Posted on 09/04/2024 6:07:24 PM PDT by xoxox
The attack came before dawn on September 4, 1967, while most of the 1st Battalion 5th Marines’ Delta Company still slept. The evening before, the Americans had set up a nighttime defensive perimeter, but with 2,500 North Vietnamese soldiers aligned against them, it didn’t help. D Company was outnumbered and outgunned.
The battle raged for hours. The gunfire was relentless. So too, however, was the D Company’s chaplain, Father Vincent Capodanno. Under heavy artillery fire, the Staten Island native administered Last Rites to the dying and pulled the wounded to safety. The injured men were heavy, but Father Capodanno had grown accustomed to carrying heavy loads.
For the past 17 months, ever since he had arrived in Vietnam, the former Maryknoll missionary had carried his own gear—-over 40 pounds’ worth. Capodanno could have handed off his burden to another Marine, but he didn’t think his priesthood should exempt him from the trials his men faced. That’s why the Marines called him “The Grunt Padre.” And that’s why, when battle began on September 4, he didn’t retreat to safety.
As the morning progressed, Capodanno’s decision to remain in the thick of the fighting earned him shrapnel wounds in the right arm, hand, and leg. But he refused medical attention and went on administering Last Rites with his one good hand. Nothing seemed to stop him. Then, something did.
Hours into the battle, Capodanno spotted a wounded Marine pinned down yards away from a machine gun. Venturing forward was a risk. Capodanno took it. He made it safely to the Marine’s side, but as soon as he did, the enemy soldier manning the gun opened fire. The 38-year-old priest died instantly.
Capodanno was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star, and in 1971, the U.S. Navy named a ship in his honor, the USS Capodanno. It later became the first American ship to receive a papal blessing. Father Capodanno’s cause for canonization opened in 2002.
Semper Fidelis
BTTT
There are some great posts on FR about Fr. Capodanno from the 2000s.
My uncle, Father LCOL Bernard Goertz, was in Vietnam two years during this period.
As children, we “always” went over to Grandmother’s house to welcome him back to “the states”. And see his slide shows of Washington, Germany, Vietnam, and his military posts around the US. He retired out, then served in the Austin area a visiting priest when others needed a break.
(Don’t know if he ever mentioned this Medal Of Honor though.)
I am trying to locate Father Capodanno’s nephew. He told me he would sign a book about his uncle, but I never got back to him. We met at the dedication of the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island.
My old company, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc. was given first crack to publish the book about the Grunt Padre. The publisher liked it, but decided not to publish it. We saw it did well when it was published later on, and we were happy for the author.
Yes. My Mom was his sister.
I’ll accept “Uncle Ben’s” corrections: Retired as a full COL, and had just one tour in Vietnam.
/7th grade memories
How kewl is that. What a fascinating life.
I get it. plus family story tellings is like playing telephone.
I never held Hillary responsible for her “how she was named” story.
Who is going to fact check their mom?
thanks for that.
Rather than a BTTT, here is a small correction to my earlier post.
I was in Newport,Rhode Island for the dedication of a barracks in Colonel John Ripley’s name. Colonel Ripley was present and very approachable. Lieutenant Capodanno was part of the staff at NAPS. His primary MOS was piloting one of the HUEY models.
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