Requiem for Mount Vernon

WEDDINGS, baptisms and funerals have been held at Mount Vernon Chapel at Fort Belvoir, Va., for more than a half-century. It's a place where people have long celebrated life and mourned its passing.

The old World War II-era chapel, distinguished as such by its modest white wooden frame, is to be demolished to make room for a parking lot adjacent to a new housing area.

Mount Vernon opened in 1941, as did many of the Army's chapels, as a place of worship for Soldiers who lived in the barracks. Gradually, civilian employees who worked at the post joined the Soldiers at religious services. Many types of meetings and celebrations were hosted at the chapel, and it became too small.

When Fort Belvoir's North Post Chapel was recently completed, it consumed three smaller chapels on post, and became the first new permanent chapel built by the Army since 1993.

Some 100 old wooden chapels still exist Armywide. They, too, will eventually be replaced by the Army's new standard chapels, to be built to three designs meant to accommodate more people and serve all denominations.

Chapel History

Most often used for Roman Catholic services, the chapel was for a time called St. Martin's. In the 1970s the name was changed to Mount Vernon Chapel after the nearby estate of President George Washington.

That name more accurately reflected the purpose of the facility--to be used as a place of worship by all faiths, said Libby Trautman, Fort Belvoir Catholic services coordinator.

During World War II congregants Armywide found solace in chapels, said COL Gary Councell of the Office of the Chief of Chaplains.

They prayed for loved ones far away, in harm's way--and much like families today, they prayed for each other, that they could remain strong in very difficult times, he said.

But the World War II-era chapels were designed to be temporary, to be used until war's end. Yet, after millions of Soldiers were demobilized, the chapels continued to be used as the Army's permanent houses of worship, Councell said.

"These cantonment or temporary chapels have become very high-maintenance," said Councell. "They've outlived their usefulness.

"What we have today is primarily a married Army--families with children who want religious education," Councell said. "The old chapels aren't spacious enough to meet the community's fellowship needs."

When the Mount Vernon Chapel comes down, so too will the post's Woodlawn and Gunston chapels. Now, resources and costs of operating the three are directed to just one chapel, Councell said.

Memories of St. Martin's

For some churchgoers, memories of the old white chapel--however small or insufficient it might have been--are not easily dismissed.

Louise Talbot attended church in the small chapel for 56 years, commuting 40 miles every Sunday from Warrenton, Va. Even when she developed pneumonia, she found a way to attend Sunday mass.

Retired LTC Charles S. Hymers, 84, has been called the "lifeblood, the heart and soul of this community," said Bishop John J. Kaising of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

Hymers earned the Chaplain's Award, The Order of Aaron and Hur, years ago for his work for the church and its members.

"It's a heartbreaker," Hymers said the day he attended the final mass in the old chapel. "This is my home away from home."

"It's a bittersweet homecoming for me, because so much of myself is built into this chapel," Kaising said. "We're saying farewell to an old friend."

The people who worshipped here are important, he told the congregation during the final service. "You are what makes the Archdiocese of the Military live and breathe. It's not the building."

Fort Belvoir's North Post Chapel is the first of several new chapels to be built Armywide, said Councell. All of the new facilities will support more congregations of widely varying sizes and faiths, and will encourage increased family participation.

Jennifer Brennan is a staff writer for the Fort Belvoir Eagle newspaper.

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