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I c Thursday, November 30, 2000 M®ws The Southern Cross, Page 3 “For God and Country World War II chaplain and diocesan priest, Father Harold J. Barr B om in Savannah, Georgia, in 1898 to James and Catherine Ferguson Barr, Harold Ban- attended Cathedral Grammar School and Benedictine Military Academy before beginning his studies for the priesthood at Saint Charles W" Preparatory Seminary at Catons- ville, Maryland and continuing Rita H. them at Saint Mary’s Seminary DeLorme in Baltimore. After receiving Master of Arts and Bachelor of Sacred Theology degrees from Catholic University in Washington, Harold Barr returned home to Savannah to be ordained at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist on June 14, 1924, by Bishop Michael J. Keyes, S.M. Father Barr’s first assignment as a priest took him to Atlanta’s Church of the Immaculate Conception, where he served as assistant pastor to Father (later Bishop of Charleston and Bishop of Youngstown, Ohio) Emmet Walsh. In 1925, the young priest traveled to Augusta to become assis tant to Father James Kane, pastor of Saint Mary on the Hill Church. Father Barr’s service at Saint Mary’s on the Hill stretched to eight years before he was called to become first assistant pastor at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. In 1934, in the spring, Father Barr became rector of the Cathedral. From this post, he proceeded to Athens, Georgia, serving there as pastor of Saint Joseph’s Church. At this time, Father Barr became the first Catholic chaplain ever stationed at the University of Georgia. In 1939, he returned to familiar territory, the city of Augusta. There, he followed Monsignor Kane as pastor of Saint Mary’s on the Hill. With war hovering on the horizon, Father Barr, a member of the Army Officers’ Reserve Corps, was summoned to active duty late in 1940 and began service as an Army Air Corps chaplain at Hunter Field in Savannah. When World War II erupted with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Father Barr accompanied his attachment of the Third Bomber Group to Australia. After arriv ing in that country, he became Command Chaplain of the 54th Troop Carrier Wing of the Fifth Army Air Force at Melbourne, Charter Towers, Port Moresby in New Guinea, the Manus Islands, and the Admiralties until 1945. His duties as chaplain were those of a parish priest, but on a much larger scale and, oftentimes, over a much broader area. A photograph published in The Bulletin on February 19, 1944, shows Chaplain (by then, Major) Harold Barr celebrating a Christmas field Mass “some where in the Pacific” for a congregation of about Undoing Racism (Continued from page I) favor... Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-19, 21). The work is being carried out in the spirit of the document from the U.S. Bishops, Brothers and Sisters to Us: “Therefore, let the Church proclaim to all that the sin of racism defiles the image of God and degrades the sacred dignity of humankind which has been revealed by the mystery of the Incarnation. Let all know that it is a terrible sin that mocks the cross of Christ and ridicules the Incarnation. For the brother and sister of our A young Harold Barr 2,400 men, 600 of whom, as Father Barr noted at the time, received Holy Communion. An earlier picture, also printed in The Bulletin (September 27, 1941) depicts Father Barr seated at “one of the new folding field organs which are now being supplied to chaplains of the U.S. Army.” The folding organ was not to be the only innovation for use by chaplains. In 1943, permis sion for chaplains to wear khaki vestments while saying outdoor Masses was granted in a rescript by the Congregation of Sacred Rites. This permission, given for the duration of the war, was in response to an appeal for camouflaged vestments and altar cloths “because white and the liturgical colors would constitute a danger in combat zones.” Chaplains were required to attend training ses sions and witness training films, such as one enti tled “For God and Country” in which Ronald Reagan portrayed a Catholic chaplain. Chaplains were instructed in military organization, adminis tration and law as well as first aid techniques, graves registration, etc. Their curriculum also included gas mask drills, calisthenics and outdoor map orientation, with Army Air Corps chaplains often receiving an additional two weeks of special training. Frequently, a chaplain’s activities were Brother Jesus Christ are brother and sister to us.” Collaboration will continue with the bishop and the Offices of African American Ministry and Catholic Social Services. Given that Savannah is a multi-cultural Diocese, strategies will be devel oped to collaborate with Hispanic Ministry and our brothers and sisters from Asian and Native American cultures. Sister Jackie Griffith, SSJ, is Diocesan Director of Catholic Social Services. coordinated with actual troop movements and ter rains. Father Barr’s ministry as chaplain was shaped moment-by-moment as the war progressed. He said Mass whenever and wherever possible, often flying to isolated bases to conduct services. Catholic Weekly noted in a December, 1943 issue that Father Barr was then conducting “at least one service a day in a Troop Carrier Base and five on Sundays.” Counseling played a major role in the chaplain’s day during the war. In 1942, said anoth er source, “each chaplain conducted an average of 53 personal conferences a day.” Father Ban- observed in an interview during this period that “the men want sound religious services and practi cal religion in wartime, and a man finds himself better in these wilds than he ever did in civiliza- co > tion.” While home on leave in Augusta in August, H 1944, Father Ban commented that life on the ^ islands was “rugged” and that there were “hard- 21 ships,” but that much was being done to make men ~ stationed there more comfortable. In the early ^ stages of the war, he related, he had constituted “exactly half’ of chaplains assigned to Allied t groups in the Australia area. He was executive 8 officer to the chief of chaplains and his role § enlarged to include ministering to spiritual needs ai of all Army Air Force personnel in the Australian theater. With the close of the war, Father Ban retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following his reception of a Citation for Meritorious Service from General “Hap” Arnold and the Army Com mendation Medal from General Hornsby, Father Ban returned to civilian life in February of 1946. He was appointed by Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara, J.U.D., D.D. as pastor of Augusta’s venerable mother parish, Saint Patrick’s Church, in March of that year. A few years later, in May 1949, Father Ban offered a Solemn High Mass in observance of his twenty-fifth anniversary as a priest. Attending this Mass were Monsignor Joseph E. Moylan, Vicar General of the Diocese of Savannah and Bishop Walsh of Charleston, who presided at the Mass and gave the sermon. More than fifty mem bers of the clergy were present in the sanctuary. Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara of Savannah-Atlanta, sent a cablegram of congratulations to Father Barr from his post as Regent of the Apostolic Nunci ature in Romania, and Bishop Keyes, who had ordained Harold Barr to the priesthood, also sent his regards. Luncheon that day and a reception the day before also highlighted the celebration of this milestone in Father Barr’s life as a priest. Shortly afterward, while serving once again as pastor of Saint Mary’s on the Hill in Augusta, Father Barr became ill and required treatment at the veterans’ hospital in Atlanta. He died there on November 7, 1950. Father Harold Barr’s years of service to God and country had encompassed many areas and had spanned continents as he per formed the duties of a priest: dispensing the sacra ments, ministering to the sick, counseling the trou bled. Today, a monument at Arlington National Cemetery commemorates intrepid Catholic chap lains of Father Barr’s era who gave their lives “for God and country.” Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the Diocesan Archives.