A Stamp in Honor of Lt. Fr. Vincent Capodanno

A Petition to the U.S. Postmaster General to issue a Commemorative Stamp to honor Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Fr. Vincent Capodanno.

Click here and sign the online petition!

By Lisa DiFelice

We the undersigned, petition the Postmaster General of the United States to issue a Commemorative Stamp to memorialize Lt. Fr. Vincent Capodanno.

Lieutenant Father Vincent Capodanno was born on February 13, 1929, in Staten Island, New York. Vincent was the youngest of 10 children. His father was an immigrant from Gaeta, Italy, and his mother was Italian American.

In 1949 Vincent entered the Maryknoll Missionary Seminary. He was ordained in 1958. Fr. Capodanno began his career as a missionary and traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Vietnam. Fr. Capodanno became a lieutenant in the Navy Chaplain Corps in Vietnam on December 28, 1965. In 1966 he requested to serve with the Fleet Marine Force in South Vietnam.

Lt. Fr. Capodanno completed his commitment to the service in 1967. He extended his tour and was active in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, where he was known for attending to and sharing the hardships of suffering Marines.

On Labor Day, 1967, Lt. Fr. Capodanno heard of marines in his Battalion being attacked, with several that had died. When Lt. Fr. Capodanno heard of the number of marines down, he went voluntarily to administer last rites and comfort the wounded. Lt. Fr. Capodanno was injured after refusing to evacuate. He refused medical attention and eventually died alongside his wounded fellow marines. On January 7, 1969, Lt. Fr. Capodanno was honored in a ceremony where his family received the Medal of Honor in his memory.

Lt. Fr. Capodanno’s memory has been honored with several awards including:

1971 Knights of Columbus campaigned for a memorial in his home burrow.
1974 Seaside Blvd. was renamed Fr. Capodanno Blvd.
1976 New York City declared July 3rd Father Capodanno Day.
1977 on Fr. Capodanno Blvd a monument of him praying over soldiers was placed at the Fr. Vincent Capodanno Catholic Academy.

There are several other memorials in honor of Lt. Fr. Capodanno throughout the world. In addition to these memorials, we would like to see a stamp honoring this hero.