Major General William R. Arnold & the Religious Life of the American GI

As the Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Army during World War II, Monsignor William R. Arnold was responsible for overseeing the religious life of eight million soldiers. Serving a remarkable 52 years, he played a pivotal role in shaping a vision of the chaplaincy that embraced religious pluralism. This lecture by G. Kurt Piehler, Ph.D., sponsored by the GCU department of History and Politics, highlights the life of this remarkable priest who balanced adherence to the tenets of his faith while ensuring all GIs could worship to the dictates of their conscience.

Dr. G. Kurt Piehler is director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience in the Department of History at Florida State University. Dr. Piehler has written two books and co-edited eight volumes on American military history. He edits two book series: World War II: The Global, Human, Ethical Dimension (Fordham University Press) and Legacies of War (University of Tennessee Press). As founding director of the Rutgers Oral History Archives, he conducted more than 200 interviews with veterans of World War II. His forthcoming third book is a religious history of American GIs in World War II..