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Artwork for American Catholic History
American Catholic History · Dec 11, 2025 · 15 min

Fr. Aloysius Schmitt, Hero of Pearl Harbor

Father Aloysius Schmitt was a Navy Chaplain assigned to the USS Oklahoma at the outset of World War II. He had just finished the 7 a.m. Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent when the first torpedoes from the surprise Japanese attack struck the ship. He aided men to escape, at the cost of his own life during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first chaplain to die in World War II.

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Father Aloysius Schmitt was a Navy Chaplain assigned to the USS Oklahoma at the outset of World War II. He had just finished the 7 a.m. Mass on the Second Sunday of Advent when the  first torpedoes from the surprise Japanese attack struck the ship. He aided men to escape, at the cost of his own life during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first chaplain to die in World War II.

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