by Leonardo Solimine

On September 4, 1967, a tense drama began to unfold in South Vietnam as the U.S. Marines in the Quang Tin province went on high alert. Early that morning two Marine companies stumbled upon a large enemy unit, perhaps 2,500 strong. Outgunned and outnumbered, the Marines anxiously called for reinforcements. Among those to arrive was 38 year-old Father Vincent Capodanno. His heroic actions that day would result in a Congressional Medal of Honor and in 2006, a Papal designation as a “Servant of God,” the first step towards canonization.
Lt. Capodanno’s father, Vincent Sr., left Gaeta, Italy in 1901, arriving at Ellis Island full of hope. He worked in the dockyards as a ship caulker, and eventually married Rachel Basile, whose family originated from Sorrentino. The couple settled in an Italian enclave on Staten Island and started a family. Their youngest child, Vincent Jr., was born on February 13, 1929.
Vincent, an average student, was tall and slender and enjoyed the attention of his family as the youngest. But on his tenth birthday, while waiting for his father’s return home from work to celebrate, the family was stunned to learn that their father had collapsed at the job. He died that same day.
Vincent Jr. finished high school in 1943, briefly attended Fordham University and then entered the Maryknoll seminary at Ossining, N.Y. He was ordained a Catholic priest in June, 1957. He worked first with mountain aborigines in Taiwan, and later at a Maryknoll school in Hong Kong.
As the Vietnam War raged on, Vincent asked to serve as a U.S. Navy Chaplain in the Marine Corps. After completing officer candidate’s school, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps. Within four months, Chaplain Capodanno was assigned to the First Marine Division in Vietnam.
By 1967, Fr. Vincent was stationed in the Khe Sahn Valley in Vietnam. With the South Vietnamese elections approaching, military planners expected increased Viet Cong activity to create disruptions. 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, casualties increased and more units were ordered in. Ground fire was intense.
As the fighting raged, sometimes reduced to hand to hand combat, Fr. Capodanno was everywhere: attending to the wounded, encouraging others and racing through heavy enemy fire to administer Last Rites to dying Marines.
As the Viet Cong pressed forward, more Marines were hit. One survivor, Corporal Ray Harton, later recalled that he was bleeding badly from a gunshot to the arm. Terrified, he suddenly felt someone touch him. Fr. Vincent, who was also badly wounded, had quietly knelt beside him. Moments earlier, a mortar round had exploded near Fr. Vincent, as he sheltered some wounded Marines. Shrapnel tore into his leg, face and right hand. He refused medical treatment, accepting only a quick bandage, and continued to assist the medics and Marines.
Years later, Harton recalled that Fr. Vincent slid his left arm under his head and told him, “Stay calm, Marine, someone will be here to help. God is with all of us today.”
Within seconds, a nearby Navy corpsman, Armando “Doc” Leal, was hit by machine gun fire in the leg. His pain-filled screams drew the attention of Fr. Vincent. Quickly blessing Harton with his left hand, he moved to assist Leal when “that gun opened up once more...[it caught] Fr. Vince and Corpsman Leal and ended their lives; a long burst killed my savior, and my friends,” Harton said.
Fr. Vincent’s body was recovered and he was buried in Staten Island. Fifteen months later, the Capodanno family was notified that Fr. Vincent had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. In 2002, the Catholic Church announced taking the first step to Sainthood for Fr. Capodanno; by 2006 the Church declared him a “Servant of God.”
The Navy named a frigate (USS Capodanno FF-1093) and several chapels after him. His name is carved on Panel 25E (Row 095) at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. Overseas, in Gaeta, there is a memorial - in Piazza Capodanno - dedicated to Vincent, Jr. A moving biography is Father Daniel L. Mode’s book called Grunt Padre.
Vincent Capodanno is still remembered by the Marines who served with him. One veteran, Lance Corporal James Hamfeldt, has stated, “We thought the world of him. When he died, we all died a little.” •