WEBVTT

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- [Rear Admiral Gregory N. Todd] From the nation's earliest days,

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faith has sailed with freedom.

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On 28 November 1775,

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before America declared independence,

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the Continental Congress ordered that

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divine services be performed

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aboard all ships of the Navy.

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From that moment,

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the Navy Chaplain Corps was born.

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An unbroken line of service carrying

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the light of faith and compassion

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across every ocean and battlefield.

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The first chaplains were both

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ministers and missionaries,

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standing the watch beside

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Sailors and Marines.

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Reverend Samuel Balch

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preached on the quarterdeck of

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Commodore Hopkins' flagship

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while his son William

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became the first officially commissioned chaplain

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in 1798.

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From the beginning,

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Navy chaplains also served with Marines

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on frigates at Tripoli,

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wherever the battle took them.

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In the mid-19th century

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came what Lieutenant W.W. Edel

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later called the

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Golden Age of Navy chaplaincy.

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Chaplains Charles Stewart,

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William Ryland,

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Walter Colton,

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and George Jones

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expanded the ministry beyond the pulpit,

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teaching,

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reforming,

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and shaping the moral spirit

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of a young Navy.

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Through the Civil War and World War I,

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chaplains served under fire

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and in far off seas.

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Chaplain John L. Leonard

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went down with USS Cumberland

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rather than abandon the wounded.

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By World War I,

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chaplains preached in the mud of France

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and on convoys,

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crossing submarine-infested waters,

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a ministry of courage

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and presence.

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(distance explosions)

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- At Pearl Harbor, chaplains were already at their posts.

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Father Aloysius Schmidt of USS Oklahoma

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helped Sailors escape through a porthole

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before giving his life for others.

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By 1945, nearly 3,000 chaplains

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served across every front.

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Father Joseph O'Callahan of USS Franklin

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earned the Medal of Honor for valor amid fire and smoke.

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On Iwo Jima,

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Chaplain Roland B. Gittlesohn

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spoke words that still echo today.

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"Here lie men who loved America

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because their ancestors did,

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"and because they themselves were willing to die for her."

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In Korea's frozen mountains,

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chaplains shared the hardship

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of the 1st Marine Division.

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One Marine said,

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"Padre, we didn't feel the cold when you were there."

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In the darkest cold, faith kept its flame.

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In Vietnam, chaplains once again

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walked beside their Marines.

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Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno,

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the Grunt Padre as we know him,

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served with the 1st Marine Division.

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On September 4th, 1967,

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he gave his life shielding a corpsman under fire.

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His Medal of Honor praised his courageous spirit

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and inspired men to heroic action.

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He said, "When I am with them, I am one of them."

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Seven Navy chaplains fell in Vietnam.

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Their courage still endures.

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- When Vietnam ended, the Navy saw that chaplains,

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non-combatants,

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needed trained enlisted partners

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to sustain and protect their ministry in every environment.

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In 1979,

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the religious program specialists rating was born.

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RPs manage programs,

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safeguard worship,

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and stand beside chaplains wherever the mission leads.

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They go where chaplains go

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so chaplains can go where they're needed most.

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- [Todd] From Beirut and Desert Storm

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to Iraq and Afghanistan,

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chaplains have stood the watch,

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praying, counseling,

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and guiding through loss and resilience.

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One chaplain in Fallujah said,

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our chapel was a hole in the sandbag wall.

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Marines would stop, bow their heads,

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and go back to the fight.

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That was church.

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Today, chaplains serve everywhere,

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surface, subsurface,

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air, cyber and space,

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bringing faith and fortitude

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to every mission.

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For nearly two and a half centuries,

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Navy chaplains have carried

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one sacred charge:

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to bring faith to the fleet

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and compassion to the fight.

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From Samuel Balch aboard a Continental frigate

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to Vincent Capodanno in the jungles of Vietnam,

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from Joseph O'Callahan amid fire

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to today's chaplains at sea,

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they remind us that courage and faith

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are one enduring strength.

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The Navy Chaplain Corps

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remains the conscience of the sea services,

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a ministry of presence,

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an anchor of hope, and a bridge between

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Heaven and the deep.

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Called to serve

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yesterday,

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today,

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and always.