Abstract:
When one thinks about military chaplains, especially United States Army chaplains, usually the picture that enters the mind is Father Francis Mulcahy from M*A *S*H. The purpose of this thesis is to explain briefly the history of the chaplain from his days in Ancient Egypt up through the Pequot War, and to explain more in depth the history of the chaplain in the United States Army in the Revolutionary War, on the Union side of the Civil War, in World War II, and in Korea through the eyes of Father Mulcahy to see if popular view meets reality. Since we are currently a country at war, I especially wish to focus on the modern Army chaplain and include an interview with a retired Navy chaplain for a compare and contrast. My ultimate goal from this is to better understand the career which I would like to have, and to see where my place in it is. It is my hope that those who read my thesis will see that the only changes that have occurred to the Chaplaincy Corps are that of time, pay, the acquisition of uniform and rank, and the physical faces of the chaplain himself or herself.
