Lieut. Aloysius Herman Schmitt
U.S. Navy (Chaplain Corps)
It was an hour to church call on the Oklahoma.
Young Chaplain Schmitt was reading his brief sermon when the clamor of
"Battle Stations" shattered the Sunday quiet.
Chaplain Schmitt hurried below to his post, the dressing station for the wounded.
An explosion shook the Oklahoma, as a torpedo struck her side.
The battleship shuddered and slowly began to roll over. In a rush of panic into the compartment where Father Schmitt was manning his battle station a dozen men came and slammed the compartment door.
Through the din came the young chaplain's voice. Quiet bringing back reason. Father Schmitt opened the door bracing himself as the water swept in. Two men carried out an unconscious sailor, and a few more escaped by the passage before the swift-rising water cut it off.
Now only the narrow portholes were left. One man crawled up the tilting bulkhead, twisted through to safety. A petty officer caught Father Schmitt's arm to help him up, but the chaplain shook his head. He was the senior man-the last to leave. He pushed the sailor through the porthole, out into the churning sea. As the man came up, he had a last glimpse of Father Schmitt's face and the gold chaplain's cross on his shoulder. Then the doomed ship turned on her side, and the chaplain was gone.
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