Histories Menu Page
U.S. Army  Chaplain Museum
USACHCS Homepage

Trying to describe briefly the movements of U.N. forces during the months following the Inch’on landing is like trying to describe a yo-yo while in use. Chaplain William E. Paul, Jr., United Lutheran, offloaded at Inch’on on 15 September with the 328th Ordnance Ammunition Battalion. His subsequent travels over the Korean terrain give some picture of the rapid changes in the War’s front.

Chaplain Paul and his unit, providing support to the 7th Infantry Division, moved southeast to hook up with Walker’s Eighth Army. He eventually continued all the way to Pusan — over 200 miles away. By the latter part of October, however, he participated in an amphibious landing at Wonsan, 300 miles north on the eastern coast of North Korea. From there he marched to Hamhung but, because of the Chinese intervention, moved south to Hungnam and proceeded, again by sea, nearly to Pusan. Once more he moved north. In the process he was reassigned to the 24th Infantry Division Artillery. Hospitalized with the flu and delayed in locating points along the way, it took him 17 days to get to the unit. Even when he finally left Korea in September 1951, it took him 20 clays via Japan, by ship and aircraft, to return to the States.⁵²

The U.N. forces that broke out of the Pusan Perimeter and drove north in the fall of 1950, met heavy resistance before they hooked up with the X Corps north of Osan in late September. Like a hammer meeting an anvil, however, the two forces crushed the NKA units caught in between. One of the fastest drives from the south was made by the ROK 3rd Division which pushed up the east coast and arrived within 5 miles of the 38th Parallel on the last day of the month.

There was some debate whether to cross the Parallel because of concern over possible reactions from China and Russia. After receiving no replies to calls for surrender, however, the U.N. forces pushed on into North Korea. ROK troops, often without adequate supplies and frequently moving on bare feet, made an incredible dash north and captured the port city of Wonsan, 75 miles north of the Parallel, by 10 October. Walker’s Eighth Army moved across the border on the west and captured the North Korean capital, P’yongyang, by mid-October. On the 26th of that month, X Corps troops made a mass amphibious landing almost due east, at Wonsan, on the opposite coast.⁵³

Meanwhile, a massive airborne drop was made by the 187th Airborne Regiment near Sukch’on and Such’on, north of P’yongyang. MacArthur had hoped they could rescue American prisoners who it was assumed would be moved northward and, at the same time, cut off North Korean officials and enemy troops. Among the paratrooper-chaplains were Francis L. Sampson, Roman Catholic, and Holland Hope, Methodist. Both were seasoned combat veterans of World War II. Sampson, as a matter of fact, twice survived capture by the Germans following airborne jumps in Europe.

Chaplain Hope, suffering from a fractured vertebra he incurred from the jump, was accompanying the 187th Regimental Combat Team. Hearing that men of "I" Company in the 3rd Battalion had been cut off, Hope, a recognized marksman, organized a rescue force from "L" Company. Following the chaplain, the men fought their way in to recover the dead and wounded. For this feat, Chaplain Hope was later awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and one additional, unprecedented award for a chaplain — the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.⁵⁴

Despite MacArthur’s hopes, unfortunately, the major objectives of the airborne operation were lost. Many of the NKA had already retreated farther north. Far more tragic, 73 American prisoners were found murdered in one of the great atrocities of the War.⁵⁵

Sampson and Hope eventually moved south to P’yongyang and, while there, helped minister to POW’s. Sampson collected rosaries from his men for use by the NKA Catholic prisoners. Later he wrote, "I was struck by the strange twist wars can make of things. These Christians had been forced into the Communist army; now here they were using the rosaries belonging to the men they had been shooting at only a few days ago.⁵⁶

Chaplain Sampson, who became Chief of Chaplains in 1967, was the momentary victim of a common plight in the War — someone stole his jeep. Undaunted by the experience, he announced to some British Catholics, after serving Mass at a neighboring English tank unit: "Now if any of you men can procure a jeep for me, from any source of your choice, I will give that man a jug of soluble coffee, a bottle of wine, and absolution." In 20 minutes, a British sergeant delivered a new vehicle. It not only had the previous markings painted out, but also a fresh new ‘‘Chaplain’’ sign emblazoned on the front.⁵⁷

Chaplain Joseph A. Dunne, Roman Catholic, replaced Sampson in the 187th Regiment when the latter returned to Japan. While Sampson, an avid tennis player, was temporarily serving at the Tokyo Hospital Annex, he met and became good friends with another player named Yuri Rostovorov. Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents soon informed the chaplain that his friend was, in fact, the Chief of the Russian Secret Police in Japan. They wanted Sampson to regularly report his conversations with the Russian, but the chaplain refused such an arrangement as being totally inappropriate for a clergyman. The friendship continued with the CIC’s knowledge and word came one clay that Chaplain Dunne, seriously wounded by a land mine in Korea, had been brought to the Tokyo hospital. Rostovorov asked to join Sampson in a visit to the wounded priest and, while there, was obviously moved by Dunne’s quiet composure to severe pain. "A little over a year later," wrote Sampson, "the Washington department of the CIC arranged a meeting between Rostovorov and myself. He had found his way into the democratic camp, and … he told about the deep impression Father Dunne’s Christ-like suffering had made upon him."⁵⁸

SUFFERING UNDER THE CHINESE INTERVENTION

Americans had become optimistic about the War when the U.N. forces seemed to be finishing their work. Many U.S. units anticipated withdrawal to Japan. What appeared to be the end of the fighting, however, was actually only the beginning of some of the bloodiest in Korea. The sudden change came with an unexpected intervention by Chinese Communist Forces (CCF), who crossed the Manchurian border and led a new offensive against the U.N. lines.

Initial fighting between the U.S. and CCF forces began near Unsan, roughly 60 miles north of P’yongyang. During the first days of November, the 8th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, especially the 3rd Battalion, suffered heavy losses. Chaplain Emil J. Kapaun, Roman Catholic, a veteran of the Burma-India Theater in World War II, was with them. Years before, Kapaun had confided to a high school friend in Kansas that he wanted more than anything to be a martyr. Asked once why he refused to wear gloves while working in a farming harvest, he replied: "I want to feel some of the pain our Lord felt when he was nailed to the cross."⁵⁹

Kapaun had served in the 1st Cavalry for some time and suffered through early defeats with fellow Chaplains Donald Carter, Arthur Mills, and Julius B. Gonia, Baptist, who replaced the wounded Mills. Carter remembered how Kapaun found a bicycle after losing his jeep in the early days "and covered our units as few other chaplains I know."⁶⁰

The chaplains of the 8th Regiment agreed to rotate among the battalions; near the first of November, Chaplain Carter, living with the d 3rd Battalion held in reserve, exchanged places with his friend, Kapaun, in the 1st Battalion. Carter wanted the priest to "enjoy a day or so away from the tension where the heaviest attack was expected. Ironically, it was the 3rd Battalion that received the full force of the Chinese assault and Kapaun’s martyrdom started to be a reality in the evening of 2 November 1950.⁶¹

The battalion was nearly wiped out during the severe battle. CCF soldiers captured Kapaun while he was with a group of over 50 wounded he had helped gather in an old dugout. Ordered to leave many of those for whom he had risked his life, Kapaun and a few ambulatory wounded were forced to crawl through the battlefield and were later imprisoned. For 6 months, under the most deprived conditions, he fought Communist indoctrination among the men, ministered to sick and dying, and literally stole food from the enemy in trying to keep his fellow soldiers alive. Eventually, suffering from a blood clot, pneumonia, and dysentery, he died there on 23 May l951.⁶²

Kapaun became one of the popular heroes of the Korean War and was referred to as "the man whose story best sums up the glory of the Chaplain Corps."⁶³ At a memorial service honoring Kapaun in 1954, Chief of Chaplains Patrick J. Ryan, Roman Catholic, relayed the feelings of former prisoners:

Men said of him that for a few minutes he could invest a seething hut with the grandeur of a cathedral. He was filled with the spirit of Christ. In that spirit he was able to inspire others so that they could go on living — when it would have been easier for them to die.⁶⁴

In the citation for the Legion of Merit, posthumously awarded to Chaplain Kapaun, were references to the "courageous actions" of a man who "considered no menial task beneath him." ⁶⁵

Chaplain John J. Murphy, Roman Catholic, was with the 68th AAA Battalion as they passed through the 2nd Division and down the pass — surprisingly without serious incident. Murphy recalled seeing "Oriental soldiers" in the hills as they moved through the defile; he and the others were assured that they were probably ROK troops. Shortly after his unit left the pass, however, the "Oriental soldiers," actually Chinese forces, opened up with a heavy barrage on their main targets now entering the draw and, on 30 November, one of the worst battles of the War raged in the area. Chaplains John E. Cannon, Baptist, Samuel R. Simpson, Methodist, and James C. Carroll, Roman Catholic, were in the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Division.

Twenty-three years later, while Chaplain Carroll was serving as Post Chaplain at Ford Hood, Texas, he received a letter from a retired sergeant. What the sergeant lacked in English grammar and spelling was more than compensated for by his moving message.

Dear Sir:

You are proberly the only chaplin in the hold Army that I can remember his name …
To let you know who I am, I was the one that jumped on you when we were ambushed at Conrea Pass.
You sure did have a great influence on my life that day in Korea. I have never forgot how cool and collective ‘you were when everybody was getting killed all around us. You said "the Lord is with us and will get us out of this mess" which he did. You were the calmiest person that I have every known.
After Korea, I started trying to find out in my own mind why you were so cool that day. Well I found it sometime late. I became a Christian. I am a Deacon and Sunday School Superintendant of my Church. Thanks very much …⁶⁹

Three clays before the Kunu-ri engagement, other Chinese forces hit the X Corps far to the northeast where sub-zero temperatures covered the land with ice and snow. MacArthur ordered a withdrawal by the Corps to the port at Hungnam for evacuation. Unfortunately, an envelopment by the Chinese forced the units in the Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir area to fight their way out to the evacuation points.

Chaplain Martin C. Hoehn, Roman Catholic, serving with a portion of the 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, was later awarded the Silver Star for his heroic service and encouragement to the wounded.⁷⁰ In the same unit, Chaplain James W. Conner, Episcopalian, was lost in the fierce fighting. The former priest to churches in Puerto Rico was listed as missing on 1 December l950 — exactly 2 years from the date of his entry on active duty. Chaplain Conner was never found and was eventually declared as "Presumed Dead."⁷¹

A Navy chaplain, serving the Marines in the area, wrote a magazine article later in which he accused the 31st Regiment of cowardice. He claimed that some 400 soldiers had feigned wounds and frostbite in order to be evacuated — leaving the 1st Marine Division completely cut off. The article gained publicity in other periodicals and the Department of the Army issued a public denial of the story. A personal letter, presumably of protest, was sent to the chaplain from the Secretary of the Navy. Although the accuracy of the chaplain’s accusation may never be known, the reports indicated that the wounded from the 31st continued firing at the enemy while lying on trucks awaiting evaeuation.⁷²

The cost in lives caused by the Chinese intervention had been extremely high. The extent of those casualties can be measured somewhat by the tragic realization that six U.S. Army chaplains, nearly half of those who died in Korea, were lost in that 1-month period — four of them within 3 days.

USACHCS | Top of Page

MIXING SWEAT AND BLOOD WITH KOREAN SOIL

When Chaplain Frederick H. Ogilvie, Southern Baptist, reported for duty with the 7th Infantry Division, it appeared as though the Division’s Chaplain Section was preparing for the Olympics. Ogilvie was a former Baylor University football star. He joined Chaplains Benton S. Wood, Christian Science, former captain of the Harvard swimming team; James M. Bragan, Baptist, and John W. Betzold, Orthodox Presbyterian, outstanding baseball players; Martin Hoehn, a talented skier, and Division Chaplain Maurice E. Powers, Roman Catholic, a boxer.⁷⁵ For the moment, however, it appeared as if none of them were on a winning team.

Chaplain Betzold, like many others, had once stood on the banks of the Yalu River, but during the bitter 1950 winter he was moving south in the rapid "bug out," as the soldiers called it. A land mine destroyed a communications truck near the head of his column. Betzold rushed forward with the others, fearing the worst for the driver. They spotted him, clothes in tatters, calmly searching the brush by the road. "I’ve found it!" he suddenly shouted to the stunned observers, as he held up a piece of wood with a few strings hanging limp. They were the shattered remains of his beloved guitar. "His humor saved the day for us," Betzold said; then he added soulfully, "at least that part of it."⁷⁶

The incident seemed characteristic of the winter mood into which scores of chaplains tried to bring the spirit of Hanukkah and Christmas like a smile on the face of tragedy. The victorious had again become the defeated in a sudden twist of events. Somewhat symbolic of the course of the war, General Walker was suddenly killed in a freak accident. He died while driving to the front to decorate a group of soldiers — including his own son — when his jeep collided with a ROK Army truck.⁷⁷

U.S. emotions were straining at what some were beginning to call a "pointless war." It was difficult for many to accept the political expediency of limited action in which thousands of Americans were giving their lives. The "U.S. Fighting Man" was chosen as Time magazine’s "Man of the Year." "It was not a role the American had sought either as an individual or as a nation," said the periodical. "The U.S. fighting man was not civilization’s crusader, but destiny’s draftee."⁷⁸ A chaplain working in a replacement depot said that many of the religious conversions at his station were based on fear — "Who would not be scared to face those ruthless and godless communists?"⁷⁹ Meanwhile, General MacArthur’s disagreement with the policy-makers’ conduct of the War was becoming increasingly apparent.

By this time, Chaplain Ivan Bennett, in his dual capacity as Far East and U.N. Command Chaplain, was supervising nearly 270 chaplains representing a variety of nations. Frank Tobey, as Eighth Army Chaplain, was the senior cleric in Korea. Interestingly, 67 of his chaplains were civilians — seven U.S. auxiliary chaplains (former missionaries) and 60 ROK chaplain-volunteers.⁸⁰ Beginning in late January and into the spring of 1951, they joined their men once more in the regaining of formerly occupied ground.

Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway, Walker’s replacement, launched several attacks and reoccupied Seoul by 16 March. To block an NKA withdrawal route, the 187th Regimental Combat Team made another airborne assault — this time at Munsan, nearly 175 miles below the area they had captured 6 months earlier. It was during this operation that Chaplain Joseph Dunne, whose quiet composure to pain had influenced Chaplain Sampson’s Russian friend, was seriously wounded. Dunne, who was later retired for disability, received the Silver Star for his heroic service in the area.⁸¹

On 5 April near Chunchon, almost due west of Munsan, Chaplain Leo P. Craig, Roman Catholic, was vesting for afternoon Mass at the 99th Field Artillery Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division. An exploding land mine injured a soldier about 70 yards away and Craig, shedding his vestments, rushed with some others to aid the man. As they knelt beside the soldier, someone stepped on a second mine and Chaplain Craig, along with seven others, was killed by the blast. The former Cincinnati priest had died after less than 2 years in the Army. By the next morning, when prayers were being recited over the chaplain’s body by the Division Chaplain, Harold Prudell, the story of Craig’s death was being filed in a news story by the priest-correspondent, Patrick O’Connor.⁸²

Six days later, despite their knowledge of some of the disagreements involved, many Americans were stunned by a brief announcement released by President Truman through his press secretary. "With deep regret," it began, "I have concluded that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the United States Government and of the United Nations in matters pertaining to his official duties …. I have, therefore, relieved General MacArthur of his commands and have designated Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway as his successor …."⁸³

Chaplain Francis Sampson described Ridgway as a "soldier’s soldier" and compared him to Washington at Valley Forge "who met the supreme test in one of his country’s darkest hours."⁸⁴ Meanwhile, Lieutenant General James A. Van Fleet was rushed from the States to assume Ridgeway’s former job.

Obviously, many chaplains were becoming increasingly, if not wearily, familiar with the Korean terrain. Because of the constantly changing front and the rapid movement of units, some chaplains had to travel more than 50 miles between the elements of their "congregations." A chaplain reported that to get to one of his units required flying for 1 hour, riding a boat for 1 1/2 hours, and driving a jeep for another 1/2 hour. The constant traveling, however, brought many of them in contact with the needs of the local people and inspired their involvement in soliciting and distributing supplies from Stateside churches.⁸⁵

Two Communist offensives during the last of April and the middle of May resulted in heavy casualties for both sides along the 38th Parallel. On 18 May, Chaplain Carl P. Oberleiter, American Lutheran, with the 5th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, had stopped by the Command Post of Lieutenant Colonel Richard L. Irby’s 2nd Battalion near Uijongbu. Irby, who was about to confer with the division commander at the time, noticed Oberleiter’s jeep move onto the shoulder of a road to by-pass another vehicle when suddenly it detonated a land mine. Shrapnel ripped into the chaplain, severing an arm above the elbow. After evacuation, Oberleiter nearly died but, through the concerted efforts primarily of an Army nurse, he managed to survive. After spending months in military hospitals, he was retained on active duty, despite his handicap — due in part to his obvious morale-building influence on other patients. The cheerful chaplain, however, shared a different reason with the soldiers. While dwelling in subconsciousness, he told them, he had presented himself at the gates of heaven and dutifully turned over his "201 File" (Personal Records) for inspection. After the review, unfortunately, he was refused admittance and sent "below." Once more the file was perused and again the chaplain told that he didn’t qualify for entrance. Asking in frustration where he could possibly go, he was told: "Generally in such eases, we simply retain them on active duty."⁸⁶

Chaplain Leonard F. Stegman, Roman Catholic, and David M. Reardon, Reformed, were awarded Silver Stars for their brave services on 20 May with the 15th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. Both had left an aid station to assist in evacuating the wounded from the field under intense enemy fire. Reardon, who was wounded in the process, refused to leave until the last man was recovered. He commented in a later acceptance of a civilian award: "My thoughts of those days are fresh with memories of splendid and heroic acts of my comrades whose sweat and blood is mixed with the soil of Korea."⁸⁷

Enemy advances were soon spent and General Van Fleet began pushing back across the Parallel. On 27 May the 19th and 21st Regiments of the 24th Infantry Division flanked a Communist-held hill near the border. Chaplain John J. Murphy, now with the 19th Regiment, had spent some previous time with fellow Catholic Francis X. Coppens of the 21st Regiment. When Murphy attempted to contact his friend by field phone on the 28th, he was shocked to hear that Coppens had been killed the night before. Communist forces had stormed down the hill on the side held by the 21st Regiment; Coppens and Chaplain John B. Youngs, Bible Presbyterian, were occupying the same tent at the time. As machine gun fire riddled the canvas, Youngs dashed out for cover under a vehicle. Coppens, however, who had been quietly reciting his rosary, was cut down by the fire. Although the Massachusetts’ priest had been on active duty from 1945 to 1947, his second tour had just begun in September 30, 1950. Chaplain Coppens was the tenth U.S. Army chaplain-victim of a war that was less than 1-year old.⁸⁸