DAV Magazine — September/October 2016
DAV Past National Chaplain Rev. Carl E. Bergstrom
The Reverend Carl E. Bergstrom, a combat-disabled veteran of the Korean War, served 12 terms as National Chaplain of DAV, from 1971 to 1997.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1952 and deployed to Korea the following year with the 3rd Infantry Division, 7th Regiment. In the closing weeks of the war, his unit was engaged in combat in the Kumwha Valley. As a result of wounds incurred by a mortar round explosion, the young private 1st class lost his left leg below the knee. His military decorations included the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Korean Service Medal with two service stars.
Bergstrom earned a bachelor’s degree from Butler University in Indianapolis in 1952 and a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., in 1958. He was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in December of that year. Bergstrom decided to devote his career to serving his fellow veterans, joining the staff of the VA medical center in Boston in 1964 and becoming chief of chaplains there in 1981. He retired from this position in 1993.
Father Bergstrom joined DAV shortly after his 1954 medical retirement from the Army. He was a Life Member of DAV Chapter 89 in Boston and the National Amputee Chapter. After serving Chapter 89 in a variety of capacities, including Chaplain from 1964 to 1989, he was elected Chapter Commander for 1982-83. He also served as DAV Department of Massachusetts Chaplain for many years, was elected Department Commander for the 1984-85 year and served two terms as District 1 National Executive Committee member.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1952 and deployed to Korea the following year with the 3rd Infantry Division, 7th Regiment. In the closing weeks of the war, his unit was engaged in combat in the Kumwha Valley. As a result of wounds incurred by a mortar round explosion, the young private 1st class lost his left leg below the knee. His military decorations included the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Korean Service Medal with two service stars.
Bergstrom earned a bachelor’s degree from Butler University in Indianapolis in 1952 and a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., in 1958. He was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in December of that year. Bergstrom decided to devote his career to serving his fellow veterans, joining the staff of the VA medical center in Boston in 1964 and becoming chief of chaplains there in 1981. He retired from this position in 1993.
Father Bergstrom joined DAV shortly after his 1954 medical retirement from the Army. He was a Life Member of DAV Chapter 89 in Boston and the National Amputee Chapter. After serving Chapter 89 in a variety of capacities, including Chaplain from 1964 to 1989, he was elected Chapter Commander for 1982-83. He also served as DAV Department of Massachusetts Chaplain for many years, was elected Department Commander for the 1984-85 year and served two terms as District 1 National Executive Committee member.
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