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Posted on 07/23/2004 12:00:53 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 After serving as a tertian for a year at St. Robert’s Hall in Connecticut, Fr. O’Callahan studied at Georgetown, taught Cosmology at Weston, and, in 1938, arrived at Holy Cross to teach mathematics and physics. In 1940, he became head of the mathematics department and founded a mathematics library. Soon thereafter, he surprised everyone by applying for a commission as a Navy chaplain. On 7 Aug 1940, he was commissioned a Lieutenant, Junior Grade, in the Navy Chaplain Corps. After serving at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Fla., he reported to the USS RANGER. O’Callahan’s great hope was to be assigned to the Philippines. His youngest sister, Alice, a Maryknoll nun, had been imprisoned in a Japanese detention camp there. For three years, the O’Callahan family hadn’t heard a word about her fate. Her brother hoped to discover his sister’s circumstance first-hand. On 2 March 1945, O’Callahan received orders to report for duty to the USS FRANKLIN, a 27,000 ton Essex Class Aircraft Carrier, part of an armada called Task Force 58. Shortly after dawn the next day, the FRANKLIN steamed out of Pearl Harbor. On March 19, 1945, at 7:07, O’Callahan was in the wardroom eating French toast. The sound of aircraft engines broke the silence of a beautiful Pacific dawn. The United States Navy, in the form of Task Force 58, was launching strikes against the Japanese coast under sunshine-filled skies. However, a rainsquall was forming nearby, and out of that squall came a twin-engined Japanese bomber, carrying a bombload destined for the officers and men of the USS Franklin.  At 7:07 a.m., the bomber dropped two bombs on the Franklin’s flight deck, and began a series of explosions that nearly blew the ship apart. The Franklin was saved only through the actions of her men, especially the chaplain. The deeds of Lieutenant Commander Joseph O’Callahan and his affect on the rescue effort went far beyond what he did with his own hands, and earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor, the first ever awarded to a chaplain. As soon as the bomb hit, he thought of the men of the ship and prayed a General Absolution of Sin for the crew. He then dashed to his quarters and picked up his helmet and lifebelt. The belt was useless, as it had been damaged, but the helmet, with a chaplain’s cross on it, was essential, and would play a part in his later efforts to save the Franklin; it allowed others to recognize him from afar in the midst of smoke and flames.  Father O’Callahan and Chaplain Gatlin, the Protestant chaplain aboard the Franklin, immediately began to tend to the spiritual needs and morale of the seriously wounded men that were brought forward to the officers’ quarters. Then O’Callahan went topside to the flight deck. Here, many more officers and men were seriously injured, either by fire or debris. He prayed with each one, gave them absolution, and made sure they were as comfortable as possible. He arranged for blankets to prevent shock. He organized fire hose teams. The captain, high above the action and trapped on the bridge, could recognize O’Callahan on the flight deck, due to the cross on his helmet; using the bridge bullhorn, he would get the “Padre” to take care of essential jobs. O’Callahan seemed to be everywhere throughout the day. He checked over the wounded men before they were transferred to another ship; he organized the engineers so they would be available when the boilers came back online; he found men for hose crews and rescue teams; he stood by providing moral support and sharing the danger while bombs were defused and rolled over the side.  The crowning achievement of his efforts was the evacuation of main gun ammunition from an endangered magazine; he personally led several men in clearing out the heavy, hot, and dangerous 5-inch shells and prevented a magazine explosion forward of the island. A similar magazine had blown up earlier in the day aft, and it was doubtful that the Franklin could have survived another magazine explosion. Chaplain O’Callahan’s bravery was not unique aboard the Franklin, but he was one of the men that contributed the most to saving the ship. Also, the “Padre” was able to lead by moral, spiritual, and personal example to raise the men required to accomplish the innumerable tasks involved in salvaging and repairing a heavily-damaged ship, ranging from debris removal and manning hoses to leading rescue crews and burying the dead at sea.  For his efforts, Lieutenant Commander O’Callahan was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on January 23, 1946 for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." His citation singled out his courage in leading the disposal of live ammunition, the cooling of hot bombs on the flight deck, and the care he gave the wounded and dying men of the Franklin. Lieutenant Commander Joseph O’Callahan was a man of faith and a man of action. He volunteered for hazardous duty aboard carriers when he could have sat out the war at home. O’Callahan put his own fear aside and attended to his shipmates when a Japanese plane attacked his ship. He carried out his duties, and then looked for more to do to save the ship. He led the men from the front in the dangerous tasks of disposing ammunition and fighting fires. After the battle, O’Callahan’s tremendous example did not end. He, along with the other officers aboard, gave their bunks to the enlisted men and slept on the hard deck. He personally led the corpse-retrieval parties, a gruesome task, and then conducted non-stop burials at sea.  Throughout the dreadful drama of life and death aboard the Franklin, Father O’Callahan acted with calm, vigor, and a sense of duty and loyalty to his country and ship. He was able to help tremendously, and drew others to follow his amazing example. Lieutenant Commander Joseph O’Callahan was instrumental in saving the USS Franklin on March 19, 1945. As a Christian, O’Callahan’s faith in God was truly inspiring; while he was fighting the fires, he was constantly praying for the souls of the men with him, while he remained unafraid of his own death. His sense of calm was transmitted to those he attended, and many wounded and tortured souls found peace with his help in their last moments. On 3 April 1945, under her own steam, the USS FRANKLIN arrived back at Pearl Harbor.  On 23 Jan 1946, in Washington, D.C., President Harry Truman presented Father O’Callahan with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first Navy Chaplain to be awarded the MOH. That night, Chaplain O’Callahan reported to his new post aboard the carrier USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.  12 Nov 1946, O’Callahan was released from the Navy with the rank of Captain, U.S.N.C.C. He returned to Holy Cross College to teach philosophy, but a future of much-deserved peace and study was not to be. In December of 1949, he suffered the first in a series of strokes. In 1956, the film Battle Stations, depicting O’Callahan’s heroics aboard the FRANKLIN, was released. Also that year, he published his best-selling memoir, I Was Chaplain on the FRANKLIN. O’Callahan died on 18 March 1964, the eve of the 19th anniversary of the FRANKLIN’s ordeal.  On 21 July 1965, the USS O’CALLAHAN, a Destroyer Escort vessel, was christened in Bay City, Mich. Present at the ceremony was Sister Rose Marie, O.P., also known as Alice O’Callahan, Joseph’s younger sister, who had survived her own ordeal in the Philippines.       |
Darn! That name sure sounds famliar. ;-)
Good Night Snippy. Nice job on completing LCDR. Joseph T. O'Callahan's story.
AWWWWWWWW! I'll have sweet dreams now.
Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper foxhole. It looks like we may get some rain this weekend. Crossing our fingers.
The "Foxhole" living space.
WAY COOL, DUDES & DUDETTES
Friday Morning Bump for the Foxhole
Back Later
alfa6 ;>}
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
We are hard-pressed on every side, . . . always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. —2 Corinthians 4:8,10
Bible In One Year: Psalms 33-34; Acts 24
Are you in a situation where you are often misunderstood for your faith in Christ? Are you surrounded by people with a carping, critical spirit? Do you get little or no credit for the work you do in your church or for your family?
The proper response is a willingness to have a humble and submissive spirit—to die as Jesus did throughout His life. Yes, our Lord died once on the cross; but in another sense He also died every day. The cross was the culmination of an entire lifetime of dying. He was willing to be misunderstood and maligned, to give up home and comforts, to take the role of a servant. That was His“death.”We must be willing to die in that way as well.
When we die with Him, God’s gift to us is“the life of Jesus”(2 Corinthians 4:10), the most attractive life ever lived. His beauty will gradually grow in us and become our beauty as well.
Remember this saying:“A picture is worth a thousand words.”The portrait you draw of Jesus with your humble, tranquil presence in the face of grievous wrong is worth many words on the subject. Some may see the life of Jesus revealed in you and long to enter into that life. That’s how dying daily can help bring life to another. —David Roper
free dixie,sw
Morning E.G.C. If you get any extra rain you don't need send it our way.
Morning PE.
Hey that place looks real familiar! This thread is starting to be Deja Vu all over again.
Morning alfa6.
Are you surrounded by people with a carping, critical spirit?
I'll bet Snippy will say she is whenever I'm at her place. ;-)
Morning stand watie.
Things are well for Sanfra and you I pray.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on July 23:
1339 Louis I, Duke of Anjou/King of Naples (Battle at Poitiers)
1816 Charlotte Sanders Cushman US, actress (Lady MacBeth)
1822 Darius Nash Couch, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1897
1824 Gabriel Colvin Wharton, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1906
1834 James Cardinal Gibbons archbishop of Baltimore
1884 Albert Warner, US producer (Warner Bros)
1888 Dr Milan Stoyadinovich Serbia, fascist Yugoslavia PM (1935-9)
1892 Haile Selassie(Ras Tafari Makonnen) emperor of Ethiopia (1930-74)
1893 Karl Menninger psychiatrist (Menninger Clinic)
1894 Arthur Treacher Brighton England, announcer (Merv Griffin Show)
1919 Pee Wee Reese Hall of Fame shortstop (Dodgers)
1921 Calvert DeForest, Brooklyn NY, comedian (Larry "Bud" Melman)
1925 Gloria De Haven LA, actress (Bog, Yellow Cab Man, Irene-Nakia)
1931 Jan Torell Limhamm Sweden, director (New Land, Emigrants)
1933 Bert Convy St Louis Mo, actor (Snoop Sisters, Win Lose or Draw)
1936 Anthony M Kennedy Calif, supreme court justice (1988- )
1936 Don Drysdale Van Nuys Calif, pitcher (LA Dodgers-Cy Young 1962)
1938 Ronny Cox Cloudcroft Mass, actor (St Elsewhere)
1943 - Tony Joe White, rocker (Polk Salad Annie)
1947 Don Imus radio personality (IMUS in the Morning)
1947 Spencer Christian weatherman (Good Morning America)
1950 Blair Thornton guitarist (Bachman-Turner-Overdrive)
1961 Woody Harrelson Midland Tx, actor (Woody Boyd-Cheers)
1971 Aimee Rinehart, Miss Missouri USA (1996)
1971 Alison Krauss, Decatur Ill, country singer (2 Highways)
1972 Marlon Wayans, comedian (Wayans Bros, In Living Color)
1982 Schottzie Schott dog mascot of the Cincinatti Reds
<=== Click for a nice slide show
LOL!!
see ya later on I have to go..
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