Each year, St. Francis de Sales Parish in Belle Harbor honors Pvt. Daniel O’Connor, an honor student from the parish’s Catholic academy. He died with more than 600 servicemen, including the famed “Four Chaplains,” in the sinking of the troop ship Dorchester during World War II. The parish will honor Pvt. O’Connor again at noon, Sunday, Feb. 5, during the parish’s annual Mass for the Dorchester’s dead.
Eighty years ago, pandemonium seized the crew and passengers of the SS Dorchester when a German torpedo blew a hole in the troop ship as it carried 900 men and four U.S. Army chaplains.
The legacy of the four chaplains who died in the 1943 sinking of the SS Dorchester troop ship inspired scores of memorials throughout the U.S., including plaques, namesake chapels, murals, monuments, and stained-glass windows.
A burial nearly 80 years in the making took place at St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village on Saturday, Nov. 19. And when Lt. John J. Heffernan Jr., a bomber pilot killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest, it was a testament to his family’s determination.
A top United Nations official said March 6 that the world hasn’t seen a refugee crisis such as the one developing in Eastern Europe, caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, since the last World War.
The Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, at 11 a.m. — with a twist. Instead of marching on foot, participants will be driving in a caravan of antique cars and military vehicles like Jeeps and Humvees.
An American who risked his life in one of World War II’s most vicious battles was honored during the 75th anniversary of Iwo Jima, Feb. 19, at the Staten Island U.S. Marine Corps League headquarters. Veteran Nick Troianiello believed he survived his wounds during that bloody battle, because of God.
Joseph Quinlivan, who grew up in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood before he moved to Brooklyn, received his diploma from Operation Recognition, a program that allows war veterans to earn New York state high school degrees, even if they were unable to finish.
A 75th memorial Mass for Father Dominic Ternan, O.F.M., was celebrated on June 19 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, which is where he had his first pastoral assignment as a newly ordained priest in the late 1930s. St. Francis of Assisi was also the site of Father Ternan’s funeral Mass.
For nearly a century, the 40-foot cross “has expressed the community’s grief at the loss of the young men who perished, its thanks for their sacrifice, and its dedication to the ideals for which they fought. It has become a prominent community landmark.”
