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Title	[Chaplain arrives by helicopter to say Mass]
Alternate Title	Fire base chaplain
Creator	Potter, Kent
Publisher	New York : United Press International, 1968
Physical Description	1 photograph : black and white ; 26 x 21 cm
Summary	"Father John Resch, the Roman Catholic priest who is airlifted to 20 isolated artillery batteries each week to say Mass, arrives via chopper at a Communist-infested hill in the A Shau Valley."; "Father John Resch stood behind four stacked ammunition cases which served as an altar and told a dozen shirtless, dirty GIs about the transfiguration of Jesus. The Roman Catholic priest, who is airlifted to 20 isolated artillery batteries each week to say mass, spoke quietly and paused at regular intervals so the sound of exploding 155-millimeter Howitzer shells would not interrupt too much. The priest and 12 men stood around the altar, holding well-worn prayer books, high atop an unnamed hill in the Communist-infested A Shau Valley and tried not to flinch when the artillery hit nearby. In the valley below, 2,000 allied paratroopers carried on with the Vietnam War. The priest looked at his flock. There was mud on their faces, dirt matted in their hair and the sweat beaded and glistened on their shirtless bodies. The men had only a few minutes before they must return to the valley below and the fighting. Resch, an Army captain from Seattle, Wash., glanced at an explosion nearby and spoke a little faster. Resch described how Jesus walked up to Mt. Tabor and was transfigured before the eyes of his apostles Peter, James and John. "The mountain Christ climbed was much like this" Resch said. " He did not arrive on a helicopter, but let us think of him coming up this mountain to us." The sun filtered through the rain clouds and struck the golden ciborium on the ammunition cases that made an altar, and the 12 men followed Father Resch's recitation of the Lord's Prayer in unison. The men squeezed their eyes tightly shut, the better to deafen the sounds of war. They prayed in barely audible voices, knowing it was not necessary they be heard by anyone on the mountain. "Our father..."; "What the hell has he got down there?"; " Who art in heaven..."; "Enemy troops...on the move near the woodline."; "Hallowed be thy name..."; "Let's get the----this time."; "Thy kingdom come..."; "Battery ready!"; "Thy will be done..."; "Fiiiiire!" These United Press International photos by staff photographer Kent Potter show Father Resch, a fire base chaplain."
Notes	Title and summary from news agency copy attached to verso.; United Press International stamp on verso.; "SGP 1605334."; "Credit (UPI Photo) 10/5/68."; This is one of several photographs from United Press International that share the same title but have different content. To make identification of each record easier, the cataloger has either created a distinct title for this item or used a secondary title (where provided in the news agency copy) as a 245 field and retained the caption title as a 246 field.
LC Subject Headings	Catholic Church. United States. Army--Chaplains. Vietnam War, 1961-1975. Military helicopters. A Shau Valley (Vietnam)
Type	Photographic prints--1960-1970
Time Period	Vietnam War (primarily 1964-1975)
Added Entry	United Press International.
Call #	PHOTO 01170
Item #	701255
OCLC number	904250496

[Chaplain arrives by helicopter to say Mass]

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