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On September 4, Rose and I attended the Mass for the Repose of the Soul of Fr. Vincent R. Capodanno, as we try to do every year. Fr. Capodanno was a classmate of my father's at the Maryknoll seminary in New York state. He was a Navy chaplain assigned to the Marines in Vietnam, where he was killed in action trying to minister to a wounded corpsman. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and his cause for canonization has been opened.
In many ways, Fr. Capodanno's death was simply the consequence and an extension of the way he lived his life: in service to others. His willingness to die for others was based on his willingness to live for others. They were one and the same thing to him. That's why his cause for canonization was opened, not just for the heroic way in which he died.
Fr. Capodanno's life is worth reading. It is recounted in the book The Grunt Padre: Father Vincent Robert Capodanno, Vietnam, 1966-1967, by Fr. Daniel L. Mode. I highly recommend it.
The Father Capodanno Guild is an excellent place to learn more about this amazing man. There is an excellent documentary on his life named Called and Chosen.
Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno, LT, CHC, USNR
Young Vincent Robert Capodanno, Jr. was born 13 February 1929 in Staten Island, NY - the youngest of ten children born to Italian-American immigrants, Vincent Sr. (Gaeta) and Rachael Capodanno (Sorrento). He attended Public School 44, and went on to study for a year at Fordham University before entering the Maryknoll seminary in upstate New York in 1949. His first assignment as a Maryknoll priest was to Taiwan, and years later to Hong Kong. At that time, Father Vincent Capodanno petitioned his Maryknoll religious superior to serve as a military chaplain. Accepted into the Navy Chaplain Corps and commissioned an officer, Father Capodanno received orders to Vietnam. USN Lieutenant Father Capodanno arrived in Vietnam during Holy Week, 1966 and served among Marines. He participated in numerous combat operations, including Operation Montgomery, Mobile, Franklin, Fresno, Golden Fleece, and Rio Blanco. His seventh was Operation Swift. On September 4th, he laid down his life shielding a wounded Marine from enemy fire. Having earned his third Purple Heart that day, Father Capodanno was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2006, at a televised Memorial Day Mass at the National Shrine celebrated by then AMS Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, Father Capodanno was publicly declared Servant of God, the first step in the process for canonization.
Source: Archdiocese for the Military Services, U.S.A.
Medal of Honor Citation
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces. In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded. When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines. Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed in a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine-gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.
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