I would like to tell you about a modern man and his change of vocation. It is an interesting story because I lived nearby him and I had met him and yet never had heard his story. It is a story of a vocation change involving great heroism, high seas drama and a miracle. It was this miracle that became his call from God to a new vocation.
On the morning of Sunday October 14, 2001, Brother Marinus of St Paul’s Abbey in Andover, New Jersey died quietly in his sleep. Some of you may have met him because for years he managed the Abbey Gift and Book Shop on Highway 206 between Andover and Newton in New Jersey.
Leonard LaRue was born on January 14th 1914 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a young man he took a strong interest in the sea and after high school attended the Pennsylvania Nautical School and then went to work as a seaman. During WWII he rose to command ships bringing military supplies to the Allies in Europe through the Submarine infested North Atlantic. After the war he returned to peacetime service in the merchant marine.
Then in June of 1950 Communist North Korea invaded South Korea and the United Nations intervened to defend South Korea. The United States provided the majority of the military force for this effort. The American General, MacArthur, commanded the United Nations forces. Due to this new war effort Leonard was recalled to government service was assigned to command the SS Meredith Victory a freighter bringing tanks, trucks, guns and ammunition for use by UN troops fighting in Korea. Before setting sail for Japan from California he and his First Officer went to St Mary’s Church in China Town, in San Francisco to pray for the safety of their ship and crew. They continued to be men of prayer throughout their mission.
In Korea things were not going well for the UN forces. They had been pushed back to the very southern tip of the peninsula by the North Korean troops. Then in September the UN forces under General MacArthur struck back with a massive invasion half way up the west coast at Inchon. The Meredith Victory was the first Merchant Ship to arrive but had to remain off shore until the harbor was secured. When they were able to unload their cargo of battle supplies they also delivered several prisoners of war. These were North Korean soldiers who had rowed our to them and surrendered while they were waiting. The invasion of Inchon was a huge success and the North Korean army was driven out of South Korea. The UN troops pursued the Communist Army into North Korea and soon were approaching the Yalu River which is the border with Communist China.
On October 15th General MacArthur told President Truman that the war would be over by Thanksgiving. He had no sooner said this than China entered the war opposing the UN forces and 180,000 Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River. The Americans, who made up the bulk of the UN forces, launched additional forces to counter the Chinese entry. In November China responded by sent 200,000 more troops and suddenly the Americans were in trouble. MacArthur ordered a retreat southward ahead of the huge Chinese Army.
During the retreat 30,000 American Soldiers and Marines were surrounded by the Communists near the Chosin Reservoir on the far northern east coast of North Korea. The Americans were ordered to fight their way to Hungnam Harbor 100 miles to the south were American ships would evacuate them to safety. To get there they had to fight their way through the mountains in 10 feet of snow and 30 degree below temperatures.
Before they got there, however, the port was filling up with Korean Civilians also fleeing the brutal Chinese Army. By the time the American troops arrived there were almost 100,000 civilians on the docks and in the town hoping and pleading to be evacuated with the troops. The Americans, in fact, evacuated most of these civilians either by boarding them on ships being used to remove equipment and ammunition from the American base there or by facilitating their escape overland.
Meanwhile the Meredith Victory was steaming towards Hungnam carrying 10,000 tons of jet fuel in barrels for delivery to the Marine Air Base nearby. When they arrived they found the that the airbase was under heavy attach and the Marines were evacuating. Unable to unload they sailed south to unload their explosive cargo at Pusan.
Before the ship could be completely off loaded, however, the Captain was given emergency orders to return to Hungnam immediately to aid in the evacuation. On arriving back a Hungnam they found that the evacuation was about to complete and the port and the American military facilities were to be destroyed. A group of Army colonels came on board. They told the Captain that they were ready to pull the last troops out and leave but there were still thousands of civilians on the docks. The Meredith Victory had accommodations for only twelve passengers so they could not order them to take the civilians. However, they asked them to volunteer to do so. The Captain did not hesitate but said they would take as many as they could get on board.
He had the ship back into the dock and ordered the engines be kept running during the loading in case the enemy broke through the defenses a short distance away and they needed to depart quickly. The refugees began pouring on board, Men, women, children, babies. They began loading from the bottom up. Slowly the five holds of the ship filled up. The was no heat, no ventilation, no sanitary facilities, no water and no medical help. No crew member spoke Korean but the desire to escape was great and all cooperated.
The battle was just yards away and could be observed by crew and refuges alike. The roar of the great guns of the Navy Battleships offshore filled the air. You could hear the huge shells passing overhead. Planes from the carriers came in low to strafe the enemy troops coming down the hills into the town. They began loading on December 22, 1950 and continued into early on the 23rd.
When all the holds were full and the deck packed they prepared to sail. They had taken 14,000 civilian refugees on board! Their destination was Pusan, 450 nautical miles to the south. As they sailed south things began to happen. First the refuges below deck began to build fires on top of the drums of jet fuel to provide a little heat and to cook some of the food they had brought with. Fearing that the ship would be blow up the crew pleaded that fires not be lit. A difficult task since none of the crew spoke Korean. Then a young woman gave birth to a baby boy. By the time they reached safety four babies had been born during the journey.
They sailed into Pusan Harbor on Christmas Eve but there they were in for another surprise. They were not allowed to dock there because the city and all its facilities was already full of refuges Like the holy family of two thousand years ago they would have to seek refuge somewhere else. That somewhere else was another 50 miles south at Koje-Do. The Captain refused to sail until clothes, blankets, food and water were brought on board for the refugees.
At Koje-Do there were no docks and the ship waited at anchor until morning. On Christmas morning they began the task on transferring the refuges to small boats that would take them to the beach. By 2:45 in the afternoon all 14,000 were ashore . I should say 14,004 to include the four babies born on board during the journey. Naval historians say that it was the largest human cargo ever carried by any ship. Just imagine, the huge Queen Mary when refitted as a troop carrier during WWII carried a maximum of 10,000.
The Captain would later write,
“I believe God sailed with us those three days. I believe this because by all the laws of logic, the loss of life could have been enormous. Yet not a soul perished. Time after time, dangers that threatened to explode into disaster were miraculously averted.”
“I believe God sailed with us those three days. I believe this because by all the laws of logic, the loss of life could have been enormous. Yet not a soul perished. Time after time, dangers that threatened to explode into disaster were miraculously averted.”
The Korean war ended in 1953 and after being released from his military duty Leonard returned to civilian life and in 1954, then 41 years old, entered St Paul’s Abbey in New Jersey and became Brother Marinus. The word “Marinus” means “of the sea” and when used as a name mean “man of the sea”. He lived his vocation by serving the people surrounding his monastery with prayer and service. When he died in 2001 he was 87 years old.
Over the years since the SS Meredith Victory came to be called The Ship of Miracles and in 2000 a book by that name, written by Bill Gilbert, was published. I have told this story several time over the years since reading the book Ship of Miracles but today I want to add to it several thing that have added to the story of recent years.
During Brother Marinus’ last years St Paul’s was in decline and the order planned to close the Abbey. When this was announced residential developers were eager to purchase the property. The monks preferred that it remain a religious facility and began seeking other orders or religious organizations to take over the Abbey. Among those that were contacted were the Benedictine Monks at Waegman, South Korea. It turned out they were seeking a place in the United States as a residence for Korean monks coming here for education.
The Korean Benedictine were familiar with St Paul’s because they knew Brother Marinus lived there. One their monks, as a child had been on board the Meredith Victory in 1950. On October 21, 2001 the deal was finalized, the monks from Korea would take over the administration of St Paul’s. Brother Marinus died two days later. The first Korean monks would arrive by Christmas that year.
In 2017, Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, visited the National Museum of the U.S. Marine Corps, in Quantico, Virginia (USA) for a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument for the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. He told the audience that the crew of the SS Meredith Victory had rescued his parents and sister two years before his birth on Geoje Island*. He added, “Had it not been for the valiant warriors of the Chosin Battle and the success of the Hungnam Evacuation, I would not even exist today.”
On 25 March 2019, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the Bishop of Paterson, NJ, signed a decree that opens “the informative process for Beatification and Canonization” to “study the heroic virtues and reputation of the holiness of the Servant of God, Brother Marinus”. With this historic decree, the Catholic faithful can pray to God through the intercession of Brother Marinus, who has been bestowed with the title “Servant of God.” As a saint Brother Marinus would be a good patron saint of refugees. Let us ask him to pray for them before the throne of God.
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References:
- St Paul's Outreach to Korea and Seeking sainthood for Br Marius: https://blog.franciscanmedia.org/sam/brother-marinus-war-hero-and-selfless-monk
- 2009 Article in Seoul Times: https://moviedream.wordpress.com/tag/brother-marinus/
- Link to Documentary about Hungnam Evacuation and the Ship Miracles: https://vimeo.com/15690428
- Ship of Miracles - Web Site: http://shipofmiracles.com/index.html
- Quotations are from The Ship of Miracles: Bill Gilbert, Triumph Books, 2000. (Available from Amazon or St Paul's Abbey)
* Th spelling of many Korean cities and territories have changed since 1950.
© Copyright 2020 Joseph E. Hilber. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the author.
