Gerald Desmond was ordained a Catholic Priest on May 20, 1938, by then Bishop Francis Spellman. In 1942 he was commissioned as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army, and in October 1942 he was assigned as Regimental Chaplain to the 123d Infantry Regiment, serving with that unit throughout most of the New Guinea and all of the Luzon campaigns in the South Pacific. After the war he pastored different churches over the years in Massachusetts, including Christ the King Church in Hudson, Sacred Hearts Church in Haverhill, and in 1973 became pastor of Saint Ann’s Church in the Ocean Bluff section of Haverhill, the same town in which he was born. Prior to assuming the pastorate in Haverhill, he had served for 20 years at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
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Awards Received
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Silver Star
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Silver Star
Service:
United States ArmyRank:
Captain (Chaplain’s Corps)Regiment:
123d Infantry RegimentDivision:
33d Infantry DivisionAction Date:
1945
Headquarters, 33d Infantry Division, General Orders No. 76 (1945)The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Chaplain’s Corps) Gerald D. Desmond, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving as Regimental Chaplain of the 123d Infantry Regiment, 33d Infantry Division at Luzon, Philippine Islands, during World War II. Captain Desmond, with utter disregard for his own life, left the comparative safety of his fox-hole to reassure and comfort the wounded and dying and on several occasions administered Last Rites of the Church amid bursting enemy shells. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.