Father Meany and the Fighting 69th

Father Meany and the Fighting 69th, first published in 1944, is a moving account of U.S. Army chaplain Stephen J. Meany and his time with the 165th Infantry Regiment (the famed Fighting 69th of the New York National Guard) during their battle for Makin Island in November 1943. The night before the landing, Meany heard the confessions of the men, and at 2 a.m. he celebrated Mass. That morning, Father Meany boarded a landing craft and arrived on the beach at 8 a.m. Six hours later Meany was hit and fatally wounded by a sniper's bullet while going to the aid of a wounded soldier.