One battle broke out called Operation Swift. 500 Marines found themselves surrounded by 2,500 North Vietnamese Army. People who survived that day describe the noise of gunfire as sounding like Niagara Falls. And there, in the midst of the chaos, was their chaplain.
One man was about to be killed when Fr. Capodanno ran over to him, picked him up with almost miraculous strength, threw him through the air into a ditch, and saved his life.
Another was hit with shrapnel and was lying on the ground, terrified, sure he was about to die. When Fr. Capodanno got to him, he remembers a bubble of peace descending on them. All sound died away. All he heard was the chaplain’s voice. “Stay calm, Marine. Someone will be here to help soon. God is with us all this day.”
He lived to tell that story. Fr. Capodanno didn’t. He was running across the line of fire to minister to a wounded corpsman (a Navy medic) who was pinned down by an enemy machine gun, and was shot 27 times in the back.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor. The U.S.S. Capodanno was named after him. He’s been declared “Servant of God” by the Catholic Church. That’s the first step toward canonization. His name is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The only way to see it is to kneel.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Fr. Vincent’s last recorded words, “God is with us all…,” strike me. He WAS the presence of God on that battlefield. Where is God calling you to BE his presence, his fatherly love, and his peace today? That’s your job, Christian. And the way Fr. Vincent died is a reminder of how we’re supposed to enter every battlefield in life.
Fr. Vincent Capodanno, Servant of God, pray for us.
(Several years ago I made a video about this hero. Pass it around in his honor, and in honor of all our veterans today!)
