This June 15-July 9 is the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan during World War II which initiated the liberation of the island from Japanese control. Out of the chaos of war, a “miracle” began in Saipan and came to fruition in Kansas City, Missouri after the war. The newspapers called it the “Miracle on Ninth Street.”
It began with Major Arthur M. Tighe, who was an Army/Air Force Commissioned officer, and also a Catholic priest. When Bishop Thomas F. Lillis from Kansas City asked for recruits to serve as military chaplains, Father Tighe (later Monsignor) stepped up to the plate. After his initial military training, he was assigned to the 73rd Wing of the Bomber Command, the Air Force branch. The men trained in the use of the B-17’s and Father Tighe traveled with them flying out each day with the pilots and back with the gunners. Finally, word came that they were being shipped out to the Pacific to assist with the war efforts; the 73rd wing of the Bomber Command was assigned to Saipan.
The Battle of Saipan ended on July 9, 1944 when the Americans secured the island. By the end of the battle, all the civilians: Saipanese, Japanese, and the Spanish missionaries were housed in one area called “Camp Susupe.” One day, one of the soldiers who had been scouting around, informed Father Tighe that there were nuns on the island. Of course, Father thought the soldier was nuts. Father said there were no nuns in this part of the world. However, their paths were about to cross in ways only God could have ordained.
As soon as he found the sisters, (the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz), Father Tighe was very generous in helping them with food, clothes and other supplies which had been sent to him from the Sisters at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kansas City. Father also had his men build the sisters a house and a small chapel. Soon the sisters and Father Tighe became good friends and Sr. Angelica’s facility for languages helped them communicate in English. This was the beginning of the “miracle.”
Every evening after the fighting ended in Saipan, Father Tighe would go down to visit with the sisters in Chalan Kanoa. He and his men would go down in small groups to have supper. Local fishermen provided the fish and Father provided the flour and butter. The sisters always dished up a wonderful meal of fried fish and home-made bread. On one of those evenings Fr. Tighe said to the sisters “If you want to continue your mission on Saipan and on the other Micronesian Islands you will need to learn English.” Seizing the opportunity, when the delicious meal was finished and Father was about to puff on his usual cigar, Sr. Angelica handed him a dictionary. Then she asked him to promise the sisters, in the name of the Sacred Heart, that when he returned to the United States, he would establish a house to train the sisters in the United States and prepare them for the island missions. It seemed harmless to make such a promise. So on the flyleaf of the dictionary Father wrote out his pledge to help the sisters, provided his men were home by Christmas. He wrote this pledge on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart in 1945. The war did end two months later and Fr. Tighe and his men were home, in time for Christmas dinner, and far from Saipan where he had made his promise.
Father Tighe resumed his life back home in the United States and was now at McDill Field in Tampa, Florida. One evening in 1946, he received an unexpected long distance call from New York. The call was from the Reverend Mother of the Mercedarian sisters, Sister Cecilia and Sister Josephine, who had flown to New York to follow up on Chaplain Tighe’s promise. Of course Father Tighe was in shock. He told them since he was in the Army, he wasn’t sure about getting to New York. He told his Commanding Officer his plight and Colonel Harding told him he could go in a B-29. So Father Tighe flew to New York with the expectation he would convince the sisters that the whole plan would not work. He told them he couldn’t help them because he was in the military. He said that maybe Cardinal Spellman in New York or Cardinal Dougherty in Philadelphia could help them. He said goodbye and thought that was that.
But the promise clung to him. Father Tighe soon got another phone call from the sisters, who said they had no luck; they were desperate. This time Father found himself re-energized. He called his bishop in Kansas City, and told him he was in “big trouble.” Bishop O’Hara was feeling a bit anxious about that announcement. However, after Bishop O’Hara heard the whole story he was relieved. The Bishop said it wasn’t a problem; he would take care of it. So when Mother Cecilia and Sister Josephine arrived in Kansas City, they were met at the train by Bishop O’Hara himself, and escorted to his episcopal residence to stay during their visit.
To be continued next week . . .
