Point Cruz (CVE 119) - Naval Cruise Book

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ATIONAL AFFAIRS f PEOPLE: The Navy's Baby When the Navy's newest escort car- rier U.S.S. Point Cruz came into In- chon Harbor last September, the chap- lain, Lt. Edward O. Riley, went ashore and found a white baby among some 400 undernourished, half-alive Korean orphans. Recalling the incident last week, the Iowa priest said: I was startled when I saw this obviously Cau- casian chield in a crib surrounded by Oriental children-the only white child in the place. You find white or half- breed orphans in Japanese orphanages but this was unheard of in Korea. Now Father Riley is a man of action, no waster of time or words, and con- temptuous of red tape and procedure through channels. By sunset he was back aboard the Point Cruz in confer- ence with the skipper, Capt. T. Hay- ward, also of the rugged school. Before them was a snapshot, taken by Father Riley, of a pitiful emaciated baby boy, obviously Caucasian despite an ugly rash that covered his undernourished body. And a statement by Irish-born Sister Philomena, head of the French Catholic orphanage, who related that on July ll, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a GI orderly in the sick bay of the huge Army Service Command Post out- side Inchon kicked a bundle of news- papers on the floor and discovered, when he heard a weak cry, that a baby, about a month. old, was wrapped in- side. Rushed to Sister Philomena's tender arms as fast as GI's could trans- port him, the foundling survived in spite of everything. Captain Hayward ordered Father Riley to go back to the orphanage. Do not come back to this ship without the baby, was his command. It wasn't as easy os that. Father Riley had to return several times, empty-handed, getting Captain Hay- ward madder and madder as the weeks passed. First it was the U. S. consul at Pusan who wouldn't even think of is- suing a via for the baby's entry into the U. S. unless Father Riley first got a Korean passport. Surprising every- body, Father Riley engineered a pass- port from the Foreign Ministry of the South Korean Government Che man- aged this through Korean-speaking missionary priests he knewj, only to be told at Pusan that for some reason or other the McCarran Act made it lmpossible to get a visa until after the New Year, if ever. Chaplain or Baby: The captain, who had been conducting shipboard relig- tous services of a sort himself in his chaplain's absence, hit the ceiling and took the case straight to U. S. Ambas- sador Ellis O. Briggs. I told him held have a chaplain on his hands or I'd have the baby, said the skipper. I told him I meant what I said when I told Father Riley not to come back without the baby. About this time, Vice President Nixon showed up in Korea on tour, and Captain Hayward got the story to him and word went to the Ambassador that the Vice Presi- dent was of the opinion that some- thing ought to be done. - Something was done all right, and on Nov. 20 Father Riley got the visa. Triumphantly, he brought the baby aboard the Point Cruz, where carpen- ters had prepared a crib and play pen and where doctors and nurses were waiting to take over, including a reser- vist who was a pediatrician in private life. To complete the picture was a shipis doctor, Lt. Hugh C. Keenan of Spokane, Wash., from the hospital ship U.S.S. Consolation, who had examined the baby for visa purposes, and who wanted it for himself because it re- minded him of one of the four babies he and Mrs. Keenan had lost. The Lord's Decree: Keenan's interest delighted Father Riley, who had plan- ned to place the baby in a Des Moines orphanage. As he saw it: The Lord thus decreed that the baby was to be placed in a home with a real father and mother, instead of in another or- phanage. During ten days aboard the Point Cruz, moving to Japan, the baby flourished. He gained weight, his skin cleared, and gurgles and smiles re- placed apathy. Bulletins apprised the crew of his improving condition and daily there was a public-address an- nouncement, for example: Baby will be on the hangar deck from 1400 to 1430.9 Somewhere along the line he was christened George Ascom Keenan -George because he was called that in the orphanage and Ascom for Army Supply Command, the type of post in which his sthange life began. In due time, leaving Keenan behind, Father Riley sailed aboard the military transport General Gaffey headed for Seattle, bearing perhaps the strangest Christmas gift that ever a man on duty overseas had Sent home to his wife in the States. A letter from her husband had informed Mrs. Keenan what to expect. In Spokane, she entrusted her 9-year-old daughter, Coleen, to friends, explaining that she was off to Seattle to bring home a baby brother. A Perfect Dear: At Seattle's Port of Embarkation, all eyes were on 8- months-old George Ascom Keenan, coming down the gangplank in the arms of a navy nurse, with Father Riley bringing up the rear. Mrs. Kee- nan's arms slipped easily around her new baby, who neslted comfortably against her bosom, gurgling up at Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith, Commandant of the Thirteenth Naval District, who was extending the nationis welcome to the newcomer. Father, what a beau- tiful child! Mrs. Keenan exclaimed. The Navy nurse who had cared for George choked back a sob. He's been a perfect dear,', she said. Waiting for Father Riley aboard the Point Cruz at San Diego was an espe- cially prepared medal. It consisted of a huge brass diaper pin with the rib- boned legend: 'Tor meritorious service in Operation Lift. . . . . Reprinted from Newsweek christmas gifts . . for george, a home . . for us, home for christmas . . . after a long voyage .

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