Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-16
THE HUMAN SIDE or RELIGION
.AF ChopIoin Chief
Leaves Pioneer Role
BY CAsPAR NAMES

A former baseball player who
led the Air Force Chaplaincy
successfully through its forma-
tive years left Washington this
week for a new assignment.
Mai. Gen. Charles I. Carpen-
ter, Air Force Chief of Chap
lains since June, 194S. will take
over his new post as Protestant
cadet chaplain Of the Air Force
Academy at Colorado Springs,
Colo, on Thursday.
Recognition Of his outstand-
ing work came last week
when Chaplain Carpenter was
awarded the Distinguished
Service Medal by Gen. Thomas
d. White, chief of staff, for
exceptionally meritorious serv-
ice to the United States"
In his desire to see how
things were going at first hand.
he Travelled more than $4,000
miles by plane and car in IL
years on visits to Air Force
chaplains. Gen. Carpenter
served as Army Air Force chap
lain from 1945 to 194S, when
the Air Force Chaplaincy was
created.
AS the first head of the Air
Force Chaplaincy, he took over
a group of AIS chaplains. To-
day the number on duty is
l,025.
when I came into the post
I found a growing organiza-
tion." Gen. Carpenter ex-
planned. TT accepted new APP
proaches and ideas in the field
of religion Fundamentally"
Methodist Minister
The 52-year-old native Of
Wilmington, Del. is an ordained
Methodist minister who re-
ceived his theological training
at Drew University. He is a
graduate of Bucknell Univer-
Sity.
After serving pastorateS for
five years in Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Maryland. Gen.
Carpenter entered the regular
Army as a chaplain in 1885.
Six years later he was ordered
to headquarters to establish the
chaplaincy work within the
Army Air Force.
The outstanding experience
of his years as a chaplain is
the way clergymen of different
faiths have worked together.
THE one thing this job gives
Is ecumenicity without anyone
losing his own religious allegi-
ance," he declared. ut is more
than tolerance. 1t is that can
understand you and you can
understand me, and yet each
keeps his own faith firmly. The
spirit of cooperation without
sacrifice of principles is the
amazing thing in the military
service"
Started TV Service
During his years as Air Force
chief of chaplains, Gen. Car
penter has inaugurated new
approaches in many areas.
More than two years ago he
started the television worship
service program called Air
Force Chapel Of the Air"
Nine years ago he instituted
the Protestant and Catholic
preaching missions and the
Jewish Torah convocations for
personnel overseas.
In 1852 the Air Force chap
lain head held the first Protes-
tant Spiritual Life Conference.
And last October, Gen. Car
penter inaugurated the "Dy-
namics of Moral Leadership
chaplain lecture series. This is
part of the Air Force training
program, with lectures being
given to commissioned officers,
noncommissioned officers and
enlisted personnel.
Baseball Pro
Gen. Carpenter is an enthu-
siastic baseball follower. Dur
ing his college years he played
professional baseball to put
himself through Bucknell Uni
versity.
One day while throwing a
soft ball around in the gym
nasium, he threw out his pitch
ing arm. That ended his base
ball career.
But this deepened rather
than weakened his interest in
the game. While in Washing
ton he could nearly always be
UNITARIAN