Orris E. Kelly

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Orris Eugene Kelly
8th Cavalry Regiment
1st Infantry Division
7th Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
Commands heldU.S. Army Chaplain Corps
Battles/warsWorld War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Awards Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star

Chaplain (

Major General) Orris Eugene Kelly, USA (born July 28, 1926) is a retired American Army officer who served as the 14th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army from 1975 to 1979.[1]

Early life

Kelly was born in 1926 in

Austro-Hungarian Empire
.

He attended elementary and high school in Montrose.

World War II

In January 1944, he entered the

Fort Benning, Georgia
. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, Infantry, Class 452, on May 29, 1945.

He served at

Camp San Luis Obispo, California; and in the Army of Occupation in Germany. His experiences in the ruins of Dresden as an officer in the military police
made him change his goal of becoming an engineer into becoming a chaplain. He left the service in 1946 as a first lieutenant to resume college.

Interwar years

Reverend Kelly completed his AB degree at

Garrett Theological Seminary (Northwestern University), Evanston, Illinois
, in 1953. He was ordained as a Methodist clergyman in June 1953.

Second military tour

Immediately after ordination, he entered on active duty at

Fort Riley, Kansas, from 1957 to 1961. During this period, he attended the Associate Command and General Staff College, graduating in 1959. In 1961, he was assigned to an overseas replacement battle group and transferred to the Seventh Infantry Division
in Korea

From 1962 to 1966, he served on the staff of the US Army Chaplain School,

An Khe
. Reverend Kelly joined the staff of the Office Chief of Chaplains in 1970, serving first as an action officer in Plans, Programs and Policies Directorate, and later as Director.

In 1972, he was selected to attend the

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
.

Returning to Washington in 1973, he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains as Executive Officer, a position he held until July 31, 1975.

On April 7, 1975, Reverend Kelly was nominated by

Walter T. Kerwin, Jr., Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army
.

Reverend Kelly retired from the Army on July 1, 1979.

Post-army life

On August 1, 1979 he assumed the position of Associate General Secretary for the Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries (DCRM). This is an organization part of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the

Hospital Corporation of America
, who asked him to become the Vice President of Pastoral Service with the responsibility for developing pastoral care programs in the 480 hospital HCA system. He assumed this position in 1985.

Awards and decorations

Distinguished Service Medal
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
oak leaf clusters
)
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze Star
(with two bronze oak leaf clusters)
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
 Air Medal (with three bronze oak leaf clusters)
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Army Commendation Medal
(with three bronze oak leaf clusters)
Army Good Conduct Medal
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Bronze star
 National Defense Service Medal (with one bronze service star)
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
 Vietnam Service Medal (with four bronze service stars)
Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
Vietnam Staff Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-268-02175-7
    .

Further reading

Military offices
Preceded by Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army
1975–1979 		Succeeded by
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