LTJG Aloysius H. Schmitt comes home
Back in May, Hondo told us that LTJG Aloysius H. Schmitt’s remains had been identified from the Punchbowl. John sends us a link to the Des Moines Register which reports that the chaplain made his way home on Friday to Dubuque;
Torpedoes hit the USS Oklahoma shortly after Schmitt and sailors celebrated Mass. As water flooded the ship, Schmitt and other sailors were trapped in a compartment with a small porthole. He had the chance to escape, but instead hoisted others to safety through the porthole. Twelve men escaped and lived.
The battleship capsized in minutes, and Schmitt became the first chaplain killed during World War II. He was among 429 crew members on that ship to die in the attack. The Navy announced in September that Schmitt’s remains had been identified.
“By living his faith, he gave his life for his country and his people unselfishly,” Schmitt’s great niece Mary Bouska said.
[…]
The Rev. Aloysius Schmitt will be interred next to the alter at Loras College’s Christ the King chapel, which was built in 1946 and 1947 in his honor. The resting place was inscribed with “Pro deo et patria,” the Loras motto, meaning “For God and country.” The chapel contains a memorial to Schmitt, including personal belongings recovered from the USS Oklahoma.
Category: We Remember
Normally, I’d say welcome home, Father Schmitt. But in your case, I’m reasonably sure that Someone Else did that already, on or not long after 7 December 1941.
No greater love.
Amen.
Brave man and sailor. Rest in Glory, my friend. As Hondo pointed out, no greater love.
John 15:13
Can’t say any better. Thank you ex-OS2.
Below is Fr. Schmitt’s citation. I also found accounts of his heroism by a Marine who was there and reference to a Jewish sailor who was saved and recounted Fr. Schmitt’s action several months after the attack. Fr. Schmitt was a young parish priest before asking for and receiving permission to join the chaplaincy. Others lived because of his sacrifice. http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=56393
I don’t want to seem like I’m saying that the Navy and Marine Corps medal is not a great decoration, but I woukd have thought that a Navy Cross or Sikver Star might have been more appropriate.
…Silver Star…
While Father Schmitt’s fair winds and following seas bore him away long ago, his earthly remains could not have come to a more fitting resting place.
Got a bit dusty in here, dammit…
Amen.
Thank you for your bravery and service to all of us here on Planet Earth…
I am certain that God has you in a beautiful place.
A hero in every sense of the word… gave his live so others may live.
Welcome Home, Fr. Schmitt… and thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Rest in peace to a true shipmate. It is so humbling to read of men like this.
Welcome home Padre. Rest easy Sir. Few have earned the deserved rest like you have
I am humbled by men and women such as this.
There is no greater love, no greater sacrifice.
I would have been blessed to know you.
I have known fewer Sailor and Marines with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal than the Silver Star.
Only an observation. I wonder if his action is being reviewed by those in the Pentagon who do such reviews and make adjustments? Seems a SS would be indicated.
Why Fr. Schmitt was not awarded a Silver Star I cannot say. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was a noncombatant. Maybe it had to do with the fact that military awards and decorations were not up to speed on December 7, 1941 and that the war would bring changes to the process of determining who rec’d what. It’s anyone’s guess. His selfless act was witnessed, attested to, and unquestioned.
No worries here. The good Padre has his reward.
He walked the talk by loving his brothers’ lives above his own.
Not much clearer than this, IMO.