Perhaps Fr. Dan Mode puts it best when speaking about Fr. Vincent Capodanno's life when he says "a missionary's work is never done." It was early on a Friday morning, the one day I am usually not even in the parish. I was returning some things to the sacristy before leaving and noticed an extra amount of left over papers and bulletins stacked on a table in the gathering area. There were a number of old Maryknoll missionary magazines there. Normally I do not go through all the booklets that people leave on the back table but this time I felt as though I had to look at this booklet. I opened it up and was drawn directly to the small black and white drawing of Fr. Capodanno. I read the caption to see who this man was and noticed that he was a Navy Chaplain who was killed serving the Marines in Viet Nam. I was hooked. I immediately wanted to know more of this priest and the circumstances under which he was killed. I called Maryknoll and was told to call back on Monday, that they were closed. I explained that I was calling long distance but it was the same, call back Monday. I did not want to wait though and had this great desire to find out more.

Almost forty years later Corporal Ray Harton can vividly recall that September day of 1967 as “Operation Swift” unfolded in the dense foliage of a Vietnam jungle. On the previous day, Navy Chaplain Vincent R. Capodanno moved tirelessly through the region celebrating Sunday Mass for three battalions of the 5th Marine Regiment. Attending one of those Masses was like “overhearing two friends talk,” remembers Lieutenant Jerry G. Pendas. “He never tried to make me a Catholic but there was clearly a special presence about him. He constantly sought out Marines to listen to them and talk with them.”