Hohenstein, Raymond Charles, CAPT

Captain Hehohenstein grew up in a devoutly Christian household and spent much of his time pursuing various activities through the Lutheran church. He really didn't give much thought to becoming a minister and wanted to attend college for one of his many other interests. While in college he changed his mind, attended seminary, and was ordained as a Lutheran minister. His mother wasn't too excited by his choice; however, his father was proud of the direction he was going.

After some time serving as civilian ministers, some of his college classmates decided to join the Army Reserve as chaplains and Raymond liked that idea. He sent in his application to the Army and Navy Commissioning Board, thinking he'd be there with his friends. It didn't work out that way. The Commissioning Board told him he'd be accepted, but in the US Navy.

Among the distinctions he earned early on in his career are the facts that he was the only chaplain to have been at both the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II. He is also the first living chaplain to have been awarded the Purple Heart.

Captain Hohenstein served his country proudly for twenty-one years before retiring and returning to civilain life. During the years following his service, he served in various positions within the Lutheran church.

Summary of interview answers about the attack at Pearl Harbor given by Captain Hohenstein prior to his death:

He was serving aboard the USS California (BB-44) which was in port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As he was setting up for the morning church services on the main deck, he watched as Japanese planes flew overhead and started firing at the buildings on the base. General quarters was sounded aboard the California and Lt(jg) Hohenstein reported to his station two decks below. While there, he and the men with him felt the ship shake and knew they'd been hit by a bomb or torpedo. The compartment they were in started to fill up with noxious fumes so they decided to go for gas masks. The compartment they entered was filling with water, so they helped the men there back into the dry compartment from which they had just come. It wasn't long until the fumes caused Chaplain Hohenstein to pass out and the next thing he knew, he was lying on the quarterdeck.

Not much later, a bomb was dropped on the ship. The area it hit and the damaged caused was in the same location where Chaplain Hohenstein and the other men would've been had they stayed at their battle station. This later caused rumors that he had been killed. It took some time to get that cleared up.

That wasn't the end of the attack. As he was regaining his senses, another plane flew over laying down a strafing gunfire. As he and the men with him were running for cover, he was hit by several pieces of hot shrapnel, causing cuts and burns but no major injuries. They stayed in the ships library, where Chaplain Hohenstein prayed with the men and helped with the wounded until they could all be safely evacuated and taken to the mainland. From that time until he received orders to his next duty station, he worked alongside the doctors and nurses trying to give comfort to the injured along with the scared family members who had also been evaucated from the most dangerous areas of the base.