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WILLIAMS, R. Murphy (b. 1920)

ProfessionsPastor
Military ServiceU.S. Navy WWII Veteran

Oral Histories

OH 1452

Pastor. His experiences as a Navy chaplain in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His early education; Davidson College, 1937-1941; Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, 1941-44; his decision to enlist in the Navy, 1944; chaplaincy school, William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1944; assignment to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and Naval Aviation Air Facility, Groton, Connecticut, 1944-45; condolence visits to families of deceased servicemen; assignment to Tinian, July, 1945; his observation of aviation activities on Tinian; the arrival of the Army Air Force’s 509th Composite Group; his thoughts concerning the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; postwar duty in the Southwest Pacific; his discharge and civilian pastoral career.