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This Friday’s missionary hero is Fr. Aloysius “Al” H. Schmitt.
Al was born on December 4, 1909, in St. Lucas, Iowa, a small farming community. Even at a young age, Al told his parents that one day he wanted to become a priest.
As a teenager, he entered Columbia College, now known as Loras College, in Dubuque, Iowa. After graduation, Al joined the Archdiocese of Dubuque and was sent to study theology at North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the archdiocese on December 8, 1935.
After having served as a priest in different parishes, Fr. Al expressed his desire to become a chaplain in the United States Navy. The archbishop granted his request and, in 1939, Fr. Al was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was based at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. The rank of Fr. Schmitt was a lieutenant, junior grade.
Al felt at home on the boat. Because he was a very friendly and resourceful person, he loved being around people and meeting them. Besides, he loved being useful. Unsurprisingly, he could frequently be found wandering the ship’s decks and helping others with whatever task they were doing. Fr. Al considered that no job was “beneath” him.
Fr. Al also celebrated Mass for Catholic sailors and held non-denominational religious services for non-Catholic men. He treated everyone with respect.
On December 7, 1941, Father Aloysius had just finished celebrating Mass when Japanese torpedoes struck the ship. The priest and many of the men were trapped below, and the only way to escape was through a small porthole.
One by one, the men began crawling through the hole to safety. When it was Fr. Aloysius’s turn, however, something in his pocket prevented him from going through the hole. The other men tried to push him, but he told the men to bring him back. He wanted to save the rest of the men instead of himself.
Fr. Aloysius helped twelve men get through the hole safely before the water engulfed him. Fr. Aloysius H. Schmitt is honored to be the first American chaplain of any denomination to give his life in World War II.
After his death, the United States government awarded him a Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his sacrifice. In 2017, the United States government awarded Fr. Schmitt the Silver Star posthumously.
Fr. Schmitt is also remembered in North Carolina at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. The Catholic chapel at Camp Lejeune was first dedicated to St. Louis in honor of Fr. Aloysius H. Schmitt. Later, it was rededicated as the Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier on January 27, 1943.
