Vincent R. Capodanno

Vincent Robert Capodanno Jr., M.M. (February 13, 1929 – September 4, 1967) was an American Catholic priest and Maryknoll Missioner killed in action while serving as a Navy chaplain with a Marine Corps infantry unit during the Vietnam War. He was a posthumous recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for heroic actions above and beyond the call of duty. As a beatifcation process has been opened for Capodanno, the Catholic Church has titled him a Servant of God.

Biography Early life and missionary work Vincent R. Capodanno Jr. was born in Elm Park, Staten Island, on February 13, 1929, the tenth and youngest child of an immigrant father from Gaeta, Italy, and an Italian-American mother. Capodanno graduated from Curtis High School on February 4, 1947, then took night classes at Fordham University for a year while working as an insurance clerk. In 1949, he entered the Maryknoll Missionary Seminary in Ossining, New York, which included extensive studies in Illinois and Massachusetts. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest by Cardinal Francis Spellman on June 14, 1958.

On Labor Day, September 4, 1967, at 04:30, during Operation Swift in the Thang Binh District of the Que Son Valley, Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines was attacked in its night defensive position by a large People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) unit of approximately 2,500 near the village of Dong Son. The outnumbered and disorganized company needed support, and Company B was sent to assist. By 09:14, 26 Marines were confirmed dead. At 09:25, the commander of the 1st Battalion requested additional reinforcements, and Companies K and M from 3rd Battalion were committed to the battle, still leaving the Marines greatly outnumbered by the PAVN.

When Capodanno heard that two platoons of M Company from his battalion were taking casualties and about to be overrun by the PAVN, the unarmed chaplain went among the wounded and dying Marines of 2nd Platoon, helping and comforting them and giving last rites. That afternoon, he was wounded in the hand, arms and legs. Refusing medical evacuation, in the early evening, he went to help a seriously wounded Navy corpsman and two wounded Marines only yards (meters) from an enemy machine gun and was killed; His body was recovered and buried in his family's plot in St. Peter's Cemetery (Staten Island).

On December 27, 1968, Secretary of the Navy Paul Ignatius notified the Capodanno family that he would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor. The ceremony was held on January 7, 1969.

Canonization process On May 19, 2002, Capodanno's canonization process was opened. In May 2004, the initial documentation was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with CatholicMil (later renamed Mission Capodanno) acting as Petitioner and with Capodanno's biographer Daniel Mode named postulator. On Memorial Day weekend, May 21, 2006, Capodanno's designation as a Servant of God was announced in Washington D.C., by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. On October 1, 2013, O'Brien's successor, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, presided over the formal renewal of the opening of the cause for beatification. Broglio announced at this time that the newly established Capodanno Guild would serve as the Petitioner of the Cause and Andrea Ambrosi as Roman Postulator. Following a year-long investigation, Bishop Gerald Barbarito in 2019 officially credited Capodanno with the miraculous healing of a Florida woman with multiple sclerosis.

In 2017, for the 50th anniversary of Capodanno's death, EWTN collaborated with the Capodanno Guild to produce Called and Chosen, a documentary film publicizing his life and the ongoing effort. The film won the Catholic Press Association's 2018 Gabriel Award for Best Religious TV, National Release. Focusing on his missionary vocation, another documentary premiered in 2019, The Field Afar: The Life of Father Vincent Capodanno. Much of the Guild's documentation was presented in the 2018 biography, "Armed with Faith: The Life of Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM".

In 2022, a Vatican advisory panel recommended suspending the sainthood cause, evidently concerned that Capodanno's heroism reflected the battlefield more than religion and that his cause was being led by the American military more than the Maryknoll religious order. The Capodanno Guild and the current postulator Nicola Gori began working to overcome the objections, and the Guild's chairman reported that Archbishop Broglio was appointing a three-member historical commission to document Capodanno's pre-military life and spirituality in greater detail. The commission submitted their report in May 2024. It was reported in April 2026 that the Military Archdiocese expected a decision from the Dicastery in May 2026.

Honors and namings USS Capodanno

was named in his honor. Capodanno was commissioned November 17, 1973, and became the first ship in the US fleet to receive a Papal Blessing when it was blessed by Pope John Paul II on September 4, 1981, the 14th anniversary of the chaplain's death. On July 30, 1993, the ship was decommissioned after 20 years of service and transferred to Turkey.

New York City honors In March 1971, the Knights of Columbus, Madonna Council in Staten Island began a public campaign for a permanent memorial honoring Capodanno in his home borough. In October 1974, a bill was proposed to change the name of Seaside Boulevard to Father Capodanno Boulevard; a year later, the bill was passed by the Mayor of New York. For the United States Bicentennial weekend, the city of New York declared July 3, 1976, "Father Capodanno Day", and a memorial Mass was followed by a parade that included the United States Marine Corps Color Guard, marching bands, Boy and Girl Scouts, and many other groups.

Near the midpoint of Staten Island's Father Capodanno Boulevard, at the corner of Sand Lane, a monument in the chaplain's honor is made of light gray Barre granite, stands 8' high and 4' wide (2.4m x 1.2m) and has a bronze plaque. Near the north end of the boulevard, alongside Fort Wadsworth's Father Capodanno Memorial Chapel, stands a 1977 statue of the chaplain praying for a fallen corpsman during their final battle. The nearby South Beach neighborhood is the location of Father Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy, formed by the merger of two parish elementary schools in 2020.

Saint Vincent Chapel, Taiwan Saint Vincent Chapel, in Father Capodanno's Taiwanese mission territory, was his family's first choice as a memorial. Within four months after his death in 1967, almost $4,000 had been raised by organizations such as The American Legion, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Knights of Columbus, and the Marine Corps League. After various delays, the chapel was completed in 1993–1995. It was built in the small mountain town of Thiankou with the help of Father Daniel Dolan, another Maryknoller and Capodanno's former pastor in Taiwan. Capodanno Memorial Chapel, Al-Taqaddum (TQ) Air Base, Iraq Vincent R. Capodanno Memorial, National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, Champion, Wisconsin Father Vincent Capodanno High School, Southern Pines, North Carolina Capodanno Chapel, USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) St. Catherine of Sienna Church, Franklin Square, New York (stained glass)