Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Marines       

September 4, 1967, a tense drama began to unfold in South Vietnam. Hoping to prevent disruptions by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army during the scheduled September 1967 elections in South Vietnam, the United States Marines stationed in the Quang Tin province went on high alert. To combat the expected enemy activity, Marine commanders increased the often routine "search and destroy" patrols. In the early morning of September 4, one of these missions rapidly developed into a ferocious firefight as two Marine companies stumbled upon a large enemy unit, perhaps 2,500 strong. Outgunned and outnumbered, the Marines anxiously called for reinforcements, who soon arrived. Joining them was 38 year old Father Vincent Capodanno. His heroic actions that morning would result in a Congressional Medal of Honor (awarded posthumously) and in 2006, a Papal designation as a "Servant of God," the first step towards canonization.

Leaving Gaeta, Italy in 1901 to travel to America, Vincent Capodanno, Sr. arrived at Ellis Island full of hope. Working in the dockyards as a ship caulker, he socialized with other Italian immigrants and eventually met and courted Rachel Basile, whose family originally hailed from Sorrentino. They married in 1907 and began a large family after settling in one of the many Italian enclaves on Staten Island. Their last child, Vincent Robert Capodanno, Jr., was born on February 13, 1929.

An average student, Vincent was tall and slender. He enjoyed the attention of his family as the youngest, but the joys of his youth would end on his tenth birthday. While waiting for their father’s return home after work to celebrate young Vincent’s tenth birthday, the family was stunned to learn that their father had collapsed at the job. By the time they reached the hospital, Vincent Sr. had passed away.

After finishing high school in 1943, Vincent, Jr. attended Fordham University. A year later, however, Vincent Capodanno heard "the call to service" and entered the Maryknoll seminary at Ossining in upstate New York. He was ordained a Catholic priest in June, 1957. His first assignment was to Taiwan, working with the mountain aborigines through a parish an Hong Kongd school. In 1964, Father Capodann

 home for leave and was re-assigned to a Maryknoll school in.

Perhaps bored by his missionary work, Vincent desired a new and different type of challenge: He requested to serve as a U.S. Navy Chaplain in their Marine Corps. Chaplains assigned to military units served as officers, and after finishing officer candidate’s school, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. Within four months, Chaplain Capodanno was assigned to the First Marine Division in Vietnam. After completing his initial tour, however, he requested and received an extension. A short time working in the 1st Medical Battalion was followed by a permanent assignment to the 5th Marine Corps Regiment.

By 1967, Father Vincent was stationed in the Thang Binh District of the Khe Sahn Valley in Vietnam. With September’s South Vietnamese elections approaching, military planners expected increased Viet Cong activity to create disruptions. Coordinated patrols were set in place; Operation Swift had begun. When elements of the 1st Battalion encountered a strong North Vietnamese Army position in the early morning hours of September 4, they were nearly overwhelmed by the enemy’s superior firepower. By mid-morning, with casualties increasing, more units were ordered in. Helicopters ferrying the troops were forced to land further away due to the intense ground fire.

Rushing to the battlefield, the 2nd Platoon crossed into a knoll and was immediately fired upon by the enemy. Men were cut down instantly while others scrambled for safety. As the fighting raged, sometimes reduced to hand to hand combat, Father Capodanno was everywhere: Attending to the wounded, encouraging others and, perhaps most courageously, racing through heavy enemy fire to administer Last Rites to dying Marines.

As the North Vietnamese pressed forward, more Marines were hit. Corporal Ray Harton would vividly recall the situation. Bleeding badly from a gunshot to the arm, Harton was gripped with terror as he writhed on the ground. Then he felt someone touch him. Father Vincent, as the troops would often refer to him, quietly kneeled beside Harton. Father Vincent was also badly wounded: Moments earlier, a mortar round exploded near him as he sheltered some wounded Marines. Shrapnel tore through into his leg, face and right hand, nearly severing it. He refused medical treatment - accepting only a quick bandage - and continued to assist the medics and Marines. Years later, Harton recalled the moment as Father Vince slid his left arm under his head and said, ""Stay calm, Marine, someone will be here to help, God is with all of us this day!"

Within seconds, a nearby Navy corpsman (medic), Armando "Doc" Leal, was hit by machine gun fire in the leg. His pain-filled screams drew the attention of Father Vince. Quickly blessing Harton with his left hand, he moved to assist Leal when "that gun opened up once more, not at me, but had caught Fr. Vince and Corpsman Leal and ended their lives, a long burst killed my savior, and my friends." Bullets tore into the back of Father Vince as he tried to shield Leal (who would also die later from massive blood loss).

Father Capodanno’s body was recovered later that day and his bodily journey on this earth would end with a burial in the family plot on Staten Island. Fifteen months after his death, the Capodanno family was notified by Secretary of the Navy Paul Ignatius that Father Vincent would posthumously be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2002, the Roman Catholic Church officially opened Father Vincent Capodanno’s Cause for Canonization, the first step to Sainthood, and by 2006 the Church declared him a "Servant of God."

The Vatican, however, is not alone in praising and remembering the sacrifice of Father Capodanno; the U.S. Navy named a frigate (USS Capodanno FF-1093) and several chapels after him. And the accolades extend overseas, back to his father’s birthplace of Gaeta, where today stands a memorial - in Piazza Capodanno - dedicated to Vincent, Jr. A moving tribute can be found in Father Daniel L. Mode’s biography on the life of Father Vince called Grunt Padre. His name can be found on Panel 25E (Row 095) at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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