Chaplain Death Toll Is 24; 3400 Serving Overseas
31 July 1944: Twenty-four Army chaplains have been killed to date, the War Department announced yesterday and 33 have been taken prisoner. Some 3,400 chaplains are now serving overseas.
Meanwhile SHAEF announced the names of 13 chaplains who jumped with the paratroopers in Normandy on D-Day from four to six hours before the first seaborne unit landed. They were:
Capts Raymond S. Hall, Episcopalian, the first jumping in the U.S. Army, who was injured; George B. Wood, Episcopalian; Matthew J. Connelly, Catholic; Robert H. Hennon, Baptist; John J. Verret, Catholic; James L. Elder, Baptist; Ignatius P. Maternowski, Catholic; killed in action; Kenneth M. Engle, Methodist; Francis L. Sampson, Catholic; Joseph Andrejewski, Catholic; Tilden S. McGee, Baptist; John S. Maloney, Catholic, awarded the DSC; and William Reid, Methodist.
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“The Stars and Stripes,” Vol. 4, No. 231, July 31, 1944, pg. 5.
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Original, from The Stars and Stripes, 31 July 1944 (TCK Archives)
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Posted on 26 December 2017, in Chaplaincy, History and tagged D-Day, World War Two, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
The Chaplain Kit 
Sampson lost his communion kit and had to dive into the water several times to retrieve it….which he did. He later became the Chief of Chaplains (68-69 time period).
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We thank God for the lives of our chaplains in the military. They playing dual roles as staff officers and religious leaders. The bring God to where the people are and the people to God in their dual duties. May God bless the souls of all chaplains who have died at the battle front and grace to serving chaplains across the globe to bring peace and love of God to our troops and Humanity as a whole
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