Papers documenting the career of Chaplain Solomon A. Card, Jr, a United States Army chaplain,who served tours of duty in Korea and in Vietnam. He remained in the Army for twenty years and died just three months after retiring at Fort Hood, Texas.
Scope and Contents:
The collection primarily documents the military career of Chaplain Solomon A. Card, Jr. It includes postcards, correspondence, photographs, slides, newspaper clippings and articles. There is a substantial amount of photographic materials relating to his tours in Korea and Vietnam. These images document the social activities of the military, chapels, orphanages and the landscapes of the two countries. There is a small amount of material relating to his personal life, primarily his education. Other personal papers include wedding documents, photographs, and a death certificate. The materials are arranged into three series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1, Personal Papers, 1938-1976
Series 2, Correspondence, 1956-1971
Series 3, Photographic Materials, 1939-1975, undated
Subseries 3.1, Photographs, 1939-1975, undated
Subseries 3.2, Slides, 1957, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Solomon Ackley Card, Jr. was a United States Army chaplain. He was born on November 28, 1921 to Solomon Ackley Card, Sr. and Jennie Louise Mudge in New York. He attended public schools in graduating from Leonardsville High School in 1939. Card attended Cazenovia Seminary and Junior College in 1941. In August 1942, he married Lavina Coral Gates and from this union four children were born; James, David, Diana, and Nancy. Card earned a Bachelors of Divinity degree from Syracuse University in 1943 and his Masters of Divinity degree from Drew University. He was ordained in 1946. Upon graduation he was appointed pastor of the Black River Methodist Church in New York in May, 1946, and in 1950 was assigned to the Clayton Church of Christ. He also served parishioners at Felts Mills, Omar and St. Lawrence in New York. Card joined the United States Army Reserves as a chaplain with the rank of first lieutenant in 1950. He was promoted to captain in July 1952. For five years he was chaplain of the 314th military police battalion with headquarters in Ogdensburg, New York. During the Korean War he was called in for several brief tours of active duty at Camp Drum and Murphy Army General Hospital in Waltham, Massachusetts. He also served tours of duty in Europe, Korea, and Vietnam. In 1966, he was awarded the Soldier's Medal for disarming a distraught soldier who had fired seventeen rounds from an M-16 rifle near the heavily populated Da Nang base camp in Vietnam. While serving in Da Nang, Vietnam, as chaplain for headquarters of the Army Support Command, he was promoted to the, rank of colonel. Card remained in the Army for twenty years. He died December 4, 1975, just three months after retiring at Fort Hood, Texas, at the age of fifty-four.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives Center by Nancy L. Card in 2011.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
