Father Vincent R. Capodanno

U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps
1966-1967
KIA -Vietnam

Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, was a U.S. Navy Chaplain Lieutenant who served with the 7th and 5th Marines in Vietnam.


He was born on February 13, 1929 and raised in an Italian-American family.

From his Catholic upbringing on Staten Island, all the way through his foreign missionary service in East Asia, to his heroic death at the age of 37 on September 4, 1967 on a Vietnam battlefield while rushing, unarmed, to the aid of wounded and dying U.S. Marines under ambush, Father Capodanno was a revered role-model to most that knew him before and after his death.

Father Capodanno posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his valor in combat and is now under consideration for canonization by the Holy See’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Two adult books and one children’s book have been written about Father Capodanno as well as documentary films. The Grunt Padre, Fr. Daniel L. Mode, Armed with Faith: The Life of Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, by the Reverend Monsignor Stephen M. DiGiovanni, H.E.D and Father Vincent R. Capodanno. Navy Chaplain, by Marianna Randazzo and William Castello. (Available on Amazon)

Sponsored by OSDIA - Father Capodanno Lodge #212