship of Vice Admiral Struble's Joint Task Force Seven, wrote concerning the minesweeping operations at Wonsan, which had been a source of desperate con- cern, so thickly and thoroughly had the enemy planted mines there: I consider all the activities performed by me under these various headings fof the questionnairej as merely routine. However, celebrating Mass in a bombed-out warehouse in Wonsan for the men who had given their lives on mine- sweeps sunk by mines was impressive. fTheir devotionj remains to bear witness to our faith in freedom. Without their sacrifice the landings could not have been made, as it was, 15 days had been expended and over 200 casualties sustained. A happier story concerns the transfer of needed medical supplies from the ROCHESTER to a small Korean hospital in Wonsan. Employing Latin as a medium, Chaplain Carr was able to act as inter- 1' Cagle and Manson, op. cit., pp. 130-146. preter between the ship's doctor and a Korean priest representing the hospital. Thus a dead language proved effective in helping sustain life in a time of desperate trouble. Transport chaplains had their hands full. Henry F. Maxwell in the THOMAS JEFFERSON reported serious casualties flowing in a stream to the trans- ports immediately after the landings. Of the period barely a month later, Cihaplain Leonard B. Dohrmann wrote: During the November-December 1950 evacuation of wounded from the Hungnam area, the BRECKENRIDGE carried several loads to Yokohama. I assisted in loading and caring for these wounded. Chaplain Charles W. Adams recalled that his ship, operating under MSTS, Pacific, ferried shiploads', of wounded to Yokosuka, he called it round-the- clocki' duty. And at Yokosuka? Charles W. Lawler, Roman Catholic chaplain at the Naval Hospital there, later wrote: Over 3,000 casualties were admitted within 48 hours. The hospital grew from a 70-bed dispensary to a hospital of about 5,000 beds. Charles H. Shackelford, the Protestant chaplain, wrote that he spent every Sunday afternoon and evening adminis- tering Holy Communion to bed patients. Often this would continue up to 2130 or 2200, because of the large number who wished to receive .... Chaplain J. E. Zoller was temporarily attached there during the peak of the casualty load. He reported that it was necessary in some wards to use double-deck bunks, often placed so closely together that one had to turn sideways to slide between them. Many of the patients were not ambulatory and could not attend chapel services. Most of them were fresh from the combat zone. Many had not received the Sacrament for a long time and desired to receive it. After consecrating the elements in the chapel, I carried the chalice in my hand and went to the wards to serve individual communions. I would slide between two double-deck bunks and say to the four men ftwo oneach sidej that I was a Protestant chaplain prepared to servecommunion to those who desired to receive it. The response among the Protestant patients was almost unanimous. Afterwards I would ask the men if they had any special prayer requests . . . Many were suffering a great deal them- selves, but in no case, not one, did a man ask prayer for him- self. Most frequently it was requested for his buddies back in the combat zone and occasionally for his loved ones at home. Back at Hungnam, as the last ships pulled offshore, the dock area was set ablaze and destroyers shelled any- thing that might be useful to the incoming Commu- nists. One last fighter plane from the PRINCETON -43..