Blog Archives
Remembering the 1st Chaplain Captured by the Germans in WW2
On this day in Chaplain Corps history, 16 February 1943, Chaplain Eugene Daniel was the first US chaplain to be captured by the Germans. Caring for wounded American -and German- soldiers, Chaplain Daniel was taken prisoner when the Afrika Korps overtook their position.
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You may find interesting the extended version of this video which includes video clips of Chaplain Daniel telling his story from a presentation he made to a high school class in the ’90s:
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Remember the Four Chaplains
3 February 1943: On This Day in Chaplain Corps History, Chaplains Goode, Fox, Poling and Washington were on the U.S.A.T. Dorchester in the North Atlantic when a German submarine torpedoed and sent it to the bottom of a watery grave. These four chaplains exemplified nurturing the living, caring for the wounded and honoring the dead as they sacrificed their own safety and lives to minister to the needs of others as they served God and country.
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On this day in Chaplain Corps history
On 28 May 1948 the United States Post Office issued a stamp honoring the four chaplains who perished ministering to others when the Dorchester sunk after being torpedoed by a German Submarine in World War Two. Here’s a little more history about the stamp with a lot of samples of the First Day Covers.
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It Could Be Worse… (Part 2)
It may be difficult not gathering for worship together during the COVID-19 pandemic, but just think, you could be gathering for worship in a barn … away from home … using a portable pump organ … in a combat zone!
The caption to this U.S. Army photograph dated 1944 reads:
Artillerymen attached to an Armored Unit attend Protestant Services held in a barn near France.
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U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo, ETO-HQ-44-17550 (TCK Archives)
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Religion Helps You Face Hard Duty*
“Every camp in the country and every organization in action overseas has facilities for divine worship. The chaplains who serve in the camps and with the fighting men extend their efforts and compassion into every element of their men’s lives.
“The chaplains are available for advice or consultation on any religious or moral problems, and they are also considerately helpful in any other personal matters brought to them. You can see your chaplain without asking the permission of any superior. You can attend the church service of your choice each week, unless you have specific duties with which such attendance would interfere. Most chapels also conduct programs during midweek.
“Religion is always most strengthening and helpful to people whose lives are troubled, and whose realization is greatest that forces beyond their own control may alter their lives. As a soldier in a savage and brutalizing war, you can find peace and comfort in religion. With a foundation of religious understanding, you can build a broader character out of the experiences which await you.
“At the very beginning of your military service, establish the habit of attending chapel; get to know your chaplain. Preparing your mind for the shocks of combat is an opportunity which will always be yours in the Army, but it is not the kind of thing you can accomplish frantically at the last moment when you may need it most.”
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* From Army Life, War Department Pamphlet 21-13, 10 August 1944 (TCK Archives).
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From War to Making a Better World
As troops sailed home from the fighting of WW2, transport ships published “newspapers” to pass on information and help pass the time of the travelers. The S.S. Marine Cardinal published White Caps for those she was taking home. Here’s the “Chaplain’s Corner” from the 2 January 1946 issue, urging the war-weary troops to make the world a better place as they return home.
“After a great convention had left a certain city, a man passing by the convention hall, saw a delegate’s badge in the gutter. ‘The show was over’; this was the aftermath. And now that the war has ended, what will be its aftermath——a badge in the gutter or war’s destructive energies turned to constructive use:
“The answer lies with the millions who like yourselves are returning home. You can make the world just about what you want it to be if you do not toss aside the idealism, cooperation, and comrades which led our forces onto victory.”
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Here’s a scan of the original article (author’s collection).
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Author unknown, White Caps, 2 January 1946 (author’s collection).
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I Walked to the Gallows With the Nazi Chiefs
Five years after he was a chaplain at the Nuremberg Trials, Henry Gerecke told his story to the readers of the Saturday Evening Post. It was a story of hope, redemption and evil.
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I Walked to the Gallows With the Nazi Chiefs
By Chaplain Henry F. Gerecke
As told to Merle Sinclair
[as it appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, September 1, 1951]
It was the duty of the Chaplain of Nuremberg Prison to offer Christian comfort to Hitler’s gang. Now, after five years under a bond of silence, he tells how they repented before the hangman’s trap fell.
“Chaplain Gerecke. The Nazi prisoners wrote to his wife, asking her to urge him to stay in Nuremberg” (photo by Ralph Boyle).
It is five years since I served my stretch in Nuremberg prison–as chief chaplain during the trials of the Nazi leaders by the International Military Tribunal and spiritual adviser to the fifteen Protestant defendants. My assistant, Catholic Chaplain Sixtus O’Conner, and I spent eleven months with the perpetrators of World War II. We were the last to counsel with these men, and made ten trips to the execution chamber. The world has never heard our story.
When, some years ago, I asked the United States Army for the necessary permission to share this experience with my fellow Americans, I was asked to wait. I believe the public’s reaction to the trials was responsible. Consequently, my reminiscences have been confined to two reports, both written previously and read only by fellow chaplains and certain young fold of my Lutheran faith.
However, I believe that the story, told now, will help to stress the lessons we should have learned from the careers and downfall of Hitler’s elect, at a time when we need such lessons worse than ever.
Continue reading this article here (5568 more words)…
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The Chaplain is the Friend of Every Soldier
In 1941, as the United States was gearing up for its inevitable entry into World War 2, the Army published a booklet to prepare men (at that time) to enter the military service, titled “The Army and You.” It included topics like military courtesy, health, equipment, chow (“Good Food–and Plenty of it”!), promotions and pay; as well as what to expect at the Induction Station, Reception Center and Replacement Training Center.
Of course, one of the benefits of military service this 14-page booklet discusses is the chaplain, as did many promotional pieces of the day. Here’s the paragraph dedicated to soldiers’ religious life and the chaplain who is there for them:
The Chaplain is the Friend of Every Soldier
There are opportunities for religious worship at all posts, camps, and stations. Although attendance is not compulsory, every inducement is offered the soldier to attend church services, either at the post chapel or at the church of his faith in the nearby towns. Become acquainted with the chaplain. Part of his duty is to serve as your friend, counsellor, and guide, no matter whether you belong to his church, another church, or to no church.
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The cover invites the potential soldier into the camaraderie found, among other places, a formation of men marching with weapons. “The Army and You,” U.S. Government Printing Office, 1941 (author’s collection).
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Worship Services at Compiegne
Soldiers transitioning through the 16th Reinforcement Depot at Compiegne, France in 1944 and 1945 had many opportunities to worship while there, to include Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Latter Day Saints and Christian Science services and studies.
Ministering in the 16th were 2 Catholic chaplains: Chaplains Welsh and Duggan; 1 Jewish chaplain: Chaplain Decter; 4 Protestant chaplains: Chaplains Powers, Swartz, Jones and Grim; and 2 “lay readers”: Major Hotaling (Christian Science) and Sergeant Mitchell (Latter Day Saints).
Here’s the schedule:
Front cover and schedule of worship services at the 16th Reinforcement Depot at Compiegne, France, 1944-45 (author’s collection).
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A WW2 Chaplain’s Letter from War
In our modern wars, service members are more likely to send an e-mail, video chat or even have a cell phone to talk with family back home rather than send a letter, but back before today’s technology, families had to wait for handwritten letters to make it to the battlefield and home again before hearing from their loved ones.
Often, the time taken to compose these letters created interesting combinations of thoughts that people at war experienced. This particular letter was written on 3 February 1945 by Chaplain Clarence W. Baldwin to a friend named Grace Byers who was living in Pasadena, California during the war.
In this interesting letter, Chaplain Baldwin talks a bit about the assignments he had already had during the war and how his current assignment takes him all around England and into London many times. He wrote about some “food for thought” from a gentleman named Clifton, that Grace had included in one of her letters. He later develops that “food” into a sermon outline for future use with his soldiers. Chaplain Baldwin also describes to Grace how he enjoys receiving letters from home though he does not always have time to answer, but has a system to reply when he has time.
Disconcerting in this chaplain’s letter, however, is his confession that his work as a minister is “too hard” and that he is “thinking about giving it up when the war is over” questioning “who the chaplain is supposed to see when his morale is low.” Fortunately, though, things must have gotten better for Chaplain Baldwin as he continued in the ministry after the war, pastoring at least one church in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Here is a transcript of the letter, followed by a picture of the original v-mail Chaplain Baldwin mailed to Grace:
Dear Grace:
It was very nice of you to write to me. I enjoyed your Christmas card, the letter and the enclosure of ‘Clifton’s’. He does have a nice idea and the ‘food for thot’ [sic] is very appropriate.
So you like California? I do not blame you at all. After being over here I like everything about the USA. The weather is perpetually poor over on this side of the world and there is no place to go to find the kind of weather you like as we do back home. We can’t do as you have done [and] go to California or to Florida.
You notice that my address has changed again. I really get around. I have been in the Infantry, Medics, Ordinance and now I have a supervising job as District Chaplain. This work entails a great deal of traveling and I am seeing England at government expense. I get into London often and find myself better acquainted with that city than I am of most cities back home.
I hear regularly from home. Sis writes to me very often and I do not always find time to answer her. You will excuse my tardy reply to your letter. I always relish the idea of getting letters and most always answer them even though I may not do so very soon. I keep a file of unanswered letters and when I have a day off as I do today I get busy and answer many of them. There is no use for me to go anyplace on my day off. It would be too much like the proverbial Busman’s Holiday.
I just now stopped writing this letter to read again the ‘Food for Thot’ [sic] and I find at least one good sermon in the material. I think I shall call it ‘This is the Time and the Place.’ The material suggests that yesterday was mine, tomorrow will be mine but today is mine. The other two belong to God. Also, another bit in this paper suggests that we should not look at the grass in other person’s yard to our own opportunities wherever you are. [sic] Time and place, today and here. It should work out don’t you think? I could use the text ‘Do not be anxious about tomorrow’ which should be appropriate.
Some of these times I will let you know how the men like it. Already I have an illustration to pop into my mind. Always the preacher. Walking around the streets building sermons – day dreaming and what not. Seriously though, I am thinking about giving it up when the war is over. Believe me it is too hard, I know. A ministers life is very difficult. Always thinking about sermon material, programs, attendance, sick calls, problems, problems, problems. The other person never realizes that you may have a problem of your own. So they continue to pile them up on your shoulders. I have often wondered who the chaplain is supposed to see when his morale is low. It is, in a way a lonely life. Well, now you know, the chaplain comes to you.
Love, Clarence
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V-mail letter from Chaplain Clarence W. Baldwin to Grace Byers from England, 3 February 1945 (author’s collection).
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The Chaplain Kit 