The Grunt Padre is the story of Father Vincent Capodanno, a Maryknoll missionary, who left his small Taiwanese parish to support the fine men and women of the United States Marine Corps where they faced the threat of death on the most forward edge of the firing lines in a distant Asian country called South Vietnam.

     This chaplain did not recoil from danger. As his Marines assembled for combat operations, he would be there. He crowded into any available helicopter space and flew into the “hot landing zones” to be available to Marines facing combat. Father Vince carried no rifle. He carried a cross - a man of peace carrying God’s message to distant battlefields. During firefights, the infantrymen watched over him because they knew Father Vincent would otherwise move forward with complete disregard for his own life to render aid to any wounded or dying Marine. The unspoken word was “watch over our Padre.” On September 4, 1967, Father Vincent Capodanno gallantly gave his life attempting to rescue a wounded corpsman.   

Also available to purchase as a soft cover.