This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sheila Rae Myers, HM3
to remember
Hohenstein, Raymond Charles, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Home Town St Paul, MN
Last Address Betheda, MD
Date of Passing Dec 03, 1983
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 2 E-238 LH
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
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.
Other Comments:
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.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Southern Philippines Campaign (1945)
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
July / 1945
Description On 10 March 1945, the U.S. Eighth Army—under Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger—was formally ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to clear the rest of Mindanao, with the start of Operation VICTOR V, with expectations that the campaign would take four months. Eichelberger had misgivings about the projected timetable for the operation, but nonetheless, his Eighth Army staffers came up with a more effective plan.
Instead of the expected headlong frontal assault on the Japanese defenses, the plan called for securing a beachhead at Illana Bay in the undefended west, then a drive eastward more than a 100 mi (160 km) through jungle and mountains to strike from the rear. The objective, which called for achieving surprise and pressing forward quickly and aggressively by the invading forces, deemed Eichelberger, could unhinge the Japanese both physically and psychologically. The key to the operation's success involved the beachhead performance of the landing force and the ability of the participating units to maintain the momentum of their attack, preempting Japanese reactions, and hopefully before the rainy season started which would complicate movement in the island.
Ground operations were assigned to X Corps under Maj. Gen. Franklin C. Sibert, with Maj. Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff's 24th Infantry Division and Maj. Gen. Clarence A. Martin's 31st Infantry Division as principal combat units. Amphibious Task Group 78.2 (TG 78.2)—under Rear Adm. Albert G. Noble—was tasked to carry the 24th Division and X Corps headquarters to the assault beaches near Malabang by 17 April to secure a forward airfield. Five days later, the 31st Division was expected to be in Parang, 20 mi (32 km) south, located near Highway 1, the route to Davao.
