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While no chaplains earned Medals of Honor during World War I, Father Duffy became as legendary as Sergeant York and Eddie Rickenbacker. For his heroic service, Father Duffy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Croix de Guerre and other high awards. Today, a statue of him stands in Times Square in New York City. |
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Chapel services were in progress at 7:55 a.m. on the morning of December 7, 1941 when Japanese bombs began raining on Pearl Harbor. Dedicated chaplains did their best to care for the wounded and comfort the dying. Aboard the cruiser New Orleans Chaplain Howell Fogey joined the human chain passing ammo to keep the big guns firing back. When one enemy Zero began to fall from the sky he paused long enough to echo what would become a national battlecry: "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Aboard the USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma, Chaplains Thomas Kirkpatrick and Aloysius Schmitt died with their fellow sailors--the first Navy chaplains killed in action since the Civil War. Before World War II ended, they would be joined in their sacrifice by 77 Army chaplains as Men of God went wherever American soldiers were called to duty. |
The
moniker Fighting Chaplain may have applied literally to Civil War
hero James Hill. For many chaplains it was a figurative title,
however. Most chaplains who came to be called Fighting Chaplains
gained the nickname, not for taking up arms, but because they went where
the fighting was--risking their own lives to minister to men on the
battlefield. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt twice commended the chaplain
of his famous Rough Riders, Chaplain Henry A. Brown (seen in photo
ministering to the men of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry in
Cuba.)
World War I
gave Chaplaincy a true legend, Father Francis P. Duffy of the Fighting
69th. During two days of battle beginning on July 14, 1918
Father Duffy worked tirelessly for 48 straight hours to rescue wounded and
administer Last Rites to the dying. On the morning of the 16th when
it seemed all was lost, Major Anderson offered Father Duffy some grenades
to make a last stand. "Thanks," answered the
chaplain, "but I'll stick to my own trade."
