Remains of US chaplain who died saving others at Pearl Harbor to be flown home

There was nothing yet infamous about December 7, 1941, when Fr Aloysius Schmitt woke up aboard the battleship the USS Oklahoma to celebrate Mass that Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor.

But just minutes after the liturgy ended, a surprise Japanese attack was underway, and Fr Schmitt would lose his life while helping save the lives of 12 others, becoming the first US chaplain to die during the Second World War.

Nearly 75 years after his death, the remains of Fr Schmitt, a native of St Lucas and graduate of Loras College, have been identified and are coming home to the Archdiocese of Dubuque.