| 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.”
Saints come in all shapes and sizes, personalities and backgrounds. They show us that our daily imitation of Christ is not to be found in any one “cookie cutter” spirituality. Rather each saint’s holiness and witness to Christ is made real in the unique circumstances of ordinary life. Recently declared a “Servant of God,” Navy Chaplain Vincent R. Capodanno’s ultimate sacrifice given in the heat of battle reveals the transforming power of Christian love in the most unlikely of places – the terrifying chaos of a blood stained battlefield.
Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno, MOH, US Navy is consistently remembered by those privileged to know him as a quiet man of gentle presence and few words. “He could have talked theology to us all day long. But it was his example and actions that spoke for themselves,” observes Major Dick Alger. As Chaplain of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Fr. Capodanno’s actions spoke loud and clear indeed. Killed in action on September 4, 1967 during “Operation Swift” in the Quang Tin Province, Vietnam, Fr. Capodanno is affectionately known as the “Grunt Padre” (the title of a biography authored by Fr. Daniel L. Mode). His life and his death follows in that narrow path of selfless sacrifice that marks the witness of countless Christian saints. And in recent times of violence, war and escalated conflicts throughout the world, Father Vincent’s holiness continues to shine as a beacon of light and hope.
As the stages of his beatification and canonization proceed, the witness of several Marines who personally knew Father Vincent in Vietnam uncovers a profoundly inspiring portrait. Given some forty years later, here are their recollections, offered willingly and generously to inspire others by the virtuous life and heroic death of an American patriot and a beloved Priest Chaplain.
Grace in the Midst of War
The September 1967 elections in South Vietnam meant increased military action by the North Vietnamese Army in efforts to disrupt the voting process. A routine “search and destroy” operation begun in the early hours of September 4, 1967 would quickly turn into a scene of vicious fighting and inspiring heroism. As Companies B and D, 1/5 were outnumbered and overwhelmed by enemy fire, Chaplain Capodanno arrived with the Marines of Companies K and M to provide much needed reinforcements. So intense was the ground fire that their helicopters were forced to land some distance away from their intended destinations.
Throughout the devastating fighting that ensued Chaplain Capodanno carried wounded Marines, and repeatedly moved back and forth through enemy fire to administer Last Rites to dying soldiers. Corporal Ray Harton’s gripping account of that final scene offers rare insight into the chaplain’s heroic and sacrificial love.
A Calming Presence
As Sergeant Lawrence D. Peters, Squad Leader of the 2nd Platoon, lay dying on the battlefield, Father Vincent moved into high gear assisting wounded Marines with words of comfort. Corporal Ray Harton was among them, shot in the arm, bleeding and fallen to the ground. The fear that grips a man in such situations is impossible to describe.
Suddenly Ray felt someone touch him. It was Father Vincent. He was on his knees and amidst the chaos of enemy fire and the cries of the wounded his manner remained quiet and comforting. He radiated the peace of Christ in a place as far removed from that peace. “For one moment,” recalls Corporal Harton, “there was no pain, no screaming, no war.”
All the while Chaplain Capodanno was himself badly wounded by shrapnel lodged in his right arm, hand and leg. Not only did he refuse medical attention. His mission to bring the sacraments to the wounded Marines and offer the comforting love of Christ during their dying moments continued relentlessly. So powerful was his desire to bring the peace of Christ that passes all understanding to those Marines in that place. Putting his left arm under Ray’s head he spoke comforting and cherished words, “God is with us here Marine, and help is on the way.” Then he blessed the wounded soldier with his left hand, having lost most of his own bandaged and bleeding right hand.
With enemy fire quickly enclosing them on all sides several more men fell to the ground. Father Vincent rushed to assist one of them, Marine “Doc” Leal, who was badly bleeding after being hit in the leg. As Chaplain Vincent ministered to “Doc” he himself came under a shower of machine gun fire. A bullet striking him from behind in the head killed him instantly. The same self-emptying love of Christ on the cross now inspired Father Capodanno’s selfless actions for the souls of wounded Marines. The scorching jungle battlefield was his Calvary.
A Lasting Presence
How do you know you were in the company of a Christian saint? Perhaps when you feel his special presence some forty years later through the mist of memories, dimmed and often painful to recollect.
Lance Corporal John Scafidi recalls the lasting and personal impression Father Vincent made on him on one particular morning. He was one of several soldiers lined up to receive the sacraments from the chaplain. Soldiers from every religious affiliation awaited his blessing. “It carried us through that day, and it has been carrying me for the last thirty nine years!” Scafidi explains. “To have someone who could help you make sense of what you were doing was such a gift. His way of speaking reached inside me and touched my heart. He gave us something at that moment, but he also gave us something for the rest of our lives. He was in some ways preparing us for the rest of our lives.”
Taking our Burdens: a Living Homily
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” says Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 11:28). Father Capodanno made those words of Christ a living reality for the soldiers under his spiritual care.
Combat soldiers in Vietnam typically carried forty to fifty pounds on their backs while navigating thick jungles and swampy rice fields. On hot days it was about 125 degrees. On “cooler” days it was a humid 110 degrees. Father Vincent carried about 40 pounds of gear while he moved from company to company ministering the sacraments and offering a listening ear. In the harshest of conditions it was not unusual for soldiers to go temporarily without adequate food and water. Sharing in every minute of their hardship and discomfort was their chaplain Capodanno.
“He was not only our chaplain. He put himself under our burdens,” recalls Lance Corporal John Scafidi. “He didn’t have to be there with us. But he wanted to.”
To have Father Vincent in the midst of the isolating and friendless experience of war fill these men with deep gratitude. Scafidi expresses those sentiments in these words. “The fact that he wanted to be with us in the field, where no one wanted to be, filled us with pride. We realized we were in a difficult situation and nobody else came to us except Father Capodanno. He wanted to help us pass from this life to the next, to give us comfort and consolation in a place where death was everywhere.”
In imitation of Christ who so desires to carry our daily burdens, Father Capodanno shared in the gritty and dangerous burdens of these soldiers. “We were so honored to have him around with us. He relished being with us in that place and for that we are forever grateful to him,” concludes John Scafidi.
The Presence of Christ
How to explain the depth of self-sacrifice and service evident in the life of Father Capodanno? Captain Tony Grimm reflects on Father Vincent’s life with these words. “He radiated the love of Christ. He was in fact the presence of Christ in our midst.” Grimm also recalls that his homilies were “simple and direct.” Father Vincent often reminded us that, “while we were thinking of everything we needed to get through each day. Why not also ask for God’s strength to make it through the day when it was there for the asking?”
“Father Capodanno’s ability to relate to the Marines regardless of rank was inspiring. Whether you were a private or a Colonel you knew he was there to listen to you,” remembers Major Dick Alger.
By word and example given in extreme conditions, Chaplain Capodanno offers a glimpse into what it means to risk the security of one’s own comfort in order to share in the sufferings of others. His extraordinary courage in death was a fitting conclusion to a life lived entirely for others. The way he lived each day among the soldiers as one of them was his daily encounter with the suffering face of Christ.
“He was an oasis in the midst of a very difficult situation. He was always willing to take on our burdens, to share in our sufferings and anxieties. Whenever I heard him speak I had a feeling of peace. If we were worried and anxious, he took our fears and burdens. In return he gave us the comfort of the sacraments.” For the Marines in Vietnam, he was indeed “God’s go-between,” in the words of Ray Harton.
In Search of the Lost
“To me it was a miracle,” says Captain Pendas. The arrival of the monsoons flooded smaller creeks around the Marine camps, as he recalls. During a heavy downpour one particular creek quickly burst into a swollen and treacherous river. A group of soldiers attempting to cross the creek were steadily locked arm in arm. Most of the Marines held up in spite of the fact that they were going against the raging stream. Then as the currents grew stronger two Marines were separated from the chain. Washed away by the torrential waters they later drowned about a thousand meters from one another.
On hearing of the accident Father Vincent rushed to the scene. All through that night he went in search of the two drowned Marines looking for them in what must have been dangerous terrain. The next morning out of the heated mists of the rising sun came a group of soldiers led by Father Vincent. They carried in solemn procession the bodies of the drowned soldiers. “It was like a Viking funeral. They miraculously found their bodies in the jungle and made it back overnight. It was a divine thing, for sure,” insists Captain Pendas.
Love’s Witness is Timeless
In the aftermath of war soldiers returning home without fallen comrades carry enormous emotional and spiritual burdens. Forty years later Corporal Ray Harton is convinced that Father Capodanno has helped him to carry those burdens even to this day. “To be a witness to Fr. C is the reason why we are still alive. I am convinced that I was allowed to live to witness to this holy man.”
All those privileged to know Lieutenant Father Vincent Capodanno in Vietnam are convinced beyond doubt that their humble chaplain was a living saint. Through their memories and the witness of many others the rest of the Church and the world will, pray God, discover the same.
(Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. is adjunct professor at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC. She writes frequently for a variety of Catholic publications and for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.) |
