Tag Archives: world war II

The 70th Anniversary of Iwo Jima, Chaplain Gittelsohn, and the Purest Democracy

Seventy years ago this month, US Marines slogged onto Iwo Jima, an island some 600-miles from the Japanese mainland. Nearly 6,000 Americans died and more than 17,000 were wounded in the month-long battle. As was the practice at the time, the dead were buried on the island in cemeteries designated for each Marine Division.

The Division chaplain reportedly asked US Navy Reserve Chaplain (Lt) Roland Gittelsohn to speak at the memorial dedicating the Fifth Marine Division cemetery on Iwo Jima. Chaplain Gittelsohn was the first Jewish chaplain to serve US Marines.

There was apparently resistance among the Christian chaplains to a Jewish chaplain presiding over the graves of Christians. Gittelsohn reportedly bowed out, instead delivering a eulogy to a smaller, 70-person Jewish ceremony — a ceremony attended by at least three Christian chaplains incensed by the intolerance of their fellow chaplains.

The chaplain’s eulogy was apparently Read more

Kamikaze Turned Priest Briefs US Marines

Paul Saneaki Nakamura is a retired Anglican Bishop. He’s also a veteran of Japan’s Imperial Navy, in which he trained to be a kamikaze in the closing days of World War II. Nakamura recently spoke to US Marines on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, about his experiences — both physical and spiritual:

The 87-year-old retired Anglican bishop grew up on Okinawa as militarism swept across Japan. Like many others, he became an ultra-nationalist who firmly believed in selfless devotion to his country. He worshipped the emperor as god; offering his life to the emperor was the ultimate virtue….

He survived Read more

VA Chaplain Ends 42-Year Career

A local paper, repeated at the Stars and Stripes, highlights the fascinating story of 91-year-old VA Chaplain Ben Vegors, who has served at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s chapel for more than four decades.

[Over the years], he’s helped many men and women recover their faith as their bodies recovered from the effects of military service.

“Here in the chapel it’s been a real good thing,” said Vegors, his voice rich with the memory. “I’ve directed hundreds back to their churches.”

The story starts much earlier, with his conversion in 1940 and his service in B-24s during World War II. Read the full story here.

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General Welsh on the Passing of a Man of Honor

General Mark Welsh, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, eulogized Col Jim Kasler, a World War II B-29 tail gunner, Korean war ace jet pilot, and POW during Vietnam who passed away on April 24th:

In addition to being the only man awarded the Air Force Cross three times, Kasler was decorated twice with the Silver Star, a Legion of Merit, nine awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts and 11 Air Medal awards.

But what was most important to him was Read more

President Obama Intros Official Military Prayer Book

The Jewish Welfare Board has released an updated siddur, a Jewish prayer book that is the “first of its kind since World War II:”

The impetus to create the siddur dates to 2006, when the Jewish Chaplains Council advisory board realized that its chaplains were using a variety of siddurim depending on what the rabbi or trained lay person leading services chose to use. This was often the prayer book with which he or she was most comfortable, or simply what was available at the base.

The format Read more

Court: Lake Elsinore War Memorial Advances Religion

The proposed Lake Elsinore war memorial — which was to portray the iconic silhouette of a soldier kneeling at a cross-shaped headstone — was declared unconstitutional by US District Judge Stephen Wilson:

On Thursday (Feb. 27), U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of California’s Central District ruled that a granite monument depicting a soldier kneeling in prayer before a cross lacked “a secular purpose” and has “the unconstitutional effect” of endorsing religion over nonreligion.

For those that can’t seem to remember, the US Constitution says this about religion:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

Is such a stone really Congress making a law respecting establishment? Using the Lemon Test, the Judge (PDF) said:  Read more

Military Patches Ruined by Political Correctness?

Somewhere a military staff officer is scratching out a memorandum restricting the creation, use, and publicity of the long-running tradition of creating unit patches…

When Walt Disney created thousands of military unit insignia in World War II — all for free — he understood the positive contributions such insignia brought to morale, camaraderie, and the mission. While a majority of aircraft nose art faded with the end of WWII, units still supported those “intangible” military necessities with slogans, unit mottoes, and unit patches.

Decades later, those traditions continue, though relatively new widespread publicity has dampened some of those earlier spirits.

In one recent famous example, a group of atheists complained that a government office had the word “God” (Deo, actually) on their organizational patch. The unit acquiesced and replaced it with “miracles.” The atheists weren’t totally pleased, but they seemed to let it go since they’d had a victory over Deo.  As was noted at the time, unit and mission patches are often a collection of relevant imagery, inspirational quotes, inside jokes, and even subtle references to classified details. For example, a list of mission patches here explains the inclusion of a cluster of six stars on a patch is actually 5+1 — referring to Area 51.

More recently, the National Reconnaissance Read more

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