Joseph T. O'Callahan

A Navy chaplain helped save his burning ship and wounded men

Joseph Timothy O’Callahan was a Jesuit priest, mathematics teacher and Naval Reserve chaplain. Before joining the Navy in 1940, he led the mathematics department at the College of the Holy Cross. His earlier sea duty aboard USS Ranger included operations off French Morocco and Norway. He joined USS Franklin on March 2, 1945. During a Japanese air attack near Kobe on March 19, 1945, he moved through smoke, flames and explosions to comfort wounded and dying sailors. He also organized firefighting, helped dispose of live ammunition and directed efforts to secure the magazines.

His leadership helped the crew save the carrier and earned the Medal of Honor, presented by President Harry S. Truman on January 23, 1946. O’Callahan was a lieutenant commander during the action. Released from active duty in November 1946, he returned to Holy Cross as a professor of philosophy until illness prevented further work. He later retired from the Naval Reserve as a captain in 1953. Born in Boston on May 14, 1905, he died on March 18, 1964, and was buried at Holy Cross College Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as chaplain on board the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy Japanese aircraft during offensive operations near Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. A valiant and forceful leader, calmly braving the perilous barriers of flame and twisted metal to aid his men and his ship, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan groped his way through smoke-filled corridors to the open flight deck and into the midst of violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets, and other armament. With the ship rocked by incessant explosions, with debris and fragments raining down and fires raging in ever-increasing fury, he ministered to the wounded and dying, comforting and encouraging men of all faiths; he organized and led firefighting crews into the blazing inferno on the flight deck; he directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding of the magazine; he manned a hose to cool hot, armed bombs rolling dangerously on the listing deck, continuing his efforts, despite searing, suffocating smoke which forced men to fall back gasping and imperiled others who replaced them. Serving with courage, fortitude, and deep spiritual strength, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan inspired the gallant officers and men of the Franklin to fight heroically and with profound faith in the face of almost certain death and to return their stricken ship to port.