United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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Marines through heavy fire to a position from which they could be evacuated. His great personal bravery and con- stant material and spiritual assistance throughout the battle were an inspiration to all members of the command. Chaplain Kelly's account continues: Nobody knew when a horde of Chinese would overrun us. No one got much sleep with artillery and machine guns going all night. Tuesday morning the CP was moved back 5M miles .... That night we were in a CP with an artillery perimeter. About 200 yards away from us 8-inch field guns fired all night in three directions, and a battery of Marine artillery were facing southwest. An ambulance evacuation point was set up. Reilly, Capers, and Hayes covered that. Trodd from Motor Transport covered the hospital. The next day Reilly went back to the hospital and Trodd and Capers covered the casualties coming through. Casualties are mod- erate considering the situation. As we have seen, the Chinese Communist forces breakthrough obliged the UN forces to fall back in orderly retreat. Chaplain Kelly concluded his report to the Chief: Even though we are still dropping back, the morale is high. The lmenl are dead-tired, but still fighting. We expect the CP to move back tomorrow. I am proud of the work of the chaplains in this tough operation. Chaplain Kelly's next letter to Chaplain Salisbury was dated 7 May. By that time Chaplains Van Ant- werp and William Hearn had been relieved. Chap- lains Harold H. Cummings fPresbyterianj, Ross H. Trower QLutheranj, Richard T. Peeters C Roman Catholicl , Jesse L. Swinson CMethodistl , and George R. Brosius fLutheranj had reported for duty. Regarding the military situation Kelly wrote: Things have settled down considerably. Our Command Post has stopped moving. For the past week we have been settled in one spot. The week before that we moved four times. We are getting to be like a bunch of gypsies. Our front is moving north again. Contact with the enemy has been very light. Our patrols are fanning out without much contact. These Chinese are odd people. They must crawl into the ground. One day they are running all over the place. The next day you can't find them. From our intelligence we know that they have tremendous numbers in North Korea. Most of the outfits are identified and their strength estimated. All we have to do is to guess when and where they will hit. The only thing we can be fairly certain is that it will be at night. Damaged Church. Marines examine a church atop a hill in Chunchon area which was shelled when the war passed through the area. Memorial Services at the Front. The lst Marines hold a brief service in memory of their fallen comrades. Participants are ffrom left to rightj Pfc. Marvin Blankfield Uewishj, Chaplain Henry- E. Austin CProtestantj, Chaplain Joseph D. McDonald fCatholicj and Chaplain Keene H. Capers QProtestantj. -73.-

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Ordnance Battalion ....,. lst Amphib. Tractor Bn. . lst Shore Party Bn .,.,... lst Motor Transport Bn .... lst Service Battalion ...... lst Combat Service Group. . . lst Marines ,.... 5th Marines ...,, 7th Marines .,... 1 lth Marines .... 1 Awaiting orders. 2 Awaiting relief. Kelly Reporting A vivid picture of both the military situations and ROSTER OF CHAPLINS Continued T.B.Uber ............,..,.,... . G. C. Bingaman .... . K. d'A. Engle .... J.P.Trodd..... . A. juntunen . . . . W. N. Lyons 2 .... A. 'M. Kulinski ..... . . . J. D. McDonald.. . . H. E. Austin ..... C. S. Pigott ..... K. H. Capers ...,.... . . . J. E. Hollingsworth. . . . L. R. Phillips 2 ...., S. K. Johnson .... -I. M. Qduirk ....... J. S. Ferris ........ E. I. Van Antwerp 2. . R. L. Patton 2 ...... . . . C. Fitzgerald. . . .. H. H. Groover. . . H. E. Waters .... LT... LUTH LTJG. EVAN st REF LTJG. PE LT... RC LT... LUTH LCDR .,,. A BAP QAJ LCDR ..., .. RC LCDR .... A RC LT... BAP QAJ LTJG. BAP tsp LTJG ..... A PRESBY CUSAD LCDR .... .. BAP tsp LT... CONG LT... PRBSBY KUSAJ LT... RC LT .... .. METH LT ....... ,. RC LTJG ,..., .. METH LCDR .... .. RC LTJG ..... ., DISC LTJG ...., .. BAP qsp Battalion, lst Marines bore the brunt of some heavy fighting. Kelly, describing this situation, wrote: the chaplains, activities during this period may be gained from the regular letters written by Division Chaplain Francis W. Kelly to the Chief of Chaplains. Chaplain Kelly's letter of 27 April reflects the situ- ation which developed after the Chinese Communist forces launched their big drive. He wrote: We have come through a tough time, and we don't know what next. So far we have had no casualties amongst our chaplains although they have been exposed to terrific pres- sure. Everything was going along smoothly. We were ad- vancing steadily when suddenly the Reds cut loose. We had two regiments on the front and one well back in reserve. The 7th had been on the lines with the lst Cavalry Division. When we reached the Kansas line, the lst Cavalry was replaced with our 5th Regiment. It was planned that the lst Regiment would replace the 7th, so that they would get a rest. Our CP lcommand postl had moved up to about four miles behind the lines because such progress was being made. Our lst Regiment was about 5 miles behind the CP. On Sunday everything was moving up. I started out to find an Army Battalion of the 17th Field Artillery but they were on the move. In looking for them I ran across Van Antwerp moving up with the 7th and Fitzgerald with the llth. I also ran into the 5th moving up. Fortunately for me I didn't stay overnight in that area because . . . things really broke loose in that spot. All of China seemed to descend on us on that Sunday night. In a desperate effort to contain the Chinese Com- munist forces penetration of the front lines, the lst The lst Marines were rushed up Sunday night and two battalions really ran into a terrific condition. The Chinese tried to smash through the area held by the lst Battalion of the lst Marines, but were unsuccessful. It looked for a while another Hagaru. We had no idea how many enemy had poured through on our left or how far they had gone. The ROK I6th1 Division left a complete sector unguarded. Another View of that night of fury is furnished by the Bronze Star citation of Joseph D. McDonald, Regimental Chaplain, lst Marines. Serving as regimental chaplain, Lieutenant Commander McDonald displayed outstanding courage and initiative when the battalion to which he was attached was subjected to vio- lent attack during hours of darkness by a numerically superior enemy force. Having relinquished his foxholc to a wounded man, he fearlessly and with complete disregard for his own safety moved in and about the sick bay area, which was sub- jected to almost constant enemy mortar and automatic weap- ons fire, to render aid and spiritual assistance to the wounded. He repeatedly gathered urgently needed men to assist as stretcher bearers, and on at least two occasions, when adequate bearers were not available, moved courageously to the line through withering enemy fire to help carry casualties to the aid station. During the attack the following morning to break out of an enemy encirclement, he was continually found at the side of a wounded man, although this required that he move back through the column toward enemy-held ridge lines and through increasing enemy fire. When offered vehicular transportation, he refused it, and was among the last to leave the area where the enemy was closii n, leading wounded -771

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Chinese Strike They had not long to wait. Kelly's letter of 25 May reported on events of the previous week. Operation Yo-yo still goes on. Last week conditions looked very dismal. The Chinese ran wild again. All the damage done has not been definitely clarified. It certainly looked as though they were playing for keeps. I will attempt to give you the picture. We were straightening out from the debacle at the end of April by holding a defense line and sending patrols up in the area of Chunchon. Just before dark on the evening of May 15, the 3d Battalion of the 7th Marines moved into a new position along the Chunchon-Wonju road. About 4 o'clock in the morning the Chinese tried to break through in Iorce. The 7th really clobbered them. It was estimated that they suffered over 400 casualties. When they tried to drop back they were caught in a curtain of artillery. Over 60 prisoners were taken by the 7th. If they had suc- cessfully broken through, they were going to fan out and attack our lines from the rear. They did not break through. The South Korean soldiers, who often distinguished themselves by their bravery, sometimes lacked the tenacity to dig in and fight which was displayed by the U.S. Marines. Some of the most difficult conditions faced by the United Nations forces in this 5th Korean campaign resulted from the failure of ROK troops to hold the line. Chaplain Kelly wrote: Somebody said, 'The Chinese yell Banzai, the Koreans yell Pusan, and both take off.' Referring to another bad situation which had devel- oped because of a Communist breakthrough, Kelly wrote: Again we were endangered on our flank. It looked for a while that we were going to fall back to Wonju. Elements of the 3d Army Division came in on the right. Now we are on the move again. If it works it will be very good. If it doesn't it will be curtains. There is a chance that we can cut off the Chinese who broke through. I hope it won't be another Hagaru-ri. I saw some of the results of the Chinese break through the other day. Our 5th Regiment jumped off Wednesday morn- ing, right through the territory where the 38th Army had been clobbered. Word came back that in their advance they found a lot of wounded and dead Army personnel, so I took off to lend a hand with the wounded. We didn't locate many wounded, but we found plenty of dead. Meanwhile Chaplains Groover, Reilly, Rennie, and Goodman had left for home. Goodman, the Division's Jewish chaplain, was replaced by Chaplain Elihu H. Rickel. Chaplain William A. Taylor fAmerican Bap- tistj had also reported for duty with the lst Marine Division. Chaplain Howard J. Groover, was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement . . . while serving with a Marine artillery regiment in Korea from 15' September 1950 to 15 May 1951. The citation reads in part as follows: Although operating under the most severe weather and field conditions, he, without regard for his own personal safety, continually ministered to the needs of the wounded. His presence in the front lines added immeasurably to the morale and spiritual well-being of the men. His outstanding conduct under fire in treating and giving spiritual consolation to the wounded served as a source of encouragement to those around him. Chaplain Kelly reported that 8th Army was hold- ing a memorial service at the UN cemetery. All units of UN forces were to be represented. Kelly was asked to give the invocation. Unit chaplains were asked to hold memorial services in their own areas as military conditions permitted. Again and again, as far as the exigencies of continuing combat allowed, the Marines would pause to pay their respects to their comrades-in-arms who had fallen. Beginning of Advance Kelly's letter of 25 May was written just after the beginning of Van Fleetls forward advance. During the heavy fighting that followed, two more chaplains were cited for the Bronze Star. The first was Henry H. Hayes, for distinguished service on 31 May. His citation reads in part as follows: Serving as battalion chaplain, Lieutenant fjg.l Hayes dis- played outstanding courage and initiative when an adjacent battalion was subjected to a devastating enemy artillery barrage while preparing to move forward. Hearing the cries for aid, he . . . ran through the heavy enemy fire to reach the stricken men. Despite sporadic artillery fire, he courageously moved from casualty to casualty, dressing wounds, organizing stretcher parties, and comforting the wounded. His great personal bravery and unswerving de- votion to duty were an inspiration to all who observed him, and aided materially in saving many lives. The second chaplain cited was John M. Quirk who, hearing that a rifie company of his regiment had sus- tained heavy casualties, assembled a party of Korean laborers to act as litter bearers and after all were loaded in a truck started out on the errand of mercy. The truck struck an antitank land mine. Chaplain Quirk was hurled some 50 feet through the air and landed in a rock-strewn field. He was painfully bruised and cut but not too seriously wounded. Re- porting on the incident to Chaplain Salisbury on 5 june, Chaplain Kelly wrote: Chaplain John M. Quirk, Catholic Chaplain with the 5th Marines, was wounded yesterday. His condition is not too serious, but he will not be available for duty in less than 2 months. He was a victim of a land mine. He received fragmentation wounds in the legs and right arm, a large wound in his left arm, and a contusion which caused quite a bit of swelling on the right side of his face. However, his eye was not injured and they don't think any facial nerves were affected. He also suffered shock. I tried to