PACIFIC VETERAN SERVES AS NAVY CHAPLAIN HERE

NTS (Communications)

Lieut. Carl Knudsen, Chaplain USNR, warrior Naval Chaplain who participated in major Naval engagements off the Solomon Islands under intense shelling from Japanese air and sea forces, has come to Harvard as the first chaplain to serve the 4,000 to 5,000 Navy men and women stationed in this area.

Working under the command of Captain George N. Barker, Chaplain Knudsen has established headquarters in the Phillips Brooks House and will be available for consultation daily from 9 to 4:30 o'clock for members for all the Naval Training Schools at Harvard. He will conduct religious services in Potter Hall, near the Navy Supply School headquarters, each Sunday at 5 o'clock, beginning September 19.

Active In Two Wars

His association with Navy men ashore and afloat--and his experiences in two wars--have made him tolerant and understanding. It was during the early occupation and investment of Guadalcanal by U. S. forces that he first saw action.

"Our cruiser was part of the first task force to bombard Munda and Vila," he said in an interview soon after his arrival at Harvard. "We also were the first to venture 300 miles north of Guadalcanal.

"Our force was credited with sinking two Japanese cruisers," he said. "The Japanese had bracketed the ship I was on. The first salvo struck the water on one side and the second on another. We all took a long breath waiting for the third to hit us squarely but by that time the cruiser which had been firing at us was disabled. Several times we received scares when 1,000 pound aerial bombs and torpedoes just missed our ship.

Receives Citation

His task force was given a citation by Admiral Halsey for its performance on this and other missions. Hospitalized as a result of strains endured in the Pacific war theatre, Chaplain Knudsen says that American fighting men have no illusions about the length of the war in that area.

"The Navy men have a slogan representing their attitude toward the Japs," he said. "It is 'The Golden Gate in '41. They know that we are really just starting the war in the Pacific."

As a chaplain he held divine services on board ship almost under the range of enemy guns. He has also conducted services on islands in the South Pacific, and preached to "Seabee" and Army and Navy units which had been unable to conduct religious exercises for ten months on account of a shortage of Chaplains.

"Life on an island in the South Pacific is very monotonous," he said, "broken only by work and the war on ants, lizards, flies and malaria. It was heaven to return to the U. S.