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"Chaplain's Section" box


Bob Hudson
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This belonged to a Congregational Christian Church minister who was an Army Chaplain from 1942 to 1946 and then went to work at the VA Hospital in Butler PA. The box has label addressed to him in Butler.

 

As you can see, the lid has a strange (to me, at least) marking. And the writing on the side notes that it weighed 35 pounds with contents. It is a heavy-duty but not very large and I wonder what this could have been used for?

 

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This chaplain was born in 1900 near Odessa, Russia, but was one of the so-called "Germans from Russia," many of whom emigrated to the US, mostly to the Plains states. His father took the family to Oklahoma.

 

The chaplain's son himself became a military officer, serving 20 years in the US Navy.

 

So far I have found that the chaplain served at Fort Bliss and Camp Leonard Wood during WWII. He preached in Portland OR and Boise ID before joining the Army.

 

Here's his WWI draft card:

 

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I can think of two possibilities, his silver service, but I can't imagine that weighing 35 lbs, or perhaps a box full of bibles. I'm pretty sure the stop sign was questioned in a different thread, but I can't recall what it was about. It was also on a shipping box of some sort. Perhaps it means "handle with care", which would make sense for silver, but not for books.

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Purple is the color for Lent. I am wondering if this has something to do with Easter Services. It could be for a communion set. I have been trying to find that symbol but have had no luck.

 

...Kat

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The box and symbol are not standard to the U.S. Chaplaincy. Purple is the color of many foreign chaplaincy's. But still the symbol is interesting.

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