Chaplain hero of Bataan to be remembered in Episcopal services Sunday

Dec. 7—An Episcopal priest who died in a Japanese prison camp during World War II will be remembered during services at 5 p.m. Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral, 318 Silver SW.

The Rev. Ted Howden was a chaplain with the New Mexico National Guard and with the 200th Coast Artillery, made up of New Mexico Guard members.

Members of the 200th were among the American and Filipino servicemen taken captive by the Japanese in April 1942, following the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines.

Forced to march a brutal 65 miles to prison camps, many of the prisoners died along the route.

Howden, however, was among those who survived what is now known as the Bataan Death March, and he was confined in several prison camps. On Dec. 11, 1942, he died of dysentery and other ailments related to starvation.

The Right Rev. Michael Buerkel Hunn, eleventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, will officiate at the services marking the 81st anniversary of Howden's death.

Mary Jewell, spokesperson for the diocese, said there have been services over the years celebrating Howden's heroism, faith and the humanitarian care he displayed to soldiers on the battlefield and in prison camps.

Jewell said this year's services are more special because Howden is in the final stage of a review that could result in him being included in the Episcopal Church's book, "Holy Women and Holy Men." If that happens, Jewell said, a date commemorating him will become part of the church's liturgical calendar.

Bishop Hunn is extending a special invitation to Sunday's services to Bataan veterans and their families, families of deceased Bataan veterans, all military veterans and their families, as well as members of the New Mexico National Guard and other active members of military services.

All New Mexicans, however, are invited to the services, which also may be viewed live on the Cathedral Church of St. John's Facebook page.

Frederick Bingham "Ted" Howden was born on Jan. 27, 1902, in Cumberland, Maryland. When he was 12, he moved with his family to Albuquerque after his father was consecrated Episcopal Bishop of the Missionary District of New Mexico and Southwest Texas.

His father ordained him a priest in January 1929 at St. Clement's Church in El Paso. As a priest, Howden served congregations in Roswell, Artesia, Hobbs, Lovington, Ruidoso and Glencoe and he was chaplain at the New Mexico Military Institute.

When World War II started, he was a captain in the New Mexico National Guard. A friend who served with him in the Philippines said Howden held open-air services in the hills of Bataan and would move from one battery to another in the 200th Coast Artillery, conducting services and distributing candy, soap and cigarettes to the soldiers.

In the prison camps after the fall of Bataan to the Japanese, it was reported that Howden dedicated himself to the care of his fellow prisoners, often giving his meager share of food to those he felt needed it more, an act of compassion that eventually led to his own death.

He was buried in the Philippines, but in 1948, his remains were reinterred in Albuquerque.