The city of Gaeta, together with the American community, will commemorate an Italian American hero whose father, originally from Gaeta, emigrated to the United States in 1901. Vincent R. Capodanno, the youngest of ten children, became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps and tragically died on September 4, 1967.

He was moving through a battlefield in Vietnam, administering last rites to the dying and providing medical aid to the wounded. The commemorative ceremony marking the 58th anniversary of his passing is being organized by Mayor Cristian Leccese and Navy Captain John Randazzo, commander of the U.S. logistical base in Naples, in cooperation with Lieutenant Commander Karen Buchanan, stationed in Gaeta.

On September 4 at 9:00 AM, Mayor Leccese and Commander Buchanan will lay a wreath at Lieutenant Capodanno’s memorial in Piazza Vincent Capodanno, in the presence of citizens, as well as Italian and U.S. civil and military authorities and representatives from veteran and military associations.

For his exceptional bravery and selfless service, the U.S. Congress posthumously awarded Father Capodanno the Medal of Honor - the nation’s highest military decoration—on January 7, 1969. On May 21, 2006, the Catholic Church declared him a “Servant of God,” and his cause for canonization remains ongoing.