The "Fighting Chaplain" of WWI

Guest: Ken Alford, Professor of Church History, BYU A Utah man, son of a top leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was volunteered by his father to be a chaplain in the war. He didn’t even know what a chaplain was. So this young man – Calvin Smith – heads off to the battlefront, making the job up as he goes along. Comforting the weary and burying the dead doesn’t feel like enough for him, so Chaplain Smith joins a team of stretcher-bearers. He’s out on the battlefield without a weapon, taking fire while bringing injured soldiers back to safety. He even gets a Distinguished Service Cross for battlefield bravery, highly unusual for a chaplain.