Father Fleming celebrated the Tuesday 7:00 A.M. Mass, and his roots with The Basilica run deep. After he was ordained in 1952, Father Fleming was assigned as an assistant at The Basilica at a time when the pastor’s motto was, “There are those assistants trained at The Basilica and those not trained at all.”
In June, Father Fleming will celebrated 67 years of ordination that include roles as assistant 8 years at The Basilica; associate pastor at St. Mary’s in Shakopee, chaplain at the women’s reformatory in Shakopee, and chaplain in the military 1962 to 1994 --  Vietnam (1967 one Year and one day). A helicopter flew him to the troops over 14 times in one day (Easter) to say Mass.  See below + Father Martin at 40

    Father Fleming says he has been blessed to be happy in the priesthood, but his happiest, most productive time as a priest was the one year and one day that he spent in Vietnam as military chaplain.
The emotions there of fear, love, and bravery were so real and tangible. He met a sergeant who laid himself on an enemy grenade in order to save his troops from harm or death. Father Fleming says that one of the best compliments that he has ever received came from a soldier who had just attended Mass shirtless because of the heat. Afterward, the soldier approached Father Fleming and said, “Chappy, you sure got your [expletive] in a sandbox today.”

"Four Chaplains Day."


Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed;
Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish.
On Feb. 3, 1943, the Dorchester, a converted luxury cruise ship, was transporting Army troops to Greenland in World War II, escorted by three Coast Guard cutters and accompanied by two slow-moving freighters.  On board were some 900 troops and four chaplains, of diverse religions and backgrounds but of a common faith and commitment to serve God, country and all the troops, regardless of their religious beliefs, or non-belief.  The Four Chaplains are: Rev. George Fox (Methodist); Father John Washington (Roman Catholic); Jewish Rabbi Alexander Goode; and Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed).

At approximately 12:55 a.m., in the dead of a freezing night, the Dorchester was hit by a torpedo fired by German U-boat 233 in an area so infested with German submarines it was known as “Torpedo Junction.” The blast ripped a hole in the ship from below the waterline to the top deck  The engine room was instantly flooded. Crewmen not scalded to death by steam escaping from broken pipes and the ship’s boiler drowned.  Hundreds of troops in the flooded lower compartments drowned, or washed out to the frigid waters, where most would die.

In less than a minute, the Dorchester listed on a 30-degree angle. Troops on deck searched for life jackets in panic, clung to rails and other handholds, saw overloaded lifeboats overturn in the turgid water, or leaped overboard as a last desperate hope for life. Many with life jackets drowned when the life preservers became water-logged.

Of the 900 troops and crew on board, two-thirds would ultimately die. Most of those who survived had lifelong infirmities and pain from their time in the icy waters.

Dorchester survivors told of the wild pandemonium on board when it was hit and began sinking. Many men had not slept in their clothes and life vests as ordered because of the heat in the crowded quarters below. There was panic, fear, terror – death was no abstraction but real, immediate, seemingly inescapable.  

The Four Chaplains acted together to try bring some order to the chaos, to calm the panic of the troops, to alleviate their fear and terror, to pray with and for them, to help save their lives and souls.  The chaplains passed out life jackets, helping those too panicked to put them on correctly, until the awful moment arrived when there were no more life jackets to be given out. It was then that one of the most remarkable acts of heroism, courage, faith and love in American, and human, history took place:

Each of the Four Chaplains took off his life jacket and, knowing that act made death certain, put his life jacket on a soldier who didn’t have one, refusing to listen to any protest that they should not make such a sacrifice.
They continued to help the troops until the last moment.
Then, as the ship sank into the raging sea, the Four Chaplains linked hands and arms and could be seen and heard by the survivors praying together, even singing hymns, joined together in faith, love and unity as they sacrificed their lives so “that others might live.”

During World War I, 23 Christian chaplains were killed;
83 Catholic priests were killed in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
More than 134 Protestant ministers have been killed since 1917, including one in Afghanistan.

In 2011, a special section was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 14 rabbis who died while serving in the military:

The best-known rabbi killed in World War II is Alexander Goode who completed his seminary studies at Cincinnati’s Hebrew Union College in 1937 and then served congregations in Marion, Ind., and York, Pa. On Feb. 3, 1943 Goode died aboard the transport ship Dorchester in the frigid North Atlantic, 80 miles from Greenland, following a German submarine attack.  Tragically, there were not enough life preservers on the crowded troop ship, and Goode along with three other Army chaplains — Methodist George Fox, Dutch Reformed Clark Poling and Roman Catholic John Washington — gave their life jackets to others.

 Rentz was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, and the frigate USS Rentz was named in his honor.

How a medal of Mary saved a soldier during WWII