Aquinas Colgan was born and raised in ChicagoÕs tough south Side. He attended Carmelite Seminary in Niagara Falls, New York, for two years but did not graduate. He was ordained into the Carmelite Order as a Catholic Priest in 1936 and taught Spanish and Journalism at Mount Carmel High School from 1933 to 1939, and ministered to Mexican workers at Nuestra and Senora del Carmen in Joliet. He also taught pre-flight at Lewis University in Romeoville. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he immediately applied for permission to enter the service as a U.S. Army Chaplain. His superior, the Reverend Ambrose Casey OÕCarm., later said that, “Never have I seen any man wish for anything in his life as much as Father Aquinas wished to be commissioned a chaplain in the United States Army!” Two of his three brothers also served, one in the Marine Corps and the other in the Army with MerrillÕs Marauders in Burma. Father Colgan was wounded twice before he was killed in action in the Philippine Islands in 1945, while trying to drag a wounded medic to safety. When his body was recovered, his arms were still wrapped around the now deceased medic’s legs.
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Awards Received
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Distinguished Service Cross
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Distinguished Service Cross
Service:
United States ArmyRank:
Captain (Chaplain’s Corps)Batallion:
1st BattalionRegiment:
124th Infantry RegimentDivision:
31st Infantry DivisionAction Date:
May 6, 1945
Headquarters, U.S. Forces-Pacific, General Orders No. 68 (July 23, 1945)The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Captain (Chaplain’s Corps) Aquinas Thomas Colgan (ASN: 0-525920), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as a Chaplain with the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces near Kibawe, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1945. Heavy fighting developed when the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment attacked well-concealed enemy positions in the woods near Kibawe. Chaplain Colgan, who was holding services at the Regimental Command Post, immediately went forward to be with the troops. Despite the intensity of enemy machine gun and rifle fire, and a warning of the danger, he proceeded toward the front line to be of assistance to the wounded whom he could hear moaning and calling for help. When last seen alive he was inching his way forward through the dense undergrowth. He was found later with his arms wrapped around the legs of a soldier whom he had endeavored to drag to safety. Chaplain Colgan unhesitatingly gave his life while aiding the wounded of his battalion. His extraordinary heroism, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty at the cost of his life, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 31st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.