Story was originally published in the in the Nov. 19, 2010 issue of the South Texas Catholic.
When the 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division reached the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany in 1945 they were confronted by thousands of skeletal dead bodies. One of the bodies was still alive. It was a white haired old man.
An 18-year old American soldier reached down and picked the old man up as he called for a medic.
“The man smelled of feces and urine and was covered with maggots,” recalled Father Joseph Lawless, MSF, the young man in that far away place so long ago.
The memories of the Great War are still with Father Lawless, the parochial vicar at St. Joseph Church in Corpus Christi. He is only one of many priests and deacons in the Diocese of Corpus Christi who served their country and are honored annually on Veterans Day.
Father Lawless was drafted at the age of 18 after graduating from high school and entered the military in August. He went to boot camp and in January of the following year he found himself in a fox hole in France. He received the Bronze Star in combat and was most proud of the infantry badge he received.
He also remembers the horrors of war.
“When I picked him up the old man looked at me, touched my face and asked me what my faith was. I’ll never forget it. He spoke in perfect English, ‘what faith do you hold to my son.’ I told him I was a Catholic boy and the old man said he was a Jewish Rabbi, and then he said, ‘never, forget this day,’ as he died in my arms,” Father Lawless said. Later, he recalled that he had felt he had spoken with Jesus.
Bishop Emeritus René Gracida also experienced the horrors of World War II. He joined the Army Air Corp Reserves at age 19 and served with the famous 303rd Hell’s Angels B-17 bomb group. He was a tail gunner and flight engineer and flew 32 missions over Germany. Bishop Gracida was awarded an Air Medal with two oak leafs, signifying his meritorious achievement and valor.
Although proud to have served his country, Bishop Gracida said the horrors of WWII had left an indelible imprint on him.
“The war made me realize how serious life is and how important it is to engage in something meaningful. As a soldier you’re trained to kill and as a priest you’re trained to save lives and souls,” he said. The two did not go hand in hand.
“The Army taught me discipline,” Bishop Gracida said. Describing himself as a “full-blooded Patriot,” Bishop Gracida acknowledges that war is sometimes necessary to protect our country’s freedoms.
Others, such as Father Ralph Jones, served during the Vietnam War. Father Jones, who is now the priest-in-charge at Stella Maris Chapel in Lamar, obtained his Army commission as a graduate from ROTC. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and served in the Artillery, the Infantry, the Military Police and the Medical Service Corps.
Father Jones spent his last eight years of service as a clinical social work consultant in an emergency room and drug center where he encountered people in locked wards who had literally lost their minds due to the horrors of war.
He had a 31-year career of the Army Active Reserves before retiring as a Colonel and becoming a priest. “I was always close to the lord,” he said.
Another veteran of the Vietnam Conflict is Deacon John Joiner from St. Gertrude Church in Kingsville. Deacon Joiner served 18 months in Vietnam with the Army’s 9th Infantry Division in 1968-69.
Deacon Joiner enlisted in lieu of being drafted and went on to receive the Bronze Star and an Army Commendation Medal for Valor. “I’m mostly proud that I made it out alive,” Joiner said.
Joiner had a difficult time reconciling what he was taught in Vietnam with what the Church teaches. “I have an intense respect for human life and an intense disrespect for war,” he said.
“I think my experience has made me more concerned about people. When I baptize a baby I’m reminded of how precious life is,” said Deacon Joiner, Director of the Diaconate Formation. “Hopefully I did some good. I credit God with having made it from the rice paddies in Vietnam to being able to minister to other people.”
Deacon Paul Moore from Corpus Christi Cathedral also enlisted rather than wait for the draft to catch up with him. He served in Vietnam with the 25th Medical Battalion in Cu Chi as a Medic in the Army. He received the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal for Valor and other meritorious medals.
“When the military opened up the Physician’s Assistant Program I decided to stay in,” Deacon Moore said.
After becoming a Physician’s Assistant, Deacon Moore was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he specialized in Orthopedic Surgery and was then stationed in Germany, Korea, Texas and Alabama. He was the only Physician’s Assistant to become a Warrant Officer and was later promoted to a Commissioned Officer. At Fort McClellan in Alabama he began work on a Master’s degree in Theology. He retired after 24 years of service.
“While in the military I ran across some great priests. One of them is a Chaplain at Fort Leavenworth Prison,” Moore said. His military experience gave him structure and order and the necessity of a hierarchy. It helped him see the value of serving people in the church and society.
Both the pastor and parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception in Gregory served in the military before becoming priests. Father Raju Thottankara, the parish pastor, became a chaplain in the Reserves for the Navy and Air Force. The military needed priests who spoke Spanish and recruited him to provide counseling for soldiers. He went to Rhode Island for officers training, was stationed in San Antonio and Afghanistan. He was a Counseling Commander. He did his Pastoral Counseling and received his Master’s degree in Virginia.
Father José Ortiz, parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception, was also in the military before becoming a priest in 2000. In 1990 he joined the Marine Corps Reserves and was activated twice in Desert Storm in Kuwait with Charlie Company.
Many other priests and deacons in the Diocese of Corps Christi served as chaplains in the military. When Bishop Emeritus Edmond Carmody was a young priest he became a chaplain with the Texas Army National Guard and the Army Reserves. He served in the Vietnam War in 1967.
Presently, Father John McKenzie of Our Lady of Guadalupe–Chapel on NAS Corpus Christi is serving as a chaplain in Afghanistan. Father Bill Marquis from St. Philip the Apostle Church in Corpus Christi and Father Bob Dunn from Most Precious Blood Church in Corpus Christi were priests who served in the military. No doubt there are many others.
This Nov. 11 Americans honored United States veterans. Bishops, priests and deacons from the Diocese of Corpus Christi were among those honored. Some were veterans of combat, while others were medics tending to the injured. Still others ministered to the spiritual needs of soldiers who had been psychically scarred from the horrors of war.