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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.       |
Thanks Samwise, it's small but it's home and it's in Oregon and not Ohio! I love it out here. ;-)
As I recall it made the top ten in 66.
Back tonight.
Hey tomball, good to see you again.
LOL! I'm on the ball today. :-)
Morning Samwise
:-)
Yeah I know. ;-)
Good Morning tomball.
Greetings all and one, I will be travelling over the weekend so I will probably not be able to provide my usual weekend bump service.
Have a great weekend and will see you all Monday
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
They'll never take me alive!!
Enjoy the trip and we'll make sure Darksheare doesn't throw all his empty beer cans in your foxhole.
*clang, burp*
Wha??
/ joke.
We'll keep the place warm for you.
Nice music too.
Hiya miss Feather. I love that eagle graphic.
Howdy Samwise
Howdy ma'am
Stay safe
Yeah, got it from a friend of mine in an E-mail.
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