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Life with A Chaplain
Author: Melvine Stewart Morgan
To borrow a cliché, I am taking a trip today “down memory lane.” My mind is crowded with different places, climates, people and events. In jogging my memory, I turn back the pages in my journal. I find that reliving happenings of twenty-plus years brings mostly joyful feelings; so, I relax and let the memories come.
I am in Tacoma, Washington, our very first duty assignment in the United States Air Force. After two or three months I know why Washington is called “The Evergreen State.” A slow, misty rain falls constantly keeping the grass and trees always green. It is never too hot or too cold.
Right away there are new adjustments: we attend chapel instead of church, we eat at a “swanky” Officer’s Club (not just an ordinary restaurant), the words “Airmen,” “WAF” (Women in the Air Force), major, colonel, sergeant . . . all become a part of our language.
The highlight of our two years in Tacoma is the birth of our daughter, Stephanie, at Madigan Army General Hospital at Fort Lewis, adjacent to McChord AFB. What an experience! When we get passed the strict, strongly enforced rules, the eleven-dollar fee (even for a “C” Section) makes the rules easier to swallow.
Though our life in the military requires us to live in several other states (Texas, Ohio, Georgia), the most interesting and challenging assignment is our three-year tour at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Our first landing in Anchorage is the rude awakening of the bitter cold we will experience off and on over the next several years. We will feel the temperature fall to 75 degrees below zero with the chill factor.
By far the sharpest contrast, however, in this far away place is the short, dark days of winter (the sun rises at 9:30 a.m. and sets again by 2:30 p.m.) with the long days of summer. It is easy to get “cabin fever” in these winter months; but, in the summer, some play baseball at midnight. Windows are covered with aluminum foil or dark green shades so sleep will continue beyond a two a. m. sunrise.
This tour of duty in Alaska was considered an overseas assignment and the military chapel program flourished because the people banned together. The Lord helped my husband build the largest Sunday School in the Air Force at that time. What a joy it was to teach forty high school freshmen for over an hour on Sunday mornings. Some of them knew very little about the Bible at all, much less about salvation. I’ll never forget one beautiful experience I had in this class one Sunday. I was teaching a series on “The Life of Christ.” During the teaching all the students were soaking in a story they have never heard before. In the middle of my lesson one of the boys, a good-looking basketball player (I’ll call him Mike) raised his hand. “But Mrs. Morgan, how do you know Jesus is the only way to heaven?” “Mike,” I said, “Would you bring your New Testament and come up here with me, please?” He came at once. “Now turn to St. John 14:6 and read it aloud to the class.” I can see his face now as he read, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” It was if a light turned on inside of him and he was convinced of that simple, yet profound truth.
I remember hours and hours spent with Airmen and WAF at chapel and in our quarters (home) on base. My husband was in charge of the Sunday evening worship service. The Head chaplain and those working with him were leery of “a Pentecostal Holiness” at first, but Hugh’s messages along with a special camaraderie and lot of hard work persuaded them of his sincerity and desire to achieve excellence in his ministry. Our quarters were always open for hungry, lonely guys and gals who were a long way from home. I recall making over fifty grilled cheese sandwiches one Sunday night after the chapel service as we shared fun and fellowship with those young adults.
Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) was a program for all military wives. We had Bible studies, luncheons, projects, and heard outstanding speakers like Eugenia Price.
I could ramble on and on with my “memory trip” but my space and time for this writing is gone; so, I’ll put my journal in storage and leave these and other military memories tucked away for periodic reminiscences in future days.
** At the time of this writing, Melvine Morgan, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Hugh H. Morgan who was serving as the senior pastor of Tarkenton Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church in Athens, Georgia. She was teaching at Clarke County Middle School. Together, Melvine and Hugh served 11 years of the active duty in the chaplaincy in the United States Air Force. Melvine is the mother of two children: Greg, 25 years old, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, and now a music teacher; and Stephanie, 23 years old, a graduate of Lee College, and an elementary school teacher.
[Editor's Comment: I found this article in a box with several files of Melvine's writing. I wanted you to see how she viewed the ministry God gave us both in the Air Force Chaplaincy. It meant so much to me as I read it in the quiet of our home. I felt you should be given the opportunity to read what she wrote about her personal experiences as a chaplain's wife.]
**A response from Mary Anne Shropshire Weeks of Richmond, VA, a first cousin of Melvine. Mary Anne's father and Melvine's mother were brother and sister. Wesley Shropshire was an outstanding singer and soloist. He looked just like Perry Mason, the attorney on TV.
Hugh, I so enjoyed reading this article by Melvine. I could hear her voice in my heart’s memory of her. And Yes!...” I’m so glad I got to meet her!”
** A Response from Glenda Boone, Ed. D. She is a retired college teacher. She was a professor of Education at North Greenville, University in Greenville, SC. She and her husband, Coach Jerry Boone reside now in Georgia.
Glenda wrote: "Loved reading Melvine's experiences as a chaplain's wife!"
Author: Melvine Stewart Morgan
To borrow a cliché, I am taking a trip today “down memory lane.” My mind is crowded with different places, climates, people and events. In jogging my memory, I turn back the pages in my journal. I find that reliving happenings of twenty-plus years brings mostly joyful feelings; so, I relax and let the memories come.
I am in Tacoma, Washington, our very first duty assignment in the United States Air Force. After two or three months I know why Washington is called “The Evergreen State.” A slow, misty rain falls constantly keeping the grass and trees always green. It is never too hot or too cold.
Right away there are new adjustments: we attend chapel instead of church, we eat at a “swanky” Officer’s Club (not just an ordinary restaurant), the words “Airmen,” “WAF” (Women in the Air Force), major, colonel, sergeant . . . all become a part of our language.
The highlight of our two years in Tacoma is the birth of our daughter, Stephanie, at Madigan Army General Hospital at Fort Lewis, adjacent to McChord AFB. What an experience! When we get passed the strict, strongly enforced rules, the eleven-dollar fee (even for a “C” Section) makes the rules easier to swallow.
Though our life in the military requires us to live in several other states (Texas, Ohio, Georgia), the most interesting and challenging assignment is our three-year tour at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Our first landing in Anchorage is the rude awakening of the bitter cold we will experience off and on over the next several years. We will feel the temperature fall to 75 degrees below zero with the chill factor.
By far the sharpest contrast, however, in this far away place is the short, dark days of winter (the sun rises at 9:30 a.m. and sets again by 2:30 p.m.) with the long days of summer. It is easy to get “cabin fever” in these winter months; but, in the summer, some play baseball at midnight. Windows are covered with aluminum foil or dark green shades so sleep will continue beyond a two a. m. sunrise.
This tour of duty in Alaska was considered an overseas assignment and the military chapel program flourished because the people banned together. The Lord helped my husband build the largest Sunday School in the Air Force at that time. What a joy it was to teach forty high school freshmen for over an hour on Sunday mornings. Some of them knew very little about the Bible at all, much less about salvation. I’ll never forget one beautiful experience I had in this class one Sunday. I was teaching a series on “The Life of Christ.” During the teaching all the students were soaking in a story they have never heard before. In the middle of my lesson one of the boys, a good-looking basketball player (I’ll call him Mike) raised his hand. “But Mrs. Morgan, how do you know Jesus is the only way to heaven?” “Mike,” I said, “Would you bring your New Testament and come up here with me, please?” He came at once. “Now turn to St. John 14:6 and read it aloud to the class.” I can see his face now as he read, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” It was if a light turned on inside of him and he was convinced of that simple, yet profound truth.
I remember hours and hours spent with Airmen and WAF at chapel and in our quarters (home) on base. My husband was in charge of the Sunday evening worship service. The Head chaplain and those working with him were leery of “a Pentecostal Holiness” at first, but Hugh’s messages along with a special camaraderie and lot of hard work persuaded them of his sincerity and desire to achieve excellence in his ministry. Our quarters were always open for hungry, lonely guys and gals who were a long way from home. I recall making over fifty grilled cheese sandwiches one Sunday night after the chapel service as we shared fun and fellowship with those young adults.
Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) was a program for all military wives. We had Bible studies, luncheons, projects, and heard outstanding speakers like Eugenia Price.
I could ramble on and on with my “memory trip” but my space and time for this writing is gone; so, I’ll put my journal in storage and leave these and other military memories tucked away for periodic reminiscences in future days.
** At the time of this writing, Melvine Morgan, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Hugh H. Morgan who was serving as the senior pastor of Tarkenton Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church in Athens, Georgia. She was teaching at Clarke County Middle School. Together, Melvine and Hugh served 11 years of the active duty in the chaplaincy in the United States Air Force. Melvine is the mother of two children: Greg, 25 years old, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, and now a music teacher; and Stephanie, 23 years old, a graduate of Lee College, and an elementary school teacher.
[Editor's Comment: I found this article in a box with several files of Melvine's writing. I wanted you to see how she viewed the ministry God gave us both in the Air Force Chaplaincy. It meant so much to me as I read it in the quiet of our home. I felt you should be given the opportunity to read what she wrote about her personal experiences as a chaplain's wife.]
**A response from Mary Anne Shropshire Weeks of Richmond, VA, a first cousin of Melvine. Mary Anne's father and Melvine's mother were brother and sister. Wesley Shropshire was an outstanding singer and soloist. He looked just like Perry Mason, the attorney on TV.
Hugh, I so enjoyed reading this article by Melvine. I could hear her voice in my heart’s memory of her. And Yes!...” I’m so glad I got to meet her!”
** A Response from Glenda Boone, Ed. D. She is a retired college teacher. She was a professor of Education at North Greenville, University in Greenville, SC. She and her husband, Coach Jerry Boone reside now in Georgia.
Glenda wrote: "Loved reading Melvine's experiences as a chaplain's wife!"