Marines at Outpost Mourn
For Chaplain Killed in Battle

N.Y. Times News Service

Tam Ky, South Vietnam - The death of a Roman Catholic chaplain from New York has stirred grief and shock in the dust-filled tents and bunkers of this Marine outpost.
The chaplain, Navy Lt. Vincent R. Capodanno, of Staten Island, was killed Monday in a fight seven miles south of here.
Witnesses said the 38-year-old priest was severely wounded by North Vietnamese fire but continued praying until he was hit fatally.
"Everyone is so deeply moved at what happened," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Eli Takesian, a Presbyterian from Boston, Mass., who is chaplain of the 5th Marine Regiment, 12 miles northwest of Tam Ky.
For more than a year, Capodanno had served with the Marine Corps in the northern provinces of Vietnam. As the Catholic chaplain of the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, he became known as "the enlisted man's chaplain." He sipped beer in enlisted men's clubs, dropped in unexpectedly in tents to chat with corporals or accompanied combat patrols.
"He never carries a weapon on patrols," said Takesian. "All he carried was love."
On Monday, Capodanno visted Mike Company on a mission near the provincial captial of Tam Ky, which is about 365 miles northeast of Saigon.
At dusk, as the company stepped through rice paddies that were fringed by heavy jungle, a North Vietnamese battalion struck with mortars and automatic weapons fire.
Takesian recalled, "The whole company was being hit hard and there were wounded Marines all over that were screaming for help and crying.
"The chaplain just jumped up out of the hole and began praying with the wounded and giving the last rites. A mortar round hit right nearby and blew off part of his right hand.
"He kept going, from wounded to wounded and from dead to dead. Then there was more enemy fire and he dropped. The last time he was seen alive he was saying a prayer over a dead man."
The news of Capodanno's death struck the Marines hard this week - a week in which a total of 114 of them were killed and 283 wounded in the Tam Ky area, 30 miles south of Da Nang.
As the word spread, several Marines here wept openly. A memorial service for the chaplain on Tuesday was packed with officers and enlisted men -both Catholic and non-Catholic.
"Somehow he just seemed to act the way a man of God should act," said Ross Nutera, a 20-year-old corporal from Buffalo, N.Y. "I can't believe he's gone."
Capodanno, the son of Italian immigrants, attended Maryknoll seminaries in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois before serving as a priest in Formosa and Hong Kong. He joined the Navy in 1965 and, like many other Navy chaplains, was assigned to the Marine Corps.
He was sent to Vietnam in April, 1966, and later extended his tour here for six months.

SEMPER FIDELIS, FATHER!

It was an honor to serve with Father Capodanno with the 1st BN 7th Marines during 1966 and 1967. It comes as no surprise to me that he was awarded the CMH after leaving 1/7. One of the greatest.

Although we never met personally, I want to thank you Vincent Robert Capodanno, for your courageous and valiant service, faithful contribution, and most holy of sacrifices!

Your Spirit is alive--and strong, therefore, you shall never be forgotten, nor has your death been in vain!

Again, thank you Lieutenant Capodanno, for a job well done!

FAIR WINDS, AND ETERNAL PEACE MY FRIEND

Remember

VVA CHAPTER 421,STATEN ISLAND,NEW YORK.IN MEMORY OF FATHER CAPODANNO,ALONG WITH HIS FELLOW MARINES,EVERY LABOR DAY , MASS AT FORT WADSWORTH TO HONOR THE MAN WHO GAVE HIS OWN LIFE FOR HIS FALLEN BROTHERS.HE TRULY IS GOD'S RIGHT HAND MAN.BLESS YOU PADRE.REST IN PEACE.