"Danger meant nothing to this chaplain," wrote his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Arthur Sheppe, upon awarding him the Bronze Star for valor in July 1944. "It may be said without exaggeration that the greatest single contribution to the morale of the personnel of this battalion has been the work of Chaplain O'Grady. He epitomizes the militant man of God."
Though spiritual contribution can be difficult to quantify, yesterday saw no lack of anecdotes. O'Grady routinely "appeared out of nowhere in his jeep, gathered everybody around him and had a chat," remembers Bob Griffin, 89, a Silver Spring resident who was a friend and a lieutenant in the 115th in 1944. "It didn't matter to him if you were Catholic, Baptist or Jewish. He reached out."
He repeatedly risked his life to take food and other provisions to 29ers at aid stations near the front lines, others remembered. The Rev. Estabrook said O'Grady volunteered for every mission he could, no matter the circumstances, seeking out "his boys" so he could "look in their eyes and let them know he felt what they were feeling."
They were the sort of gestures men facing great violence and death most appreciate."Look at the attendance here today," he said, "61 years after his death. Such men stand outside of time."
RTWT. Via the anchoress.
