After years of research and verification, the name of Friar Ignatius MATERNOWSKI, OFM Conv., has been added to the United States D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. The Memorial Wall on which Friar Ignatius’ name appears represents the world’s most complete account of those who fell on D-Day. With the addition of his name, the total number of allies killed during the Normandy Invasion, on June 6, 1944, rose to 4,427.
After the outbreak of World War II, Friar Ignatius answered the call to serve as a military chaplain by enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1942. He later volunteered to become a member of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. After rigorous training with fellow troops, he attained the rank of captain and served God and country loyally for twenty-three months. Deployed to Ireland and England in readiness for the battles that would reclaim the freedom of Europe, he offered one final Mass for his troops, and administered general absolution on the eve of the Normandy Invasion.
In the early morning hours of D-Day, Friar Ignatius parachuted with many troops into occupied territory, the hamlet of Guetteville in the town of Picauville. An American glider had crashed nearby. There were many casualties. He immediately began ministering to the wounded paratroopers and glider victims. Realizing that a suitable aid station would be needed, Friar Ignatius calculated a risky strategy: attempting negotiations with his German counterpart in the peaceful hope of combining their wounded together in one common hospital. Walking between enemy lines unarmed, with helmet hanging from his belt, and wearing his chaplain’s insignia and a Red Cross armband, he bravely went to meet with the head Nazi medic. As he returned through the no-man zone to the American side, he was shot in the back by an enemy sniper, becoming the only U.S. chaplain to be killed on D-Day. He was thirty-two, in the fifth year of his priesthood.
His lifeless body lay visible on the road for three days because the enemy refused to allow it to be retrieved. On June 9, American soldiers from the 90th Infantry Division recovered it, and removed his body for burial near Utah Beach. In 1948, Friar Ignatius’ remains were returned to Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA, for a solemn Mass in Mater Dolorosa Church, and interment in the Franciscan Friars’ plot at Mater Dolorosa Cemetery in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Kevin A. KEENAN, Director of Communications
