Throughout the history of warfare, there has been a desire for religious guidance and assistance during man’s most difficult times. These religious men not only helped in administering comfort and spiritual peace to their flocks, but at times led them into battle, assisted the wounded, and sometimes paid the ultimate sacrifice for their God and for their country.
America’s first Army chaplains made their appearances during the first battles of America’s War for Independence. In the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, much of the clergy around the pro-independence areas in Massachusetts and other states, including Joseph Thaxter and Philips Payson, not only gave religious aid but carried arms and led their own congregations into battle for the cause of freedom and liberty. Because of this tradition of bravery and courage under fire, the United States Army Chaplaincy grew in fame. The clergy has been by the sides of soldiers through all the bloody and distinguished engagements that the United States has fought since the Revolutionary War. They cared for the dead, administered rites, and, in some instances, took up arms against the enemy.
During the turmoil that surrounded the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the U.S. Army chaplains served their country as with other previous conflicts in America’s history. It was in the Vietnam War that Chaplain (MAJ) Charles J. Watters saved many of the lives of his own flock and sacrificed his own life for the greater good.
Charles Joseph Watters was born on January 17, 1927 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Watters attended Seton Hall Preparatory School and went on to graduate from Seton Hall University. He was ordained as a priest in 1953 for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and served in parishes in Jersey City, Rutherford, Paramus, and Cranford, New Jersey.
Serving God was not his only major interest, though. He was also a keen aviator. As a licensed private pilot, he flew single-engine airplanes both domestically and across international borders, going as far abroad as Argentina.
Combining his love of both the ministry and flying, he joined the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1962 as a chaplain. Later, in 1964, he entered the US Army as a chaplain, a year before the first wave of American combat troops landed on Vietnamese soil. In July 1966, Chaplain Watters was assigned to the Republic of Vietnam and served with Company A, 173d Support Battalion, 173d Airborne Brigade. Although he was officially assigned to the 173d Support Battalion, Watters often accompanied the brigade’s line units into the field. He saw plenty of active service during this tour, participating in the parachute drop in Operation Junction City in February 1967. This was the largest combat jump of the Vietnam War, and the biggest US airborne operation since WWII.
During this time he often accompanied the line units of his brigade into the jungle and ended up accumulating plenty of experience on the front line.
It was apparent that he felt that the front line was exactly where he needed to be. He could assist the wounded, comfort frightened soldiers, and perform the last rites for the dying.
During his first tour, he was awarded the Air Medal and a Bronze Star for Valor. At the end of his first twelve months, in July 1967, he voluntarily extended his tour for an additional six months.
In November 1967, Chaplain Watters was with 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry, as the battalion took part in the bloody fighting for Hill 875 around Dak To. For Watters, the culmination of the battle came on 19 November. During that day, an intense fire fight broke out with the enemy forces. Without thinking of his own safety, Watters began to rush out on the battle field to help collect the dying and wounded and bring them to safety. Completely exposed, Chaplain Watters administered the Sacrament of Last Rites to his dying men. Every time his unit began to charge the front line, Watters was ahead picking up the wounded and administering the sacraments to those who had fallen. He also helped carry others to safety, including a paratrooper who was in shock out into the open and unable to move from his exposed position. With enemy bullets flying all around him, he threw the soldier over his shoulder and carried him to safety.
After hours of intense fighting and with the perimeter of the battlefield in a state of constant confusion, Chaplain Watters continued to maintain his composure in a time of severe crisis. For hours after the initial fighting, he kept venturing out between friendly and
enemy lines picking up the wounded, providing the exhausted soldiers with food and water, administering the sacraments, and helping the medics give aid to the wounded.
Later on, he charged out beyond the American line to rescue two more injured troops, exposing himself to the twin danger of both enemy and friendly fire in the process.
As the NVA intensified their efforts to defend their position, the American troops were pushed back. Seeing American troops lying wounded in the field beyond the new perimeter, Chaplain Watters charged out again.
Running the gauntlet of enemy and friendly fire once more, he courageously assisted the wounded soldiers to safety.
He did this again and again. The other soldiers within the perimeter, who understandably feared for Watters’s life, tried to restrain him. But he resisted all attempts to be held back.
Only when every injured soldier was safe did the chaplain finally relent – but he did not rest. Instead, he moved tirelessly along the line, distributing rations and water, assisting the medics, providing encouragement and support to the troops, and comforting the frightened.
Sadly, Watters himself became a victim of the battle raging on Hill 875 and did not survive the day. He was killed in a friendly fire incident when a 500-pound bomb was dropped on American paratroopers near the triage area where he was working.
Chaplain Watter’s deeds were not in vain. He helped to save many men from death and comforted those who were dying. For his own courage and bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 4 November 1969 “for his conspicuous gallantry…unyielding perseverance and selfless devotion to his comrades.” These simple yet somber words are found on his Medal of Honor citation. Chaplain Charles Watters was the first Army chaplain to receive the Medal of Honor since the Civil War. Only five Army chaplains have ever received America’s highest military decoration. In the years following Watters’ death, the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School renamed its building Watters Hall. In addition, P.S. 24, a public school in Jersey City, Watters’ hometown, was renamed Chaplain Charles J. Watters School in 1988.
Chaplain Charles Watters is one of the best examples of how the U.S. Army chaplains serve their men and their country with gallantry and conspicuous courage. Chaplain Watters will always be remembered by those he saved in a severe time of crisis. Because of this, Chaplain Watters will always be remembered and honored for his courage, gallantry, and selfless sacrifice and be remembered as one of the Army’s greatest soldiers.
Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to
MAJOR CHARLES JOSEPH WATTERS
United States Army
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Chaplain Watters distinguished himself during an assault in the vicinity of Đắk Tô. Chaplain Watters was moving with one of the companies when it engaged a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged and the casualties mounted, Chaplain Watters, with complete disregard for his safety, rushed forward to the line of contact. Unarmed and completely exposed, he moved among, as well as in front of the advancing troops, giving aid to the wounded, assisting in their evacuation, giving words of encouragement, and administering the last rites to the dying. When a wounded paratrooper was standing in shock in front of the assaulting forces, Chaplain Watters ran forward, picked the man up on his shoulders and carried him to safety. As the troopers battled to the first enemy entrenchment, Chaplain Watters ran through the intense enemy fire to the front of the entrenchment to aid a fallen comrade. A short time later, the paratroopers pulled back in preparation for a second assault. Chaplain Watters exposed himself to both friendly and enemy fire between the two forces in order to recover two wounded soldiers. Later, when the battalion was forced to pull back into a perimeter, Chaplain Watters noticed that several wounded soldiers were lying outside the newly formed perimeter. Without hesitation and ignoring attempts to restrain him, Chaplain Watters left the perimeter three times in the face of small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire to carry and to assist the injured troopers to safety. Satisfied that all of the wounded were inside the perimeter, he began aiding the medics … applying field bandages to open wounds, obtaining and serving food and water, giving spiritual and mental strength and comfort. During his ministering, he moved out to the perimeter from position to position redistributing food and water, and tending to the needs of his men. Chaplain Watters was giving aid to the wounded when he himself was mortally wounded. Chaplain Watters’ unyielding perseverance and selfless devotion to his comrades was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
In memory
The name Charles Joseph Watters is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (“The Wall”) on Panel 30E, Row 036.
The bridge on Route 3 in New Jersey spanning the Passaic River between Clifton and Rutherford has been named in honor of Chaplain Watters.
Public School No. 24 in Jersey City was named after him in the 1980s. Chaplain Charles J Watters Center in Fort Campbell, KY.
The Seton Hall University Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team is named the Charlie Watters Ranger Company.
At the Roman Catholic Church of the Epiphany in Cliffside Park, NJ, there is a rose garden dedicated in memory of Watters. There is a memorial plaque located in the center of the garden. It was organized and constructed in the late 1990s by classmate and friend, Fr. Thomas Olsen, then pastor of Epiphany Church.
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