COME ON, SMILE - The Korean lad from the Little Flowers orphanage appears bashful as he is introduced to Chaplain (1^st Lt.) James F. Corcoran, Dodge Center, Minn., by Father Louis Deslandes who operates the orphanage near a Fifth Air Force fighter base in Korea.

Stars and Stripes, Nov. 3, 1950  

Chaplain, Missionary Team Up To Keep AF Clothes Clean, Too

A FIFTH AF FIGHTER BASE IN KOREA - A Catholic Air Force chaplain turned laundryman and a veteran French missionary who operates an orphanage, are helping F-51 pilots here have clean clothes and are promoting friendly and understanding relations between the armed forces of the United Nations and the Korean population.

First Lt. John F. Corcoran, formerly of Dodge Center, Minn., is chaplain of the 6150^th Tactical Support Wing and the 30^th Fighter Group.   Every Sunday he hitches a trailer to his jeep and takes the pilots' dirty clothes to the Little Flowers orphanage which is operated by Father Louis Deslandes.  Here the clothing is washed by 25 Korean nuns.  Every Friday Chaplain Corcoran jeeps back to the orphanage, collects the clean laundry and returns it to the base.

The voluntary contributions made by the pilots for the laundry service assist Father Deslandes in his work of caring for some 80 Korean orphans and 25 aged, helpless men and women.  On special occasions Father Deslandes brings a number of his nuns and orphans to the chapel on the base to participate in religious services, and once or twice a week Chaplain Corcoran conducts tours to the orphanage and nearby Korean city for airmen at the base.

Things look rosy today for the success of the orphanage, but this was not always so.

In the recent fighting the orphanage was in a no-man's land between the Red aggressors and the United Nations forces.  Americans urged Father Deslandes to abandon the orphanage and move his flock within the Americans lines.

(USAF Photo)

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