Saturday, May 10, 2025
As an Army Chaplain Assistant in Vietnam, I had the good fortune to meet and work with Chaplain (Father) Silveri. In 1968 he was Deputy Staff Chaplain at USAHAC (Headquarters Area Command) on the Tan Son Nhut base Headquarters. I was Chaplain (Father) James J. Corrigan's assistant at the 3rd Field Hospital, in close proximity to TSN in the Saigon area. Father Silveri served us as the support chaplain for the many times Father Corrigan was away on other assigned duties, out of country on R&R, or when the incoming casualty count required a second Catholic chaplain. Father Silveri was always with us, regardless of the time of day or the heat of the night . Sometime later, in 1969 Father Silveri was reassigned to the 25th Infantry division.
Many years later I was involved with the US Army Chaplain School and Museum on Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I volunteered to develop biographical files on the army chaplains I knew in Vietnam. I found and visited Father Silveri at the PA Veterans Center. I accompanied him on his ward rounds that day - just like at 3rd Field Hospital in 1968. Several weeks later, as I delivered a package of information to the museum, the director inquired if Father Silveri had also served with the 25th Division. He did - and she had just recently received an urgent request from some veterans about locating a Chaplain Silveri (?). They wanted to thank him about his actions in the combat situation described in the obituary. We called Father on the museum phone. Yes, he remembered the event and yes, the veterans could contact him. The veterans and the museum director were all thrilled about the connections made. The veterans recounted the night that two angels appeared on their battlefield, the army medic and a Catholic chaplain. They did contact the angel chaplain, reporting in a Tennessee newspaper article that they spoke with Father Donato Silveri, "the chaplain who came to the aid of us four cannon -cockers on January 11, 1969. He is 75 years old and continuing his chaplaincy work with those who have been damaged by wounds while serving in the military"
On behalf of all of us veterans, thank you Father Silveri. You were there with us because you wanted to be there with us. Rest in Peace.
