Remembering the heroic actions of Navy Chaplain Vincent Capodanno.
Above: Maryknoll Father Vincent R. Capodanno, a Navy chaplain who was killed while serving with the Marines in Vietnam, is pictured ministering in the field in an undated photo.
This month’s veterans piece comes by way of an old friend, William Connell, professor of history and the Joseph M. and Geraldine LaMotta Chair of Italian Studies at Seton Hall University. With permission, we borrow a review of a newly released documentary, “The Field Afar,” the story of Navy Chaplain Vincent Capodanno with commentary by Connell and Thomas Rzeznik, Seton Hall University associate professor of history and co-editor of American Catholic Studies.
The Navy provides medical and religious support to the Marine Corps. The corpsmen, doctors, and nurses are all NCO’s or commissioned Navy officers and represent religions of all faiths. Wherever American soldiers are engaged in battle, you will find a chaplain supporting that unit.
Father Capodanno, known as the “Grunt Padre” because of his ministry to Marine “grunts” in Vietnam, died on September 4, 1967, while giving last rites to a Marine during Operation Swift. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions.
Vincent Capodanno was born in Staten Island, New York, on February 13, 1929. He studied for the priesthood at Maryknoll Missionary Seminary in New York and was ordained in June 1957. In December 1965, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy Chaplain Corps and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam in April 1966. From all accounts, he loved serving with his Marines.
On September 4, 1967, during Operation Swift in the Que Son Valley, Fr. Capodanno accompanied the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines when M and K companies were sent to support 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, which was heavily engaged with some 2,500 enemy troops near the village of Dong Son.
When Fr. Capodanno learned that M Company’s 2nd Platoon was in danger of being overrun, he left the relative safety of the company command post and raced through an open area that was being raked with fire to the beleaguered Marines.
A machine gun opened fire from a clump of bushes 10 to 15 meters away from the 2nd Platoon, and Sergeant Lawrence Peters shouted, “Get that gun!”
Marine Ray Harton was hit in the arm, and another enemy round shattered his rifle. NVA troops were assembling for an assault on the stunned Marines, pinned down by the machine gun. Radio-telephone operator Stephen Lovejoy was also wounded. Fr. Capodanno ran through the withering fire, grabbed Lovejoy by the strap of his radio, and dragged him to a hastily established perimeter near the top of the hill.
Fr. Capodanno immediately began attending to the dead and the dying by administering the last rites, the final sacrament of the Catholic religion reserved for those at the end of their lives. Harton felt someone touch him. Fr. Capodanno spoke to him in a soft voice: “Stay calm, Marine, someone will be here to help. God is with us all this day.”
As Fr. Capodanno moved among the Marines he was wounded in the face. A company commander requested tear gas on the enemy positions from the supporting mortars, and Fr. Capodanno gave his own gas mask to a Marine who had lost his.
“You need this more than I,” the chaplain casually muttered, as he offered what comfort he could, bare-headed and with blood streaming down his face and neck.
A mortar round landed close by. Fragments from the explosion wounded the chaplain in the arms and legs and tore off a portion of his right hand. Despite his wounds, Fr. Capodanno continued moving ahead toward Sgt. Peters, who had fallen and had blood spurting from his mouth. Fr. Capodanno dragged Peters to safety and continued to care for the others.
When one Marine yelled out, “Chaplain, my rifle’s jammed!” the priest, without hesitation, rushed into the exposed area to retrieve Peters’ discarded rifle.
Below the knoll and outside the perimeter, Lance Cpl. Frederick Tanke was attempting to stop the blood gushing from the thigh artery of mortally wounded corpsman Armando Leal. As they were about to be overrun, Tanke saw an enemy soldier 15 meters away. Tanke fired a burst, but his weapon jammed. When Tanke withdrew to a covered position, Fr. Capodanno left the Marine perimeter and ran to Leal. He picked up the dying corpsman and placed his own body between him and the enemy fire.
As he was attempting to bandage Leal’s wound, the enemy machine gun killed them both.
On the day following his death, a letter from Fr. Capodanno was delivered to the regimental commander of the 5th Marines. Fr. Capodanno wrote: “I am due to go home in late November or early December. I humbly request that I stay over Christmas and New Year’s with my men. I am willing to relinquish my thirty days leave.”
Chaplains don’t usually come to mind when the words “combat soldier” are mentioned. Yet, 16 American chaplains lost their lives in the line of duty during the Vietnam War, including Fr. Capodanno.
Each of these men who made the ultimate sacrifice were not only men of God, they were among the greatest of America’s soldiers, displaying uncommon courage and selfless compassion for their comrades engaged in deadly combat. To date, nearly 300 chaplains have laid down their lives in battle and six have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
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