By Fr. Scott Archer
It is not just those who bore arms
whom we honor, there are others who marched to the frontlines without weapons
in order to serve the needs of others and sacrificed their lives for this
country. Army Chaplain Father Lawrence Lynch was shot while ministering to a
fatally wounded soldier in Okinawa in 1945 and posthumously received the Silver
Star. In Vietnam, Army Major Father Charles Watters was killed while
ministering to fallen soldiers in 1967, for which he was awarded the Medal of
Honor. Lest I leave out the Marines, Marine Lieutenant Father Vincent
Capodanno, a member of the 3rd Battalion, when another platoon was
under fire in Vietnam in 1967 left the company command post and ran into an
open area under fire to reach them. We read, “Disregarding the intense enemy
small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield
administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded.”
He also was given the Medal of Honor posthumously and his cause for canonization
has been started. We may seldom think about those on the front lines who loved
our county, were willing to die for it, yet were unarmed. However, they are
worthy of our remembrance today as we honor all those who gave the ultimate
sacrifice during a time of war.
