Shelbyville (Tenn.) Times-Gazette 

Meet My Pastor 
POW Days Recalled By Local Priest 
By Ed Allen, T-G Editor 

Who'd think the sight of a B-29 bomber flying overhead could be called 
the "prettiest sight" .... or an even prettier on being the view of the 
big plane opening its bomb bay doors to unload its cargo? 

"It was fantastic," claims Rev. Frank R. Gardner, pastor of St. 
Williams Catholic Church in Shelbyville and St. John Catholic Church in 
Lewisburg. He has served these two parishes since 1967 as a priest in 
the Home Missioners of America movement. 

But, it was Aug. 29, 1945 when Rev. Gardner saw the "most welcome 
sight" while a prisoner of war. He was taken captive by the Japanese on 
July 7, 1945. 

He was not a clergyman, but had made up his mind just a few short 
months before that as soon as World War II was over he'd study for the 
priesthood...if he lived that long. 

Rev. Gardner was a radioman in the Navy, having enlisted in 1942. He 
and 11 other crewmen were aboard a plane on a mission out of Okinawa. 
"We shot down one (enemy plane) at zero," Rev. Gardner recalled. "This 
little gunboat his one of our engines as we came in about 150 to 200 
feet above it to drop (bombs) on it. A second shell from the boat hit 
our second engine and it caught fire. We had to ditch the plane after 
flying over a small island...due west of Nagasaki. Seven men went down 
with the ship, five of us were saved. After about five hours of 
floating in the Japanese sea, we were taken captive." 

The gunboat that hit Rev. Gardner's plane was bombed by the crew, "but 
we couldn't tell whether we sank it or not," he said. 

Rev. Gardner recalled he was knocked out when the plane crashed and 
"when I came to, it was the calmest moment of my life....thinking about 
the goal of the priesthood, I had something to live for and made my way 
out of the broken craft." 

In the POW camp, Rev. Gardner said "we were treated well. We were 
beaten a few times. The food was atrocious. The Japanese people didn't 
have much to eat and so not much to feed us....except rice. We had to 
chew it about 40 times because it was still in the hull when they gave 
it to us." 

The prisoners didn't learn until later that the U.S. had dropped atomic 
bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagaski Aug. 9. "It was real strange," 
Rev. Gardner said. "After the first bomb, the Japanese radios in the 
prison camp went silent, the guards were very excited and listened 
everytime there was a news broadcast. We knew something big had 
happened but we didn't know what." 

After two nights of not hearing B-29s flying over and no bombings, Rev. 
Gardner said the tension seemed to ease. But Aug. 9 the guards became 
very excited and quiet again. 

Aug. 24, 1945....just 10 days after the Japanese surrendered a group of 
POWs who had been on Wake Island were brought to the camp where Rev. 
Gardner was a prisoner. "They came at night. Some of them were radiomen 
and had been able to monitor U.S. broadcasts. By morning we had the 
full story." 

On Aug. 26 a torpedo plane flew over and dropped C-rations for the 
prisoners. 

"Aug. 29, a beautiful silver U.S. B-29 flew over the prison camp at 
about 400 feet. It made the prettiest picture up against that blue sky 
and the greens of the hills surrounding the camp," Rev. Gardner 
explained. "Just fantastic!" 

All of a sudden, however, the bomb bay doors opened. "We thought for a 
moment they didn't know the war was supposed to be over. Then there was 
the most welcome sight." 

Pouring out of the belly of the big bird came 20 to 30 gallon barrels 
of food, clothing and medical supplies. These came drifting to the 
earth under multicolor parachutes. 

"This was about the second prettiest sight," he said. 


Sept. 1, 1945 he and the other prisoners were liberated. By late fall 
they were back in the U.S. and he was discharged from the Navy in 
February, 1946. 

He had earned overseas duty patches twice (in the South Pacific), five 
battle stars, good conduct medal, air medal, admiral's citation, 
victory ribbon, seaman flight wings and purple heart. 


"I was in prison camp just long enough to see what it is all about and 
get out," Rev. Gardner said. He lost 30 pounds during his two-month 
imprisonment. 

After working six months until the fall term opened at Nazareth College 
in St. Paul, Minn., Rev. Gardner attended school there two years in a 
general college course. He then spent two years at St. Paul Seminary, 
earning a BA degree. 

It was in St. Paul where he as born, Oct. 25, 1918, the last of 13 
children in his family. 

From the seminary he went to Cincinnati as a novitiate on year at 
Jesuit House of Study at Milford, Ohio. Then came four years at Our 
Lady of the Fields Seminary, operated by the Home Missioners of 
America. (This group serves small town and rural churches throughout 
the country.) 

He was ordained May 19, 1955. 

He served first as assistant pastor at St. Mary Church, Norton, Va., 
starting the Holy Redeemer parish. In 1958 he went to Gate City, Va., 
as pastor. He returned to Norton in June, 1960, to pastor St. Anthony 
church. 

Rev. Gardner became the first (and only) resident priest for the 
Shelbyville and Lewisburg churches in 1967. Masses are conducted at the 
Shelbyville Church at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday. Mass in the 
Lewisburg church is said at 11:15 a.m. Sunday. 

The Shelbyville parish has Sunday school sessions at 10 a.m. in the 
rectory, 731 N. Main, which was purchased in the fall of 1968. Lay 
teachers conduct classes with Rev. Gardner instructing the high school 
age group once each month. 

"I used to say Mass in the church every day," Rev. Gardner said, "but 
in this day and age people coming to Mass daily seems to be about 
gone." 

There are 160 communicants in the church here and 100 in Lewisburg. 

Seldom, except at clerical functions, do you see Rev. Gardner in his 
priestly collar and garb. Why? 

"This is rather personal with me," he said. "When I was in 
Norton...which has a great multitude of people in the poverty 
area...the clerical collar seemed to separate me from the people. 

"Volunteers would come in to work with the people and then once in a 
while I'd go with them, wearing the collar, and the people would say, 
'there's something different about him.' It would separate us and I 
couldn't work closely with them. 

"Of course I do wear the collar when the situation calls for it. I like 
to dress like other clergymen....to be a fellow laborer....to be a 
citizen of the community." 

Photo of Rev. Frank Gardner with his brother, Clement (Cy): 

WHOSE TURN IS IT? - Rev. Frank Gardner (left) and his brother Clement 
(Cy) E. Gardner, take turns at cooking and doing dishes in the St. 
Williams' rectory on North Main Street. Cy retired two years ago as a 
lumberman in Los Angeles and came to make his home with his brother. He 
said he is always glad for a helping hand with dishes from the priest.