Showing posts with label Chaplain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chaplain. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mass with Altar on Jeep 4x4

Mass held on the battlefield by a Catholic priest for American soldiers from the 80th "Blue Ridge" Division. Oftentimes a flat Jeep hood served as a chaplain's altar.

Image courtesy of Photos Normandie - Patrick Peccatte & Michel Le Querrac - scanned images from the U.S. National Archives. Part of the Creative Commons.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Jeep M38 used as Altar in Mass

Jeep M38 being used by Chaplain Dennis Murphy as an altar for the elements during mass celebration in Japan during the Korean conflict. The flat Jeep bonnet served as the perfect platform for the sacred elements (today's HMMWV, aka Humvee, is too high and sloping to use the hood). The soldiers were from the 65th AAA Batallion and were worshiping at Bolo Point, Okinawa. Photo taken July 19, 1951.

Photo courtesy Nelse Einwaechter of the U.S. Army.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Jeep altar at WWII mass service

The Willys MB Jeep 4x4 was often used by chaplains in World War II as an altar. This image from the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum shows Seabees of the 111th Naval Construction Batallion giving thanks after the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France. Navy Chaplains have served around the world with Seabee battalions since their inception in 1942. Chaplains prayed and conducted regular services, using any available area including a ships deck, an apple orchard, a hand-cut hole in a Pacific-island jungle or a makeshift tent for a church. They will use a Jeep 4x4, packing case or ammunition box for an altar, or a helmet for a yarmulke, the top of a mess kit for a paten or a canteen cup for a chalice.

Date: June 1944
Creator/Photographer: 111th Naval Construction Battalion
Collection: 111th Naval Construction Battalion
Rights Info: No known restrictions on image.
Repository: U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Collections Department, Port Hueneme, CA, Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/seabeemuseum

Friday, June 24, 2011

M38 Jeep Altar

The Wichita Eagle had a nice tribute to Father Emil Kapuan who served as a chaplain in the Korean War. This image is of Father Emil Kapaun as he celebrates Mass using the hood of his M38 Jeep 4x4 for an altar. Image was taken on Oct 7, 1950. According to kansas.com Kapaun was captured by Chinese troops less than a month later. He died in a prison camp May 23, 1951 at the age of 35.

Image: Col. R.A. Skeehan