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Chaplain Colonel Holland O Hope Massive Grouping


Rakkasan187
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Captainofthe7th

Awesome Leigh! Glad to finally see it. That ribbon bar with the arrowhead on the KW Service is a rare bird. Beautiful.

 

Rob

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Help me Lord, Thou shall not covet.

 

Wow, very nice. Hope was a Methodist chaplain.

I may have his picture too.

Well done.

On another note, Chaplain Robert Rayburn was with the 187th in Korea too. His first two jumps were combat jumps. He wrote a book called Fight the Good Fight. I know Rayburn's son and Rayburn's assistant.

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Rakkasan187

Thank you for all your comments. I am going to keep searching to see what else I can find on Chaplain Hope. It would be really nice to find his Chaplain's Kit, and possibly photographs of the man. I still do not know what he looks like.

 

;)

 

Leigh...

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  • 7 months later...

That's an excellent and very unique grouping, thanks for sharing it

I know this is a long shot, but I thought I'd post it up anyway just in case, Christmas is supposed to be a time of miracles after all! Pic. is if I remember rightly purported to be 187th in Korea, unfortunately I for one can't make out anything clearly enough to confirm it, just some blurry potential helmet markings on some men so any positive I.D. would be very much welcome. Point of interest though is the man 2nd from right:

post-5589-0-05048200-1423366987.jpg

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That's an excellent and very unique grouping, thanks for sharing it :thumbsup:

I know this is a long shot, but I thought I'd post it up anyway just in case, Christmas is supposed to be a time of miracles after all! Pic. is if I remember rightly purported to be 187th in Korea, unfortunately I for one can't make out anything clearly enough to confirm it, just some blurry potential helmet markings on some men so any positive I.D. would be very much welcome. Point of interest though is the man 2nd from right:


Where did you get the picture? I am researching the 187th RCT in Korea and I am talking to the Vets now. It appears they are in a box car.
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  • 2 years later...
Thank you for all your comments. I am going to keep searching to see what else I can find on Chaplain Hope. It would be really nice to find his Chaplain's Kit, and possibly photographs of the man. I still do not know what he looks like.

 

;)

 

Leigh...

There is hope. I just found Chaplain Rayburns kit. It was missing some pieces, of which I had some extras so it is now complete.

So, there is hope for Hope's kit.

Also, regarding the pic of the 187th Chap in the boxcar. Could it Rayburn? I had two other pics from the same time period.

post-1429-1332021778.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

Holland Hope was my second cousin. My mother was a Hope and my grandfather was his uncle. Holland was only one of three exceptional brothers. One brother moved to Costa Rica and his flower growing business was a great success. Another brother was recognized for his success in the oil business in Texas.

 

Holland and his wife, Bernice were very active in the Methodist Church in El Paso and helped found a Korean Methodist Church here. Holland was a volunteer Chaplin at Beaumont Army Hospital for over 20 years.

 

Holland walked with a cane because of his back injury I used to teas him about it because it had a cross, Col. insignia and his jump wings on it. I told him he was a "triple threat guy" having God, the government and Geronimo on his side.

 

If I ever met an angel here on earth it was Holland. He and Bernice spent many days and weeks comforting and caring for my father as he was dying from cancer and I love them both for it. God's man was a great hero to many for many reasons..

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One more thing. Holland once told me that the first time he competed in a pistol match he got two letters as a result. The first was from the Chief of Chaplains reprimanding him for entering and one from the Commanding General congratulating him for winning it.

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firefighter

Amazing and beautiful grouping.WOW, how many Chaplains do you see with a CIB? That one piece 101st patch with yellow eye is a real beauty.

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Rakkasan187

Thank you for the responses. I have also been able to find several Vietnam photographs of Chaplain Hope conducting services in the field that I have since added to my collection.

 

Leigh

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firefighter

Now I know how he received his CIB.

 

 

HEROES There are many books about heroes. Historians Will Durant and Paul Johnson have excellent books on the subject. As career military officers, we all have our lists of heroes. Alvin York, Audie Murphy, Billy Mitchell, Joe Foss, Greg "Pappy" Boyington, David Shoup and James B. Stockdale are well known American heroes. However, a lesser known hero of the Korean war is on my list of heroes. His name is Holland Hope. Hope was an Army chaplain who served with distinction during World War II and Korea. Chaplain Hope was a part of a massive airborne drop of the 187th Airborne Regiment near Sukch'on to rescue American prisoners. Chaplain Hope suffered a fractured vertebra from the jump. He learned that "I" Company of the 3rd Battalion had been cut off. The Chaplain organized a rescue force from "L" Company. Hope was a recognized marksman as well as a man of faith and spiritual leader. Led by Chaplain Hope, the men followed him to rescue the wounded and recover the dead. For his action Chaplain Hope was awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and an additional award that was unprecedented for a chaplain. Holland Hope was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge! Holland Hope responded with courage and decisiveness in a moment of crisis. And that is what makes a hero in any situation.   Chaplain (COL) Robert E. Lair, Jr.. USA-Ret. July 8, 2010
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  • 2 months later...

I have an update to this posting.

 

I was able to finally secure an original copy of the 187th unit history from 1950. Much to my excitement, there is a picture of Chaplain Hope sitting at his desk. When I get a chance I will post a picture of him.

 

This grouping still continues to be one of my favorites.

 

Leigh

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  • 3 weeks later...

Forgot to mention-- the 3- 187th Chaplain during Desert Storm was a CIB awardee!

 

He had Viet Nam service in the Americal Division as an enlistedman. After becoming a Priest, he joined the reserves and then volunteered for Desert Storm. He was a good guy and had a lot of credibility with the soldiers in the BN.

 

Scott

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Forgot to mention-- the 3- 187th Chaplain during Desert Storm was a CIB awardee!

 

He had Viet Nam service in the Americal Division as an enlistedman. After becoming a Priest, he joined the reserves and then volunteered for Desert Storm. He was a good guy and had a lot of credibility with the soldiers in the BN.

 

Scott

 

 

Hey Scott,

 

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for sharing that information about the Rakkasan Chaplain..

 

Leigh

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  • 8 months later...
Rakkasan187

I wanted to update this post again with the pictures I mentioned from the 1950 187th unit history book. This book is extremely hard to find and this edition shows most of the members of the 187th who participated in the Sukchon-Sunchon-drop in October 1950.

 

Here is the cover of the 1950 yearbook as well as pictures of Chaplain Hope behind his desk...

 

post-5554-0-62221500-1406388122.jpg

 

post-5554-0-30997900-1406388136.jpg

 

post-5554-0-24998000-1406388149.jpg

 

post-5554-0-64017000-1406388161.jpg

 

I will post pictures of Chaplain Hope in Vietnam when I have time to scan them..

 

Leigh

 

 

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  • 6 months later...

Just found this message board and thought I would post this video . About 1 minute into video, there is a short segmant on Chaplain Hope.

 

 

I have a DVD with a longer segment for Chaplain Hope and I will try to post it when I figure out how to post it.

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