Sponsored by:

Navy Federal Credit Union
Charles
Clement
Conaty
December 12, 1890

–

December 1, 1956

Cemetery:

Frankfort Cemetery

Charles Conaty grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1912. Ministry was a common factor in the Conaty family; a cousin was a Catholic Bishop, and Charles Conaty was following in the footsteps of his older brother who was a priest. He attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and received his theological training at the North American College in Rome. He was ordained a Catholic priest on September 17, 1915. He entered military service and was commissioned as a U.S. Army chaplain on January 5, 1918, serving at Fort Hancock in Augusta, and then during World War I with the 28th Division in France. Before going overseas a friend gave him a little black book to record his experiences. After the war this became the basis of a column titled “”My Little Black Book” that appeared in issues of the Catholic publication “Southern Cross” and in “The Catholic World.”

Awards Received

  • Distinguished Service Cross

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    First Lieutenant (Chaplain’s Corps)

    Regiment:

    111th Infantry Regiment

    Division:

    28th Division, American Expeditionary Forces

    Action Date:

    July 16, 1918
    War Department, General Orders No. 99 (1918)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Chaplain’s Corps) Charles Clement Conaty, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 111th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, near Crezancy, France, 16 July 1918. Without regard for his personal safety Chaplain Conaty, under intense shell fire, following the attack of his troops from Crezancy to the Marne River, attended the wounded and throughout the night searched and assisted in carrying wounded to the dressing station.