Capt. Roland W. Faulk; Chaplain Led Prayer at Surrender

Retired Navy Capt. Roland W. Faulk, 82, the chaplain who led the prayer during the surrender ceremonies aboard the battleship Missouri at the end of World War II. On Sept. 2, 1945 the Methodist minister offered the prayer during ceremonies aboard the ship in Tokyo Bay that marked the end of the war with Japan. The prayer, which is encased at the Douglas MacArthur Library in Norfolk, Va., called on the victorious Allies to show mercy toward the conquered Japanese. “But peace without justice we know is hopeless, and justice without mercy Thou wilt despise,” the prayer read in part. Faulk, a native of Texas, joined the Navy in 1937 and was credited with recruiting about 1,500 chaplains into the service. He retired in 1967 as chaplain of the 11th Naval District headquartered in San Diego. On Sept. 14 in San Diego of unreported causes.