Herman G. Felhoelter
Captain, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps
19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
Missing in Action — July 16, 1950
Near Taejon, South Korea
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
EARLY LIFE AND CALLING
Herman Gilbert Felhoelter was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and attended Saint Martin’s School in his hometown before entering religious studies.
He continued his education at Saint Francis Seminary in Mount Healthy, Ohio, followed by six years at Dun Scotus College in Detroit, Michigan, and three additional years at Holy Family Monastery in Oldenburg, Indiana.
He was ordained a Catholic priest in June 1939.
His first assignment was as assistant parish priest at Saint Boniface Church in Peoria, Illinois, where he began a ministry centered on service, compassion, and faith.
WORLD WAR II SERVICE
In 1944, Father Felhoelter answered another call to serve and enlisted in the United States Army. Commissioned as a chaplain, he was assigned to the 12th Armored Division.
He served with the division in Europe from November 1944 through May 1945, ministering to soldiers during some of the final campaigns of World War II.
During the war, tragedy struck his own family. His only living brother, serving in the Army Air Forces in the China-Burma-India Theater, was reported Missing in Action and later confirmed killed in action.
Felhoelter understood personally the cost of war borne by families at home.
RETURN TO SERVICE
After World War II, he returned briefly to civilian ministry as an assistant pastor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Yet the call to serve soldiers remained strong.
In 1948, he reentered military service. Promoted to captain, he was assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, serving on occupation duty in post-war Japan.
When war erupted in Korea in June 1950, the 24th Infantry Division became one of the first United Nations forces deployed to defend South Korea and reinforce the desperate Pusan Perimeter.
THE FINAL SACRIFICE — TAEJON, 1950
In July 1950, during heavy fighting near Taejon, American forces were forced into a fighting withdrawal under overwhelming enemy pressure.
Chaplain Felhoelter chose to remain behind with wounded soldiers who could not be evacuated.
He was offered the opportunity to leave.
He refused.
Witnesses later recounted that he knelt beside the wounded, praying aloud and administering last rites as enemy troops approached.
He was captured and subsequently executed in captivity.
His body was never recovered, and he was officially listed as Missing in Action.
Because of his sacrifice, he became known as:
“The Martyr Priest of Taejon.”
Headquarters, EIGHTH U.S. Army, Korea, General Orders No. 8 (July 24, 1950).
The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Captain (Chaplain’s Corps) Herman Gilbert Felhoelter (ASN: 0-549715), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Captain (Chaplain’s Corps) Felhoelter distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces on the Kum River, north of Taejon, Korea, on 16 July 1950. When seriously wounded men of the 19th Infantry could not be evacuated in the face of an overwhelming night attack by superior enemy forces who had cut off the main route of withdrawal, Chaplain Felhoelter, without regard for his own personal safety, voluntarily remained behind to give his wounded comrades spiritual comfort and aid. When last seen, Chaplain Felhoelter was still administering to the wounded. The extraordinary heroism displayed by Chaplain Felhoelter on this occasion reflects the greatest credit on himself and is in keeping with the high traditions of the military service.
LEGACY
Chaplain Felhoelter carried no weapon.
His battlefield was the human soul.
Having already lost a brother to war, he knowingly chose to remain with the suffering rather than save himself.
He stayed where he was needed most.
He prayed.
He comforted.
He sacrificed.
Captain Herman G. Felhoelter
The Martyr Priest of Taejon.
A shepherd who did not abandon his flock.
Honor The Fallen. Support The Living. Teach The Next Generation.
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