Raymond C. Hohenstein USS California |
On a typical Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor, Chaplain Raymond C. Hohenstein would conduct Protestant church services on the forecastle of the USS California. On the untypical Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, he helped rescue men from a flooding compartment around number two turret barbette before being overcome by smoke and fumes. Later he suffered shrapnel burns on the quarterdeck. Hohenstein became the first living Navy Chaplain to receive the Purple Heart. He retired from the Navy in 1961 with the rank of Captain in the Chaplain Corps. |
