Ministers cannot be drafted into the military, but Charles Richmond knew, when the United States entered World War II, that he was destined to serve. “You remember the picture of Uncle Sam pointing right at you – we want you? As a minister I looked at that picture,” Richmond said, “and looking over the shoulder of Uncle Sam was God himself, looking at me and saying,’I want you’.”
Richmond had been married about three years, but he decided he would rather pray with the the soldiers in the theater of war, rather than stay home and pray for them. “I just thought I needed to get in the Army,” Richmond told me, “because they needed chaplains and our men needed guidance during that time and I just felt that’s what God wanted me to do.”
Richmond went to Harvard University for a one-month orientation for chaplains and 30 days later received his military orders. He not only had to leave his wife, but the Baptist church in Oklahoma County, just west of Edmond, that he had pastored for two years. Richmond went to Rothschilds in Oklahoma City to buy a uniform, and reported to Will Rogers Field to get sworn in. He remembers that he avoided seeing any enlisted men because he did not know how to salute. 
Richmond boarded a ship in California and sailed across the Pacific, stopping in New Zealand and Australia before reaching his final destination, India. Richmond got to know his men on the long ship ride. He remembers that the ship was crowded and there was hardly any room for the men to sleep. With 7,000 on-board they could only get on deck for a couple of hours each day to get some fresh air. He stayed with those same men for two and a half years. “The men,” he said, ” may have gotten bored, but I was busy all the time, conducting church services. And, if the men had a problem, they took it to the chaplain.”
Richmond served in the China-Burma-India Theater, where American troops were busy helping supply their Chinese allies, either by flying “over the hump” (the Himalaya Mountains) or by constructing and using the Burma Road. He recalls that many casualties in Burma were from health hazards. In fact, the first casualty was from malaria, caused by a mosquito bite. 
The chaplain had many duties: delivering death messages from home, Dear John letters, helping the troops deal with loss and the anxiety of war. Richmond drove to the frontlines every two weeks to minister to his troops and conduct funerals and memorial services (he received permission to drive to the front day or night, but was prohibited from carrying a weapon) . He also had the solemn task of writing to the parents of the soldiers who had been killed and explaining the kind of service he performed for their child.
Two of the death messages were delivered to Richmond himself. Both of Richmond’s parents died while he was in Asia. It was a tough time, but his faith got him through. He dealt with his loss through prayer. “Somebody would say,” Richmond said, “everybody takes their problems to the chaplain. Who does the chaplain take his problems to? And, invariably they would say, he takes his problems to God.”
After the war, Richmond received a doctorate in education and became a professor of education and Dean of Students at Central State University (now the University of Central Oklahoma). He also pastored a church and returned to combat duty during the Korean War. Dr. Richmond served in the National Guard for more than twenty years and rose to the rank of Colonel. Even now, in retirement, at the age of 89, Dr. Richmond stays active by holding worship services once a month. 
He says the war was bound to have changed him, perhaps by instilling “a deeper faith, a deeper love, a deeper confidence.” Richmond adds, “there’s not much good about war, but it brings out the best, sometimes the worst, but mostly the best in a man. When you’re in a position that we were in, you just stand tall, throw your shoulders back, depend on the Lord and do what must be done.”
Until next time, Dick Pryor
(Charles Richmond was profiled on the Oklahoma News Report on October 2, 2007. To see the story, click on “Videos” on this website and go to “OETA’s Dick Pryor interviews Oklahoma WWII veterans.)
July 13th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Augmentin used for….
Augmentin dosing. Augmentin xr. What is augmentin xr used for. Augmentin and sexually transmitted diseases….
January 17th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Thank you for making this issue easy to understand. While others made it not easy to understand, you have made this very simple to comprehend. I will be browsing more of your work.