DOB/DOD: May 14, 1938 (Portland, ME) – October 26, 1966; 28 years old
RELIGION: Protestant
MARITAL STATUS: Married Judith Chase [later, Miller] (1943-) on August 2, 1964, in Middletown, Connecticut. Judith was an Army nurse and graduated from UConn.
COLLEGE: Harvard University, Class of 1960. Harvard Divinity School, Class of 1964. Studied Greek and Hebrew at Harvard.
SERVICE NUMBER: O-5022353
ENLISTMENT: January 1965
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 5310, Chaplain
TOUR START DATE: July 15, 1966
UNIT: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 196th Light Infantry Brigade
CASUALTY LOCATION: Saigon
ON THE WALL: Panel 11E, Line 109
FAMILY: Born to Reverend John N. (1908-1980) and Eleanor Densmore Petherbridge Feaster (1911-1994). One sister, Lucinda “Cindy” Feaster Yeaton (1946-).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
OTHER: Served as the assistant minister of the First Congregational Church of New Haven, Connecticut, before becoming a chaplain. He enjoyed mountain climbing and was an Eagle Scout. In a testimonial from his wife Judy in response to a question about whether his father influenced his decision to become a Chaplain, she said, “His father had always thought that being in the military would be a good thing to do. His father had worked with many Navy folks because of the shipyards and port in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.” In another story, his wife said, “During his tenure at Center Church on the Green in New Haven, he went to the second march on Selma with some local clergy. I couldn’t go because I had a final exam. When he came back from the trip to Selma, he was amazed at the conditions where the blacks lived – dirt streets, while the rest of the city had paved streets, signs saying whites only, separate water fountains, etc. He was from New Hampshire and had never seen that side of discrimination.”
CIRCUMSTANCES: Wounded in action and died of those wounds six weeks later. Specifically, an infection from Vietnamese soil is what ultimately led to Captain Feaster’s death.
Portsmouth (NH) High School; Class of 1956 yearbook
Photo courtesy of the Harvard University Archives; Class of 1960 yearbook
Captain William N. Feaster was a Protestant chaplain in the Army Chaplain Corps serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 196th Infantry Brigade. Captain Feaster was beloved by the troops, and on September 18, 1966, he agreed to accompany them on a mission. During the patrol, the unit’s encampment was hit by friendly artillery fire. There were several casualties, including fatalities, and Feaster was critically wounded. While being treated for his injuries in a U.S. Army field hospital, he contracted an infection. Feaster’s wife, an Army nurse stationed in Seoul, South Korea, was summoned to Saigon, where Feaster was a patient. The treatments he endured as the medical staff tried to save him were very trying: surgeries for side effects from the drugs used to treat the infection, and finally, an amputation. Early in the morning of October 26, 1966, his wife was awakened by the chief nurse, whose couch she was sleeping on. She was informed, “The chaplain just expired.” Feaster was the first chaplain to be killed in the Vietnam War.
During the time he was a patient, he was visited by the young captain who was in charge of the artillery unit that fired the errant rounds. Feaster tried to comfort him and assured the captain he did not blame him or harbor any ill will. The chaplain granted the forgiveness he asked for, but the young captain’s face and demeanor failed to conceal that he had been broken by the experience. [From coffeltdatabase.org and “Vietnam Stories: The many victims of Vietnam” by Judith Miller at concordmonitor.com]
Captain Feaster’s Purple Heart Medal, shared by his wife Judy
Memorialized on a plaque at Harvard University honoring all alumni lost in Vietnam
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, One Memorial Ave, Arlington, Virginia; Section 2, Grave E-156-3.
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