"God is with us all this day"

September 4th is the 50th anniversary of the death of Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno, CHC, USN.  He died while ministering to the wounded of Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in the Que Son Valley.   Nicknamed "The Grunt Padre", Fr. Capodanno was a revered and beloved figure to the Marines to whom he ministered.  The Marine Corps Association published a superb 2011 article about this remarkable man of courage and faith.   As did the Catholic website The Word Among Us.  

Soon after landing, Capodanno’s unit was hit hard by a force of nearly two thousand North Vietnamese. As the Marines came over the crest of a hill, they were bombarded with mortar shells and automatic weapons fire. “We’re being wiped out!” one platoon radioed back. “There are wounded and dying all around.”Hearing the message, the chaplain ran to their aid. He went back and forth, bringing in wounded men and giving Last Rites to the dying. Even though hit twice—once in the face and also in the right hand—he continued to look for wounded, telling them, “Jesus said, ‘Have faith. Jesus is the truth and the life.’”

One of the men he helped was Ray Harton, who was bleeding heavily and feared that he was going to die. Then he looked up and saw Capodanno. “I can’t explain it, but when he touched me and I heard his voice, I had a calming feeling that I have never had before or since.”Capodanno reassured Harton that “God is with us all this day,” and blessed him with his still intact left hand.

Then a wounded corpsman screamed in pain, and Capodanno ran to help. As he knelt there, a burst of machine-gun fire killed both men instantly. One of the soldiers who brought in Capodanno’s body hours later said, “He had a smile on his face, and his eyelids were closed as if asleep or in prayer.” 

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces. In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded. When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines. Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.

The Knox-class frigate USS Vincent R. Capodanno  (FF-1093) was commissioned in 1973.  While aboard USS Miller (FF-1091) I went to sea alongside Capodanno in the summer of 1983.   (She was sold to Turkey in the mid-1990s and served until a few years ago.)  

Father Capodanno is under consideration for canonization as a Catholic Saint, whose life was lived with "heroic virtue".   The Marines of Mike 3/5 on that hot September morning in the Que Son Valley might be able to answer that.  Whatever the decision, Lt Vincent R. Capodanno died a hero's death, fifty years ago this day.  

URR here.

Comments

[SFC Dunlap 173d RVN]

Salute Padre!

[Krag]

Thanks for posting this. Another great man I did not know of.

[dhmosquito]

". . . where do we get such men?"

[Paul L. Quandt]

Thank you for making this fine American known to me.

Paul L. Quandt

[Quartermaster]

Why were you aboard Miller? DEs/Frigates didn't have Marine detachments.

[UltimaRatioRegis]

Middie cruise. "You're a Marine. Hang out with the gunner's mates." But I got to do status boards on the bridge, because I could write backward almost as fast as I could write forward. Oddly enough.