In 1988, Congress established February 3rd of each year as Four Chaplains Day. This day commemorates the anniversary of the sinking of a US Army Transport during WWII and the selfless acts of four Army chaplains on board. On February 3, 1943, the troopship SS Dorchester was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. As the ship sank, these four chaplains selflessly sacrificed their lives to save others, distributing life jackets, including their own. They linked arms, prayed, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship, ensuring that others had a chance to survive. Only 230 of the 904 men on board survived, rescued by the convoy's escort. Because of their heroic acts, as told by the survivors, Congress presented a unique Medal of Honor posthumously in 1961.
The four chaplains above, clockwise from top left, are Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Reformed Minister Clark V. Poling, Catholic Priest John P. Washington, and Methodist Minister George L. Fox. The US Army motto for this sacred calling of service is "Pro Deo et Patria" which means For God and Country.
I thought it would be appropriate on this day to honor and remember the men of valor who heed the call to serve both God and Country. In particular, I want to honor the memory of Fr. Joseph J. McGahren, M.M., a Maryknoll catholic priest, missionary, chaplain and retired USAF colonel. He was also my father's second cousin, affectionately known to our family as Fr. Joe.
This article, dated 1984 from the Maryknoll Mission Archives, features five Maryknoll chaplains, including Fr. McGahren. Father William Cummings was the first Maryknoll missioner-chaplain. He died in January 1945 as a prisoner of war. Father Vincent Capodanno was a Marine Corps chaplain. He was killed in Vietnam and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The remainder of this post will feature the life of Fr. Joseph J. McGahren.
USAF Chaplain Fr. Joseph J. McGahren
Joseph James McGahren entered the Maryknoll Society on August 1, 1942 at Maryknoll Junior Seminary, Clarks Summit, PA. Three months later, my father, John P. Whiteman enlisted in the US Navy and began his training at Sampson Naval Training Station in Romulus, NY. Little did they know what life would have in store for them as they each pursued a call to serve. These early photographs from Jack's album show a young Joseph McGahren with Jack, Jack's older brother Dean and his mother, Marie.
This photograph, dated August 1947, shows him as a young seminarian and the next as a newly ordained priest.
On June 9, 1951 Fr. McGahren was ordained at Maryknoll Seminary. The image above is the card from his ordination. The text on the front is a fitting prelude to his life.
Thou Art a Priest Forever. "To LIVE in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasures; to be a member of each family, yet belonging to none; to share all sufferings; to penetrate all secrets; to heal all wounds; to go from men to God and offer Him their prayers; to return from God to men to bring pardon and hope; to have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity; to teach and to pardon, console and bless always -- what a glorious life! And it is yours, O Priest of Jesus Christ!" -- LACORDAIRE.
The document below, entitled Maryknoll's Men of Peace, is from the Maryknoll Mission Archives. Fr. McGahren is in the third row. The pages are prefaced with the following text:
In the forefront of the battle for men's minds, are the missioners of the Catholic Church. Maryknoll, through you, is privileged to play a part in this struggle. Every year a number of young missioners are ordained and sent out to the world. The group on this page will be ordained this month, at our major Seminary. Perhaps some of them will suffer the fate of Maryknollers in the Orient -- imprisonment and possible death. They are your soldiers.
Fr. McGahren's first overseas assignment was in Japan, August 1955, where he served for three years. I was able to acquire an entry he wrote in a Maryknoll Diary Digest. Here are a few excerpts and the entire entry can be found here: JAPAN - Toyko Diary for August and September 1955 (Father Joseph J. McGahren).
On August 25th our ship finally left the States bound for the Orient via the northern route marked by the Aleutian Islands. The trip across was uneventful with the exception of two very rough days. We bypassed Japan in order to unload cargo at our first stop, Pusan - the so called "Pearl of the Orient".
The whole trip across took only thirteen days. At Pusan we had our first glimpse of the Orient. Before our ship anchored in the harbor we were surrounded by small power boats over flowing with Korean "slicki" boys trying to trade liquor and money for American cigarettes. One sailor purchased a bottle of Canadian whiskey. He took one sip and said it was the best Japanese brandy he ever had. The whole transaction was so crooked it was comical. Three little boys rowed alongside while the bartering was going on. They weren't in business, however, just plain hungry. The Fathers promptly raided the galley and let go over the side with cookies, apples and oranges. One little boy just stood in the middle of the rocking boat catching everything that came his way - two hands, one hand, backhanded. We named him Sylvester. ...
... When we stopped at an intersection I saw a little boy about 8 years old standing on the corner with nothing on. He was just one of the many thousands of homeless, hungry children that roam the streets of Pusan striving to keep alive. The poverty and suffering of these poor people is beyond description....
...Father Connors took us to the best and only clean restaurant in town. The lights went out once and we just sat there, our hands on our wallets, until kerosene lamps were lighted.... While waiting for the boat back to the ship a slicki boy offered the group a ride at a special price. Fortunately, however, Father O'Brien spotten the regular boat in time. We lose a lot of missioners that way.
The following morning Father Branley and I offered Mass at St. Mary's mission. The devotion of the people was a real experience. At the Consecration and Communion their heads almost touched the floor in devout adoration....After Mass we had breakfast with Father Connors and then joined the rest of the group over at the Maryknoll Sisters' Clinic. As we approached the clinic the street was lined on both sides with hundreds of refugees sitting or lying in every position waiting their turn. Every so often a Sister would come out to take immediate care of the more severe cases. The sight of the children, particularly, in bandages, covered with plaster casts, or suffering from malnutrition, moved us the most. Some of the Fathers just didn't have the heart to take pictures of so much suffering. ...
... Our last day in Pusan was highlighted by a Solemn High Mass at the local nearby base, Hialeah. Father Lupo , a Trinitarian and an outstanding army chaplain, arranged the whole affair. All the GI's on this compound were restricted due to the recent trouble. It seems the Koreans were violently protesting the presence of members of the UN observing team who represent Communist satellite countries. As a result the soldiers had to keep a 24 hour guard posted to prevent an international incident. ...
...That evening when we returned to the ship there was all sorts of shooting going on. Some 'slicki' boys had just pulled up to one of the barges by the ship and had helped themselves to a few bales of army clothing. The Korean soldiers on guard spotted them getting away and opened up with their rifles. They hit everything in sight but the fleeing bandits. At this unpropitious moment an army tug steamed by directly in the line of fire. This didn't phase the Koreans who just kept pouring volley after volley across the tug at the diappearing power boat. The next morning a GI told us the whole affair was an inside job and a regular occurrence - in fact one time a whole bargeload of equipment disappeared. Poor South Korea.
From 1958 to 1959 Fr. McGahren's work took him to Hawaii and in1959 he worked as a contract chaplain for Greenland Contractors at the Air Force Base in Thule, Greenland. It was upon the completion of this assignment that he entered the US Air Force on April 11, 1960. He had many military assignments in the United States as well as overseas that included: Carswell AFB, Texas; Misawa AB, Japan; Mather AFB, California; Latazuke AB, Japan; Amarillo AFB, Texas; Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota; DaNang AB, Republic of Vietnam; MacDill AFB, Florida; RAF Upper Heyford, United Kingdom; Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama; USAF IG (Inspector General's Office), Norton AFB, California; Professional Division, ATC HEADQUARTERS, Randolph AFB, Texas; Senior Catholic Chaplain, Lackland AFB Staff Installation Chaplain, Kadena AB, Japan; Command Chaplain, AF Communications Command, Scott AFB, Illinois; and his final military assignment as Command Chaplain, AF Systems Command, AFB, Maryland.
During his military service Fr. McGahren was awarded decorations that included the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Vietnam Honor Medal. He attained the rank of Colonel on May 6, 1978 and retired from the Air Force on August 1, 1985. In September 1985, he returned to Mission in Japan for another three years before returning to the US to work on mission promotion and development projects. He was officially granted retirement status in January 2001 but continued to help out in the Mission Promotion Department. He celebrated his 65th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Priest in 2016. Fr. Joseph J. McGahren passed away on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, at Maryknoll's Mission St. Teresa's Residence in Ossining, NY. He died one week shy of his 93rd birthday.
Fr. McGahren was only one of Maryknoll's Men of Peace. Only one of those "soldiers" with a sacred calling to serve both God and Country. He was greatly admired and respected in our family. We all have fond memories of hearing about or receiving cards and gifts from exotic places. Whenever he was able, he was there for family, showing up sometimes last minute to officiate for happy blessed events (weddings and baptisms) as well as times of profound sorrow. He would visit my Mom and Dad whenever he could and would offer Mass in their home. On the morning my father died, Fr. Joe was at the hospital with us. I will always be grateful for his service to God, to our country and to our family. May he rest in God's eternal peace.
Fr. Joseph J. McGahren, M.M. April 8, 1925 - April 1, 2018. Seek First the Kingdom of God.
There are many resources online that highlight military chaplains who lived and died in their service to God and country. Captain Ignatius Maternowski was a Franciscan Friar and Army Chaplain with the 82nd Airborne Division and is believed to be the only chaplain killed in action on D-Day. Nine military chaplains, dating back to the 1800s, have the distinct honor of receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Their stories, including Fr. Vincent Capodanno mentioned above, can be found here: National Medal of Honor Museum . Fr. Vincent Capodanno, and two other Catholic chaplains, Fr. Emil Kapaun, and Fr. Joseph Verbis Lafleur, are designated as Servants of God by the Catholic Church, the first step in the process to sainthood.