Remembering Rev. John J. Mueller
Faithful Servant of God and Country
– a FaithInWV feature story honoring our 175th Anniversary-Guided by unwavering faith and devotion, Father John J. Mueller dedicated his life to serving both God and his country—a legacy of courage, compassion, and priestly service.
Father Mueller’s life as a priest for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and a chaplain for the military is a storied one, the highlights of which have been preserved for generations to come by the Department of Archives for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and its director Jon-Erik Gilot.
Newspaper clippings, medals of honor, photographs, his old pistol holster, and, of course, his rosary are respectfully saved, acknowledging his true example as a true Christian soldier.
John J. Mueller was born on January 15, 1911, in Fulton (Wheeling). He was the third child of John and Isabelle Yontz Mueller.
He graduated from St. Michael’s School in 1925 and then attended St. Charles College in Catonsville, MD for high school and two years of college.
He entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and was ordained on May 22, 1937.
Father Mueller began his priestly service to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in Weston at St. Patrick’s as assistant pastor the year of his ordination 1937 to 1943. He would often raise his eyebrows recalling the times he had to travel by horseback to get to the outlying mission churches there.
After being a diocesan priest for five years, World War II broke out. Immediately Fr. Mueller felt a strong call to serve his country. He asked for Bishop Swint’s permission to serve his country and volunteer as a military chaplain.
In April 1943, Reverend Mueller was accepted by the United States Army as a first lieutenant.
He left his parishioners in the Weston missions to attend Chaplain school at Harvard University from May to June.
In November 1943, Chaplain Mueller was sent off to the Pacific Theater with assignments in Australia, New Guinea; Luzon, Philippines; and Yokohama, Japan, where he filled the crucial role of spiritual ministry to soldiers and civilians of all denominations.
He remained in the prayers of the bishop and diocese, who were aware of the dangers he would face. Record note that the casualty rate for chaplains in WWII was the third highest of all branches, behind the infantry and air forces. Military chaplains faced life-threatening situations constantly. Their duties extended far beyond conducting religious services, they also were vital in assisting medics with the wounded, offering comfort to the dying, and helping with burial duties, all while navigating extreme danger on the front lines. Like all chaplains, they operated under immense emotional strain and a commitment to minister to soldiers of all faiths, not just Catholics.
As chaplain Fr. Mueller was a member of an antiaircraft gun unit and several combat divisions.
He received numerous commendations for his work, but most prized may have been being decorated with the Bronze Star for Valor. Chaplain Mueller earned this significant honor for rescuing four soldiers wounded in battle and administering physical and spiritual first aid to them.
His Bronze Star recognition stated:
Captain John J. Mueller, Chaplain Corps, US Army. For heroic achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in Luzon, Philippine Islands, on 12 April 1945. Chaplain Mueller was visiting a detachment of men from the headquarters of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion who were employing their guns for direct support of the infantry, when the enemy began shelling the position, killing one man and wounding seven others. With complete disregard for his personal safety, he, while under enemy artillery fire, helped move several wounded men to safety and assisted in giving the wounded men such first aid as was possible. The calmness and the heroic example set by him did much to reassure the wounded as well as other personnel present. The outstanding courage and devotion to duty exhibited by Captain Mueller is in keeping with the highest traditions of the service and reflects great credit upon himself and the military service.
In addition to this commendation, he received the Asiatic Pacific medal with two battle stars and arrowhead, a Victory medal, and a Philippines Liberation medal with one star. He was promoted to a Captain on September 9, 1944.
According to diocesan archives, Chaplain Mueller, “oversaw the building of a chapel… the first in a considerable area” made from “native materials ‘procured, begged, or stolen,’ and had a tent roof.”
The diocesan archival office has Fr. Mueller’s scrapbook. On a two-page spread are photos taken in New Guinea from 1944, with people of all ages from that island. The message he wrote on the page says, “Near Aitape, N. G. there was a large village of natives. All Catholic, converts of the S.V.D. SVD (Society of the Divine Word) German missionaries. After the missionaries were forced to leave (by the Japanese) the chaplains took turns giving them weekly Mass.”
The page opposite the handwritten message, is an endearing photo of Chaplain hearing the confession in “pidgin English” from a Catholic child in New Guinea.
On the same is a photo of him presenting Holy Communion with a young man from the island assisting as an altar server.
Chaplain Mueller earned the rank of Major on April 10, 1946.
In an interview Fr. Mueller said giving last rites to a soldier never got easy. Each was humbling, hard to do, but an honor to do.
“We used to have to meet the bombers as they came back from their missions and unfortunately, not everyone came back,” he said. “And some of the ones who did come back were so badly injured they never made it through the evening. That was the hardest part of my job.”
Days after he returned to the states after the war, in 1946, he was assigned to serve as pastor of the former Sacred Heart Parish in Wheeling, where he worked until 1962. Additionally, during those years, he served the United States Army Reserve until April 1, 1953.
In 1962, Fr. Mueller was transferred to serve the old St. Teresa Parish in Morgantown through 1969, before returning to Wheeling to serve as rector of the Cathedral of St. Joseph from 1969 – 1981. His last parish he served before his retirement was in Sistersville at Holy Rosary Parish from 1981-1984.
Father passed away on May 4, 1992, in Wheeling.
