Mission at Nuremberg (38 page)

  52  
to the fifty-five million Americans:
Brinsfield, Cash, and Malek-Jones, “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 722.

  52  
During King Philip's War in 1675:
“Colonial & New World Chaplains.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  52  
among the minutemen:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 723.

  52  
to support their flocks:
“During the Revolutionary War.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  52  
and had no uniforms:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 723.

  52  
militias held boisterous elections:
Drazin and Currey,
For God and Country,
p. 8.

  52  
helping doctors where they could:
“Chaplain Authorization and Duties.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  52  
Continental Congress recognized chaplains:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 723.

  53  
enforcers of religious responsibility:
Drazin and Currey,
For God and Country,
p. 8.

  53  
“ . . . recommended to all Friends . . .”:
Ibid., p. 11.

  53  
Benjamin Franklin told the story:
Ibid., p. 8.

  53  
“a more graceful appearance”:
Ibid., p. 9.

  54  
to facilitate the free exercise of religion:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 723.

  54  
“ . . . have been Since mutually released”:
Drazin and Currey,
For God and Country,
p. 14.

  54  
matters dealing with morals:
Ibid., p. 15.

  54  
and Polk appointed them:
Army and Navy Chaplains Ordinariate,
United States Catholic Chaplains in the World War
, p. xiii.

  54  
a “Board of Clergymen”:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 724.

  54  
the military employed nearly:
Ibid.

  54  
allowing the first Jewish chaplain:
“Appointments to the Union Army.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  55  
Lincoln's somewhat reluctant approval:
Armstrong, “Organization, Function and Contribution of the Chaplaincy,” p. 12.

  55  
a Cherokee battalion:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 725.

  55  
prompting Congress:
“The Chaplaincy in the Civil War.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  55  
he was eighty years old:
Armstrong, “Organization, Function and Contribution of the Chaplaincy,” p. 11.

  55  
“Evangelism [was] more than ever before . . .”:
Honeywell quoted in Visser, “Evangelism,” p. 8.

  55  
After the Battle of Chancellorsville:
Norton quoted in Visser, “Evangelism,” p. 9.

  56  
“Holy barks, shouts, jerks . . .”:
Ibid., p. 8.

  56  
The revival reached its height:
Ibid.

  56  
Chaplain Corps shrank:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 725.

  56  
Some chaplains did missionary work:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 17.

  56  
The Act of April 21, 1904:
Ibid., p. 14.

  56  
created the position of chaplain assistant:
“Chaplain Assistant.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  56  
74 Regular Army chaplains:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 30.

  56  
the army had 2,217 chaplains:
“Army Chaplains in World War I.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  56  
Twenty-five Catholic priests:
Army and Navy Chaplains Ordinariate, p. xiv.

  57  
didn't meld well:
Ibid., p. xv.

  57  
The age limits:
Ibid.

  57  
religious books and literature:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 31.

  57  
Chaplains also served as postal officers:
“Burials & Additional Duties.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  57  
when the Japanese bombed:
“World War II.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  58  
ministered to more than 16 million:
Brinsfield et al., “U.S. Military Chaplains,” p. 726.

  58  
The army required that applicants:
“World War II.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  58  
received 4,000 applications:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 89.

  58  
Yearbook of American Churches:
Ibid., p. 73.

  58  
The army asked Methodist officials:
Ibid., p. 95.

  58  
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod:
Ibid., 98.

  58  
At its peak in 1943:
Ibid., 90.

  59  
Wartime chaplains continued:
“Tell It to the Chaplain.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  59  
tested the creativity and flexibility:
“Making do.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  59  
chaplains also organized boxing matches:
“Troop Transports.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  59  
“climbed mountains, crossed rivers . . .”:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 114.

  59  
the third-most combat deaths:
“In the Midst.” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  59  
classified as clerk-typists:
“Chaplain Assistants [WWII].” Plaque. U.S. Army Chaplain Museum. Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  60  
The army relaxed education requirements:
Simon, “The Influence of the American Protestant Churches,” p. 106.

  60  
scratched denominational quotas:
Ibid., p. 107.

  60  
“a brief study outlining the plans . . .”:
“A Chronicle of the United States Army Chaplain School,” p. 2.

  60  
founded in 1919:
Ibid., p. 1.

  61  
accelerated by the Japanese attack:
Ibid., pp. 4–5.

  61  
Classes would include:
Ibid., p. 6.

  61  
“ . . . a fraternal spirit among chaplains”:
Ibid., p. 16.

  61  
first class of 71 chaplains:
Ibid., p. 15.

  61  
By the third class of students:
Ibid., pp. 17–18.

 

CHAPTER 4

  62  
“When man thinks . . .”:
Barth,
Church Dogmatics,
p. 451.

  62  
“It is said an Eastern monarch . . .”:
Abraham Lincoln, Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society.

  63  
the Ninety-Eighth arrived in Hermitage:
Henry F. Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1944.

  63  
He searched for a local rabbi:
Ibid., August 1944.

  63  
Gerecke made arrangements:
Ibid., August 1943.

  63  
Gerecke recruited another local rabbi:
Ibid., February 1945.

  63  
an abbreviation for “
Gamzu ya'avor
”:
Folktales of Israel
, p. 174.

  63  
“Every time he felt . . .”:
Ibid.

  64  
It was inscribed with his motto:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  64  
“To a unit closely knit . . .”:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  64  
500 enlisted men and 150 officers:
Ibid.

  64  
a graduate of the Army Medical School:
Ibid.

  65  
Gerecke was assigned to the Ninety-Eighth:
Arnold, “Memorandum For: The Adjutant General.”

  65  
The report worksheets:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” September 1943.

  65  
the unit's overnight training bivouacs:
Ibid., October 1943.

  65  
obstacle course, infiltration crawl:
Ibid., February 1944.

  65  
distributed Protestant New Testaments:
Ibid., October 1943.

  66  
every item of furniture:
Hank Gerecke interview, 30 June 2011.

  66  
yanked Gerecke:
Ibid.

  66  
Geist had been drafted:
Thomas V. Geist, “My Experience as Assistant to Chaplain Henry F. Gerecke.”

  66  
Gerecke “was like a father to me . . .”:
Geist interview.

  67  
Gerecke gave two Thanksgiving services:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” November 1943.

  67  
he organized Christmas services:
Ibid., December 1943.

  67  
performed his first wedding:
Ibid., February 1944.

  67  
a fifteen-day leave:
Ibid., January 1944.

  67  
Attendance at Sunday services:
Ibid., February 1944.

  67  
starred Ronald Reagan:
For God and Country.
Film.

  67  
Sullivan received orders:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  68  
Gerecke proved seaworthy:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” March 1944.

  68  
a crumbling station hospital:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 4 April to 15 July 1944.”

  68  
The 834-bed hospital:
Ibid., 1 January–31 December 1945.

  68  
a small wooden structure:
Photo, collection of Thomas V. Geist.

  68  
a folding altar:
“The Chaplain Corps,” WW2 Medical Research Centre.

  69  
When the appropriate gear arrived:
Geist, “My Experience.”

  69  
chapel was surprisingly roomy:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1944.

  69  
Gerecke hung black drapes:
Photo, collection of Thomas V. Geist.

  69  
Sullivan encouraged exchange visits:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  70  
built to house a gymnasium:
Ibid.

  70  
The nurses organized weekly dances:
Ibid., 4 April to 15 July 1944.

  70  
56 percent Protestants:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1944.

  70  
Sullivan had the priest removed:
Hank Gerecke interview, 2 February 2008.

  71  
“containing a spiritual lift”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1944 and December 1944.

  71  
Gerecke discovered a soldier:
Gerecke, “Sickbed Sidelights,” pp. 119–120.

  71  
The body of a pilot:
Ibid., p. 118.

  72  
dropped to their knees:
Ibid., p. 119.

  72  
In the first two months:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  72  
money coming in:
Hank Gerecke interview, 10 October 2011.

  73  
the family's 1939 Chrysler Imperial:
Hank Gerecke interview, 2 February 2008.

  73  
Henry sent a letter:
Henry F. Gerecke, V-Mail to Dorothy Williams, 10 May 1944.

  73  
when one of Alma's admirers:
Hank Gerecke interview, 2 February 2008.

  74  
For the first six weeks or so:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 1 January to 8 May 1945.”

  74  
As more patients arrived:
Ibid., 1 January–31 December 1945.

  74  
Six ambulances—:
Ibid., 16 July to 30 September 1944.

  74  
taken to Newbury Race Course:
Ibid.

  74  
From June to November 1944:
Ibid., 1 January–31 December 1945.

  75  
and treated elsewhere:
Ibid., 16 July to 30 September 1944.

  75  
Gerecke instituted “Moments of Prayer”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” June 1944.

  75  
He began noticing used condoms:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  75  
“God bless you, son”:
Gerecke, “Sickbed Sidelights,” p. 120.

  76  
encountered only three atheists:
Ibid., p. 122.

  76  
Weekly bus trips:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 16 July to 30 September 1944.”