Maryknoll Fathers in Laipo, China, 1945.

A photograph of Fr. Regan and Fr. O'Connell in Laipo. They are dressed in white and stand between two posts of an entrance way. There is a small tree or bush on the right.; Born in California, Fr. O'Connell applied to Maryknoll when he was 14. He entered the Seminary in 1937 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 22, 1941. His first mission assignment was to Kweilin, Kwangsi Province, China. At the outbreak of WWII he was captured by the Japanese in Hong Kong and remained for nine months in the Stanley, Hong Kong Internment Camp. After being released he made is way inland to Kweilin in 1943. Forced out of their mission in Kwelin by the Japanese, the Maryknollers evacuated to Kunming. Fr. O'Connell served as a contract chaplain with the Air Corps. He served there until the war ended in 1945. After the war he returned to Laipo and rebuilt the mission. It was eventually overrun by the Chinese army in 1948. In 1952 he was assigned to the Maryknoll mission in Bolivia where he served for 32 years. -- Born in Massachusetts, Bishop Regan entered Maryknoll in 1927 and was ordained to the priesthood on January 27, 1929. He was consecrated a Bishop on April 25, 1962. He spent 22 years in South China, from 1929-1951. He was in Kweilin, Wuchow, and Laipo.; He was placed under house arrest in 1950 and was expelled in 1951 and returned to the United States. He began the new mission in the Philippines and served there for the rest of his life