laceName w:st="on">ChaplainlaceName> laceType w:st="on">SchoollaceType> bears name of KIA Medal of Honor recipient

By Chris Rasmussen/ The Leader

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (TRADOC News Service, December 3, 2007) -- laceType w:st="on">FortlaceType> laceName w:st="on">JacksonlaceName>’s laceName w:st="on">Army ChaplainlaceName> laceType w:st="on">CenterlaceType> and School building was renamed Watters Hall Nov. 20 to honor a chaplain killed in action 40 years ago in Vietnam.

Chaplain (Maj.) Charles Watters, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, had just retrieved four wounded Soldiers while under enemy fire and then administered aid when he was killed.

“Few of us will ever be called upon to make choices like those Charles Watters made that day in November 1967, but each of us can and should be inspired by his example to demonstrate the same degree of selflessness as we provide spiritual leadership for the Army family,” Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Douglas Carver, the Army Chief of Chaplains, said in a letter read during the ceremony.

“Just as he repeatedly went outside the safety of his battalion’s perimeter to save the lives of wounded troopers, to literally ‘seek and save that which was lost’ so should you and I resolve to be selfless shepherd-leaders to the flock over which God has given us charge.”

Watters, who was assigned to Company A, 173rd Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, died during an assault in the vicinity of Dak To, laceType w:st="on">RepubliclaceType> of laceName w:st="on">VietnamlaceName>, Nov. 19, 1967. The chaplain was moving with one of the companies when it engaged a heavily armed enemy battalion.

With “complete disregard for his own safety,” Watters rushed forward. Unarmed and completely exposed, he moved among and in front of the advancing troops to give aid and assist in the evacuation of wounded Soldiers.

“When a wounded paratrooper was standing in shock in front of the assaulting forces, Chaplain Watters ran forward, picked the man up on his shoulders and carried him to safety,” said retired Chaplain (Maj.) Gerald Pincince. “Chaplain Watters ran through intense fire to aid a fallen comrade.”

A short time later, the paratroopers pulled back and Watters risked exposure to recover two wounded Soldiers. He then noticed that several wounded Soldiers were lying outside the newly formed perimeter. Without hesitation and ignoring attempts to restrain him, Watters left the perimeter three times in the face of small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire to carry and assist the injured Soldiers to safety.

Satisfied that all of the wounded were inside the perimeter, he began aiding the medics, giving spiritual and mental strength and serving food and water. Watters was killed moments later from a friendly-fire bomb which was mistakenly dropped.

The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Originally authorized by Congress at the beginning of the Civil War to recognize gallantry in action, the medal generally is presented to the recipient by the president in the name of Congress.

Watters, who was born in Jersey City, N.J., Jan. 17, 1927, attended Seton Hall College and Immaculate Conception Seminary. He was ordained in 1953 and served parishes in Jersey City, Paramus and Cranford, N.J.

He became a chaplain in the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1962 and two years later entered active duty as an army chaplain. Ordered to Vietnam in 1966, Watters had already served the required 12-month tour and had voluntarily extended his duty for six more months.

The funeral for Watters was held Dec. 11, 1967, at Fort Myer, Va., and burial followed in laceName w:st="on">ArlingtonlaceName> laceName w:st="on">NationallaceName> laceType w:st="on">CemeterylaceType>.

"American Parachutists...devils in baggy pants...are less than 100 meters from my outpost line. I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black-hearted devils are everywhere..."
(An entry in a German officer's diary found after the Battle of Anzio)

My brother went there and is currently a Chaplain Major in Germany where he is ghosting. LOL

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The hippo is unpredictable and aggressive with old scars and fresh, deep wounds providing signs of daily fights that are accompanied by much bellowing, neighing and snorting.