On the morning of Dec. 7, 1942, Doris “Dorie” Miller, Mess Attendant 2nd Class, served breakfast to the men on the U.S.S. West Virginia having no idea that for many
Father Schmitt, patriotic priest of Pearl Harbor thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
One of the most enduring ways for communities and individuals to touch our collective memories is to physically touch memorials, like those built to honor those who served our nation and who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. The Chaplain Schmitt Island Veterans Memorial Plaza in Dubuque is one such place.
We honor and remember Iowa native Father Aloysius Schmitt one of the first chaplains killed in World War II. It was June 17, 2016, my first day in a new Navy assignment at the Navy Chief of Chaplains Office at the Pentagon, when I first touched the life and memory of Father Schmitt. My office phone rang: A delegation from Dubuque was coming to D.C. to seek an upgrade in Chaplain Aloysius Schmitt s posthumous Navy and Marine Corps Medal. They needed my assistance.