Chaplain Jim – USA #588: Lawrence Klee Papers

Published April 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM MDT

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Poem titled “The Chaplain, Your Friend” used as reference material by Lawrence Klee in writing Chaplain Jim – USA radio scripts, December 8, 1941. Box 9, Lawrence Klee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Page of a script from Chaplain Jim – USA, April 10, 1942. Box 9, Lawrence Klee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Citation from the United States Treasury Department War Finance Committee to Lawrence Klee in recognition of outstanding service during World War II, 1946. Box 1, Lawrence Klee papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Keeping morale high in the army during World War II was a priority. And Chaplain Jim played a role. Chaplain Jim was the main character in the radio drama Chaplain Jim - USA. Written by Lawrence Klee, the program was first broadcast in 1942.

Klee found success writing radio scripts in the 1940s. When war broke out, he was commissioned by the army to create Chaplain Jim - USA. Klee wrote 303 episodes. He relied on a vivid imagination and materials the army provided to develop dialog. Some of the army’s 9,000 chaplains shared letters they received with Klee.

While Chaplain Jim was fictitious, fans followed his sage advice, which he readily dispensed to enlisted men and their loved ones. Chaplain Jim told families to write cheerful letters to their soldiers. The radio show broadcast his imagined travels with American troops to the front lines in France and Germany and later to occupied Japan.

See scripts from Chaplain Jim – USA and more in the Lawrence Klee papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.