For God and Country: Mormon Chaplains During World War II

• Main Author: Maher, Richard
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 1975
• Subjects: Church work; military personnel; Mormon Church; World War; 1939-1945; Religious aspects; United States; Armed Forces; Chaplains; History; Mormons; Mormonism; Military; Mormon Studies; Attu
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4900; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/5899/viewcontent/Maher__20Richard.pdf

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) is a lay church inasmuch as it has no professionally trained ministers. Because of this, the Chaplains Corps during World War II questioned whether members of the Mormon faith could serve effectively as chaplains. The answer to the effectiveness of Mormon chaplains is found in their performance as many received high praise from their superiors.During the Second World War, the Mormon Church provided the military services with a total of 45 chaplains, and although only 45 served, they saw duty in all theaters of war and served at such major battles as Attu, Kwajalein, Iwo Jima, Biak, Salerno, and the Battle of the Bulge. Several became command chaplains and two were awarded the Silver Star for heroism.In addition to serving as Protestant ministers, the Mormon chaplains played a significant role in the Church service–men's program, because they had the authority to organize and set apart men for the MIA Group Leader program.