In God We Trust
Most combat veterans believe that the statement, "There are no atheists in foxholes," was true during the Korean War. The Korean War Educator opened this page of study on the KWE on February 25, 2007. To provide information, photos, or suggestions for the page, e-mail Lynnita or send to Lynnita Brown, 111 E. Houghton St., Tuscola, IL 61953.
[KWE Note: To learn about the U.S. Navy's Chaplain Corps in the Korean War, we recommend the book, "The History of the Chaplain Corps, United States Navy, Volume Six - During the Korean War 27 June 1950-27 June 1954.]
[KWE Note: The following article was authored by Mark W. Johnson, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, on April 9, 2013.]
WASHINGTON (April 9, 2013) -- The start of hostilities in Korea during June 1950 caught most American officials off guard, and those in charge of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps were no exception.
For the previous five years, America's military focus had been on divesting itself of the huge force that had been employed during World War Two. There were 8,141 Army chaplains on active duty as that war ended in 1945; by the end of 1947, only a little more than 1,100 remained. Nearly 500 of those transferred to the recently-established U.S. Air Force in 1949. On the eve of the North Korean attack on South Korea, there were 706 active duty Army chaplains, with more in the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.
With war again a reality in 1950, the Army had to rapidly expand. Having just gone through the painful process of involuntarily releasing chaplains from active duty and forcing them into reserve status, the Chaplain Corps now had to reverse the process and recall reserve chaplains to active duty. Chaplain authorizations would more than double in the coming years, topping out at 1,618 in 1953.
Even though numerous chaplains entered the active force through reserve component mobilizations, individual recalls, and an intense recruiting effort, the number of chaplains serving never matched what was authorized. Many veterans of World War Two were understandably reluctant to volunteer for combat duty again, and popular support for the war would wane during its final years as the conflict devolved into a stalemate.
While America mobilized in 1950, America's Army went to war. The first American ground forces to deploy to Korea were the divisions that had been stationed in Japan as occupation forces following World War Two. In trying to stem the tide that was the North Korean invasion of South Korea, many hastily-deployed American units found themselves in desperate situations; it often came down to more of a battle for survival than it was an attempt to inflict harm on the enemy. Chaplains assigned to those units found themselves spending far more time comforting the wounded and praying for the fallen--and trying to evade capture--than they did in ministering to the living.
The first chaplain to serve in Korea deployed there with the initial American ground force to enter the conflict: Task Force Smith, an under strength battalion of the 24th Infantry Division's 21st Infantry Regiment. The battalion's chaplain, Carl R. Hudson, had been looking forward to a routine tour of garrison duty in Japan upon his assignment to the unit a few weeks beforehand. Chaplain Hudson and the rest of the task force's 540 soldiers had little time to do anything after settling into a defense position just north of the town of Osan during the early morning hours of July 5, 1950.
A large force of North Korean tanks and infantry attacked just a few hours later. By early afternoon the task force was completely overrun, its survivors scattered. Chaplain Hudson, along with the battalion's surgeon and a large group of walking wounded, spent most of the following night and day making their way southward to the safety of the nearest American unit.
Other chaplains of the 24th Infantry Division had experiences similar to that of Hudson during that difficult month of July 1950, narrowly escaping as one American position after another fell before the North Korean advance. All survived, with the exception of Chaplain Herman G. Felhoelter of the 19th Infantry Regiment.
With his battalion falling back as the American position along the Kum River collapsed, Felhoelter volunteered to remain behind with a group of critically wounded men. A North Korean patrol came upon the group and executed the prostrate soldiers and their praying chaplain. Felhoelter was the first of twelve chaplains to die in action or as a prisoner during the Korean War. The second also perished in July 1950, when Chaplain Byron D. Lee of the 35th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division) was mortally wounded during an attack from an enemy aircraft.
Amazingly enough, no chaplains were captured during those confusing initial months of the Korean War despite all the American setbacks. That would change within a few months, however. After the front stabilized at the Pusan Perimeter and then the Inchon Invasion changed the strategic focus of the war, during the final months of 1950 American units and other forces of the United Nations command no longer retreated but instead advanced deep into North Korean territory. China entered the war in October 1950, when American and South Korean troops approached the Yalu River, the border between Korea and China.
The first major American-Chinese clash took place near the town of Unsan during the first week of November, when a powerful Chinese attack overwhelmed the 1st Cavalry Division's 8th Cavalry Regiment. The regiment's battered 1st and 2d battalions managed to withdraw, but the 3d battalion was surrounded and largely annihilated. The 3d battalion's chaplain, Emil J. Kapaun, was captured.
The 1950 Chinese counteroffensive generated heavy casualties on both sides. Within a month of Kapaun's capture, three more chaplains also became prisoners of war: Kenneth C. Hyslop (19th Infantry Regiment), Wayne H. Burdue (2d Engineer Battalion, 2d Infantry Division), and Lawrence F. Brunnert (32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division). Two other chaplains were killed during those weeks: Samuel R. Simpson (38th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division) and James W. Conner (31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division). The fate of the four captured chaplains was unknown until the release of surviving American prisoners in 1953. Sadly, none of the four chaplain POWs survived their incarcerations.
For the opening battles of the Korean War, as with most wars, those who are already in uniform at the start of the conflict bore the burden of the opening battles. The eight chaplains lost in 1950 were all members of the pre-war Chaplain Corps. Six were veterans of World War Two. Burdue, Lee, and Simpson had served continuously since the 1940s without a break in service. Hyslop, Kapaun, and Felhoelter also served in World War Two, but were released from active duty in 1946. Within two years, however, they decided to continue their service to God and country; all three volunteered for recall to active duty in 1948. Conner and Brunnert joined the others in the pre-war era, being commissioned in 1948 and 1949 respectively.
None of these eight veteran chaplains knew what the year 1950 would bring, but all rose to the challenges that came with ministering to Soldiers under fire. Only a few received public recognition for the actions that ultimately cost them their lives: Conner was awarded the Silver Star, Felhoelter the Distinguished Service Cross, and Kapaun received numerous awards.
Kapaun will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama, April 11, 2013, at the White House.
All eight earned the undying thanks and gratitude of the Soldiers they served -- the only award for which any of them would have asked.
The Rev. Billy Graham traveled to Korea in December of 1952 to meet with missionaries, chaplains, officers, pastors, and soldiers during the Christmas holiday season. Publicity about this famous evangelist’s ministry in Korea was published in the form of a book entitled, I Saw Your Sons at War: The Korean Diary of Billy Graham. It was published in 1953 by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information about Reverend Graham's Korean diary, visit I Saw Your Sons at War on the KWE.
God Bless Our Boys in Korea
During the Korean War, a patriotic song called, "God Bless Our Boys in Korea", was written by Louis Perosi. The rousing music and lyrics of this song were recorded by Vanity Records of Patterson, New Jersey, on a 78 rpm record. The lyrics expressed support and hope for the troops, and called for prayers and support. The music content included an introductory snare drum cadence, followed by several choruses sang by vocalist Jo Ann Lear and reprised by a male group. The Justin Leonard orchestra provided the background music. On the reverse of the album, Cal Cala crooned "Angel." Both songs were written circa 1951. "God Bless Our Boys in Korea" is one of only two songs known by the Korean War Educator to have been written specifically on the subject of the Korean War during the time that the war was actually in progress. The other song can be found on the "Home Front In The Songs page" of the Korean War Educator under the title, "Say a Prayer for the Boys in Korea."
Two of the "God Bless Our Boys in Korea" albums were posted for auction on Ebay in October of 2002, where they were discovered by Lynnita Brown of the Korean War Educator. The albums were the last of their kind from a stock of records sold in the Trudy Whyte Record Shop which operated in Racine, Wisconsin, from 1946 through 1969. One of the Ebay albums is now owned by Lynnita Brown, and the other is owned by Lou Perosi, son of the song’s author. The Perosi family was unaware of the album’s existence until one of his two sons was contacted by Mrs. Brown. In response to her query about Louis Valentine Perosi Sr., Mr. Perosi’s son, Lou (Stroudsburg, PA) Jr., provided the following information about his father:
Louis Valentine Perosi, Sr. was born on March 10, 1920. He was the oldest of five children: Frank, Anthony, Mary and William. He was raised in New York City by his parents Mario and Rafella, who met in New York City, but came from Italy. At the age of eight, his parents divorced and the children were placed into the custody of the New York State Children’s Services, where they were cared for in a Children’s Home until Louis was twelve. During his time at the Children’s Home, Louis suffered a broken ear drum as a result of being severely punished on numerous occasions. At the age of twelve, his father got custody of the children again after remarrying, and had another child, Americo. His father worked as a construction worker and played the violin on city sidewalks in New York City to make extra money. Mario had become a master of most musical instruments before coming to America. Louis graduated high school through the New York City school system.
The family moved from New York City in 1938, and settled in Suffern, New York, where Mario became the music director for the Suffern school system. Louis worked in construction and began learning the accordion, piano, and other instruments. At the age of eighteen, Louis was an accomplished musician working full time in construction as a mason and, playing music part time. In 1942, the family moved to New Jersey where Mario set up a music studio in Paterson, New Jersey. Louis helped his father and taught music.
In 1943, one of his students, Frances Randazzo, taking mandolin lessons, caught the eye of Louis. On June 4, 1944, Louis and Frances were married and settled in West Paterson, New Jersey. They had two sons, Louis Jr. And Vincent. Louis Senior continued to play and compose music. He was a prolific composer, writing songs about everything from love to important news stories of the day.
In 1951, he composed the song, "God Bless Our Boys in Korea." He never served in the military because of his broken ear drum. In 1952, he recorded the song in New Jersey. The song was never nationally distributed. Only a limited number of copies were made.
In 1955, Louis began working full time for Bendix Corporation, Teterboro, New Jersey, where he was a foundry worker. He also learned the printing trade and worked part time in a printing shop in Paterson, New Jersey. He also published his own local paper called "The Star Bulletin."
Louis wrote more than 25 compositions, and he copyrighted ten, including "God Bless Our Boys in Korea." His greatest opportunity to become a nationally-known songwriter was in 1958, when he was a contestant on Steve Allen’s "Songs for Sale" game show. Louis entered his song, "Daffy Down Dilly", which was sung by a popular singer of that era on national TV with a background of dancers in costumes of toy soldiers and dolls. The panel of judges thought the song was a hit, but one of the panelists, Morey Amsterdam, a comic from that period, voted the song down. Ironically, Amsterdam later published a song called Huckle Buck, which was never a hit but nonetheless received Amsterdam’s backing.
After that, Louis continued to seek recognition for his work, but times were changing, and so was music. Rock and Roll was the new thing, and shortly after that, Elvis, the Beatles, and other groups of the 60’s changed music as Louis knew it, forever. He could not adjust to the music of the early baby boomers.
However, one song still remains unpublished, and will undoubtedly place Louis Valentine Perosi Senior on the national hit list in the near future. That song is, "Let’s Decorate the Merry Christmas Tree," and competes with classics like "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rockin around the Christmas Tree." The song is a treasure of holiday joy and happiness and his son, Louis Jr., along with his brother, Frank, who is in the record business, plan to publish the song for Christmas 2003, along with a number of other new Christmas songs.
Louis died unexpectedly at the age of 64 on December 10, 1984, at a Christmas party for Bendix retirees. In front of everyone, Louis Perosi Sr. sang the song, "You Light Up My Life" to his wife Frances. After completing the song, he slumped into his wife’s arms and passed away. He died of congestive heart failure and was buried in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey. His survivors included his wife, brothers William and Frank, sons Louis Jr. and Vincent, and grandchildren Maria, Matt, Vincent Jr., and Christopher. His widow, Frances Randazzo Perosi of West Paterson, later died on July 29, 2003.
Post Note by Louis Perosi, Jr:: Why my father wrote the song, "God Bless Our Boys in Korea" will probably remain a mystery. I believe, however, based on other songs he wrote, my father wrote the song as a patriot and because he was moved by the conflict of that time. No doubt he felt this was his own contribution to the war effort and he hoped to motivate other Americans to support our men in uniform. My father was a staunch conservative Republican and believed in America. I think the basis for his idea to compose this song finds its roots in the ideals of the man.
Say a Prayer for the Boys in Korea by John Chappell
A newspaper editor in Ashland, Wisconsin, was one of only two American citizens of the 1950s known to honor Korean War veterans by writing an original published song. John B. Chapple entitled his song, "Say a Prayer for the Boys in Korea." A copy of the sheet music for the song was found by the Korean War Educator in the Robert Donner Collection in the Margaret and Herman Brown Library, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas. The Donner Collection holds a copy of the sheet music, which includes not just Say a Prayer for the Boys in Korea, but also another Chapple song, There's a New Song in My Heart Today. The sheet music cost $1.00 and could be purchased through mail order from Ashland.
John Chapple was a musician of many years' experience when he wrote the words to the song located at the right of your computer screen. In a speech to the Salem Baptist church Men's Brotherhood Club on March 23, 1953, Chapple stated that he had been a dance band musician for some years. A man of deep religious conviction, he further stated, "When I think of all the turmoil in the world today, the boys who are dying in Korea, the horror of the atom bomb as it has been used, and as it may be used again to maim and mutilate human beings by the hundreds of thousands, I feel very convinced that we are all living in those latter days when the forces of Evil are contending most powerfully against the power of Good."
It is uncertain why John B. Chapple wrote the song, which he copyrighted in 1953. The Korean War Educator contacted the Ashland, Wisconsin Historical Society, but the workers there were unaware that Chapple, who was a well-known figure in the history of the area, had written the music. The Korean War Educator is equally uncertain as to how a copy of the song (which sold for $1.00 in 1953 and could be purchased by mail order from Ashland) found its way to the Robert Donner Collection. The Donner Collection consists of about 4,000 volumes of books and over 3,000 pamphlets and ephemera on American history, political science, economics, Americanism, minority groups, and Communistic and Socialistic activities within America. Donner collected most of his library in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after he retired in 1957.
John B. Chapple authored several songs during the early 1950s. His other songs included, "There’s a New Song in My Heart Today," "Would Jesus Have it That Way," "Put on the Whole Armour of God", "The New Testament Will Save Us," "Greater Love Hath No Man Than This," and "We’ll Sing, Sing, Sing to Victory." The songs could each be purchased for $1,00, postpaid.
Sharon at the Ashland Historical Society provided the following information about John B. Chapple.
John B. Chapple was a "country kid" who became class-conscious among the sons of wealth at Yale University. After college he returned to Ashland politically "left of center". He noticed that "American capitalism was pretty sick". During this time, while writing for the Daily Press, he also wrote under his byline for the Daily Worker, the organ of the American communist Party. One poem printed in this paper follows:
My people are men of the farms,
And men who work on the docks,
And men who handle the axe,
And men who are punchers of clocks.My people are men who are slaves,
Slaves who yet fail to see
But they’re eager for someone to tell them,
And that is the job for me.
He saw his farm friends working 12-18 hours a day with not enough money to buy seed. In Chicago, he "saw the wreckage of capitalism"--meaning slums and drunks. Seeing the flaws in the American economy, he went to Moscow, Russia, in 1927. His ten days in Moscow were eye-openers. He didn’t find "heaven on earth", but found a system where the individual was sacrificed for the good of the "world revolution". The sanctity of the family was not respected. Chapple was offered the job of editing the Daily Worker, which was based in New York City. He left Moscow, but did not take the job. He returned to his job at the Ashland Daily Press and spoke no more about communism. He gradually developed his theme of the "American Way of Life". He dabbled unsuccessfully in politics and became Ashland’s unofficial historian and the city’s booster. A religious man, Chapple was raised Presbyterian, then "had every last shred of religious faith knocked out of him" in his college years. After returning from his Moscow trip, he checked out several different churches and finally found his place with his wife in the Catholic Church.
[KWE Note: The following news story from Church News, November 22, 1952, Salt Lake City, Utah, was sent to the KWE by viewer Ralph Zobell.]
Off the line to Church - LDS boys in Korea attend conference - by Chaplain Lawrence R. Rast
SEOUL, KOREA--Approximately 300 LDS soldiers on duty on the front line positions on the battle line in Korea attended special conferences last month arranged by LDS chaplains stationed in that area. Men from front line and rear echelon units were granted time out by their officers to attend the special meetings.
Sessions held in Pusan and Kunsan were presided over by Chaplain (1st Lt.) Ross L. Covington, Logan, Utah, who then traveled to Chunchon and Seoul to be in attendance at meetings with the men held there. The latter meetings were conducted by Chaplain (1st Lt.) Lawrence R. Rast, Salt Lake City.
At 10 o’clock on Sept. 9, 109 servicemen gathered at the Fifth Air Force Chapel at Seoul, Korea, and blended their voices in that mighty song, “We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet.” There were many tear-filled eyes and pounding hearts as the rafters reverberated. Many expressed gratitude for a chance to sing our LDS songs once again. The testimony meeting was conducted by Chaplain Covington. The following participated in the services: Lt. Blaine E. Olson, Idaho Falls, Ida.; DeLynn Labrum, Meadow, Utah; Bob Gerstner, Vancouver, British Columbia; Lt. Ross K. Naylor, Logan, Utah; Ralph D. Erickson, Marion C. Wood and Wayne Bruening. A short talk was given by the new Seoul group leader, Elder Wesley C. Wood and the remainder of the time was turned over to testimony bearing.
The afternoon session was conducted by Chaplain Rast, Major Floyd G. Hatch of Salt Lake City offered the invocation.
At the two sessions at Chunchon and Seoul there were present: Two High Priests, 19 Seventies, 124 Elders, 2 Teachers, 5 Deacons, 10 with no Priesthood and 10 visitors. Approximately 35 of these two groups were returned missionaries and 44 of the Seoul group had been through the Temple. From the Priesthood count it can be seen that a definite influence for the good has penetrated all units and branches of the Armed Forces of our country. From the testimonies borne, it is evident that the “leaven that leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9) is at work through the example set by these men.
Special attention should be given to the following men for helping the conference in Seoul to be a success: Capt. Ned M. Vowles, chorister; Pfc. Lewis W. McAllister, organist; Norris G. Johanson who arranged for billeting and meals at the Fifth Air Force Base; Wesley D. Scow, the Seoul group leader and his counselors.