The following article is the property of The Iowa Almanac and was posted with permission from the author, Professor Jeff Stein.
We know today, December 7th, as Pearl Harbor Day... But there is an amazing Iowa connection that many have forgotten
Father Aloysius Schmitt had just finished saying Sunday mass on the battleship USS Oklahoma on December 7th, 1941. Then, the unthinkable happened.
Aloysius Schmitt was born in St. Lucas, Iowa on December 4th, 1909. He studied at Loras College in Dubuque, and then prepared for the priesthood as a seminarian in Rome. After serving in parishes in Dubuque and Cheyenne, Wyoming, Father Schmitt received permission to become a chaplain and joined the United States Navy in the summer of 1939, shortly before turning age 30.
As he prepared for mass on December 7th, 1941, Schmitt had just celebrated his 32nd birthday three days earlier, and was one day away from the sixth anniversary of being ordained.
No sooner had he finished the service, than the call went out on the battleship for "general quarters". The USS Oklahoma was near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the Japanese were attacking.
And in that stunning moment, Father Schmidt was one of those who distinguished himself in the line of duty.
The Oklahoma capsized, trapping a number of sailors and Father Schmitt in a compartment with a small porthole as the only means of escape. Father Schmitt helped a number of men through that porthole, and when it was his turn, he declined and turned back to help more men get out. A dozen men escaped thanks to his efforts. But Father Schmitt made the ultimate sacrifice. He died that day on board the Oklahoma. But it was only in 2016 that DNA identification advancements made it possible for his remains to be identified, and he was laid to rest in Iowa nearly three quarters of a century after his death.
A destroyer escort named the USS Schmitt was commissioned in his honor in 1943. The chapel at his alma mater was dedicated in his memory. And in 2017, he was posthumously awarded the U.S. military’s third-highest personal decoration, the Silver Star Medal, for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.
The first chaplain of any faith to have died in World War II, Iowa native Father Aloysius Schmitt, died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on this date in 1941.
Professor Jeff Stein will present "From the Battlefront to the Homefront: Iowa Broadcasters Go To War" tonight at the Traer Public Library at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.
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