Born in Brooklyn, New York, John McDonnell received his education at Cathedral College and Saint John’s Seminary in Brooklyn. He was ordained a Catholic priest on May 30, 1931, and served as an assistant at Saint Peter Claver’s Church, Brooklyn; Holy Innocents Church, Brooklyn; Saint Gerard’s Church, Hollis; Saints Peter and Paul’s Church, Brooklyn; and Saint Mary Star of the Sea, Brooklyn. He entered military service and was commissioned a U.S. Army chaplain in April 1940, and deployed to the Philippine Islands where he was serving at the time of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippine Islands. Following the fighting on Bataan, he was captured and held as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese, and reported missing in action. He was declared killed in action on January 22, 1945.
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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:
45th Infantry Regiment (Philippine Scouts)Division:
88th Infantry DivisionAction Date:
February 1942
War Department General Orders No. 141 (1946)(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: 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) John J. McDonnell (ASN: 0-23619), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving as a chaplain with the 45th Infantry Regiment (Philippine Scouts), in the Philippine Islands, in 1942. Chaplain McDonnell led four men into direct fire of the enemy, in order to recover fifteen American wounded and thirteen dead. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by, Chaplain McDonnell 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.