As Father Benjamin Morin was laid to rest last week, Nurse Joyce Kohlman wanted to make sure his story was told.
‘He had a great sense of humor,? Kohlman smiled. ‘He was very kind, and he will be missed.?
Morin, who passed away on April 23 at Columbiere Center in Springfield Township at the age of 94, spent decades helping humanity as he traveled the world as a Jesuit missionary.
And during World War II, he was in the first armored attack on Japanese forces, and survived three-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war.
He spent his last 12 years at Columbiere Center, a retirement home for Catholic priests in Michigan.
Morin did not speak much of his ordeal to those he knew, but his spirit told the tale of a man who lived through the toughest of situations.
Friends remember Morin as a kind man, a gentle spirit, generous and optimistic. He was forgiving, so much so, he even forgave his captors.
His life was one of service after he became a Jesuit priests, who serve as teachers and missionaries around the world.
He traveled to Japan and India as a missionary helping others. He spent 38 of those years serving in Peru.
Morin made a promise to God if he made it out of World War II, he would serve God for the rest of his life. One year after the war, he was accepted into Milford Novitiate. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1946.
In 1937, he enlisted in Illinois National Guard’s 33rd Tank Company. On Thanksgiving Day, 1941, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the US sent National Guard troops to the Philippines. Morin and his fellow soldiers were on a mission to execute the first U.S. tank attack of the war.
He wrote his story for his family and friends.
‘The American tanks, confined by hilly terrain to a narrow road, encountered heavy fire. It happened quickly,? he wrote.
He remembered a quick flash, and then ‘the front door of the tank was gone, ripped off by the explosion,’he recalled when telling his story.
American men were outnumbered by Japanese soldiers. Suddenly they rammed the damaged tank, setting it on fire, and forcing the U.S. soldier out. The men became prisoners of war.
‘I had completed my mission,” Morin said. ‘I had personally led the first U.S. attack of World War II.”
The next three and a half years was filled with grim experiences. Morin and other soldiers were was taken to numerous camps during while captive.
‘The Japanese were neither tender nor merciful to their prisoners,? Morin said.
The soldiers were starved and beaten. They were filthy and heavily infested with lice. Along the way, Morin met other prisoners, and he watched many die.
‘Then, diphtheria, dengue fever. Every day burial details would carry out the men who had died to be dumped into mass graves.”
A rainy season at one camp brought terrible visions.
‘After the rainy season, the graves filled with water. Bodies floated to the surface. It was hard to keep the bodies down,” he wrote.
Morin was tasked with carrying the dead to a crematory where bodies were burned. One soldier, he remembers was in terrible shape, suffering from dysentery and covered with lice.
‘I would take Rube’s underwear to the wash rack and hold them under the ice water to stun the lice, which would then fall off.”
Food was heavily rationed, each man given bowl of rice on lucky days.
Through it all, Morin and his men maintained their loyalty to America.
At first, they never bowed to the Japanese soldiers. He also felt a duty to lift the spirits of men.
‘My job was now was to preserve the lives and spirit of my men,” he said of his three fellow soldiers in his tank who were also captured.
‘I tried to encourage my three crew members, Cahill, Zelos and Gadosto. Keep you chins up men, we’ll get out of this.?
Starved, the prisoners sometimes fought each other, but Morin forged friendships, one with fellow prisoner and Australian Jesuit Priest Fr. Victor Turner.
Turner and Morin talked extensively.
‘He was the first Jesuit I ever met,? Morin said. ‘He was a brilliant speaker.?
His sermons were interesting and practical.
‘He was gifted all the way around. He had human gifts. He could connect with people.?
Morin met another religious man, also a captive, who despite the rough conditions of the camp, remained an optimist.
‘The men were alive in a place full of death,” Morin said of both the godly men he met. ‘They lived as prisoners, but they were free. They were men who knew what they were doing in life they had a mission in life, a purpose.”
Morin, aged 23, was so deeply inspired by Turner he made that pact with God to give his life if he were freed. On Sept. 2, 1945, the Japanese surrendered and the prisoners were told the war was over.
He kept that promise he made with god, and told his parents he vowed to spend the rest of his life serving the lord.
In 2012, soldier from the Illinois National Guard traveled to Michigan to meet Morin and present him with the Armor Association of the United States Army’s Order of Saint George Medallion, a top award given by the army.
People all over the world, including his hometown of Maywood, will continue remembering Morin and his crew. Every year, for the past 70 years, the town of Maywood honors Morin and his fellow soldiers in the 192nd Battalion.
For 38 years he served as a missionary in Peru. Until his death he continued helping the people in Peru, Columbier Center administrator Joe Manuszak said. He was laid to rest on April 29. To read Morin’s entire story visit http://heurisko.org/uncle.html.