John P. Foley, S.J., had already taken one momentous journey very early in his life: At just six weeks old, he had traveled with his Irish-born parents from Scotland to the United States, settling in the city of Somerville, Mass.
In the spring of 1942, Fr. Foley鈥攂y then the 37-year-old dean of admissions and assistant dean of freshmen and sophomores at Boston College鈥攕et out on another fateful journey, one that would last three years and take him through the conflagration and chaos of World War II as a U.S. Navy chaplain. Along the way, Fr. Foley diligently recorded his observations and experiences in a notebook, documenting horrors and heroism alike while chronicling the life and times of the many young men he served, comforted, and buried鈥攎any of them half his age.
Fr. Foley鈥檚 journal has now been developed into a public document, 鈥淔or God and Country: The War Diary of Lieutenant Commander John P. Foley, S.J.,鈥� edited by retired AV研究所 senior administrator Joseph P. Duffy, S.J., and former Boston College Magazine Editor Ben Birnbaum, who held several leadership positions at the University.
The entries typically include Fr. Foley鈥檚 notes on his schedule for the day (鈥�0600-Mass鈥�; 鈥�1000-Protestant Church Service鈥�; 鈥�1500-Rosary and Benediction鈥�) as well as accounts of the day鈥檚 events, some of them mundane, even given the circumstances (鈥淚 stay aboard this afternoon cleaning up a lot of odds and ends that were clamoring for attention鈥�)鈥攂ut many others marked by fierce combat with enemy ships and aircraft, or by severe weather.
Fr. Foley also relates encounters and conversations鈥攆rom the casual to the in-depth鈥攚ith various officers and enlisted men and gives often vivid descriptions of the places he and his comrades visited, such as the beautiful yet battle-ravaged Solomon Islands and the ruins of Tokyo, and the people they found there. Other entries are of a more personal nature, in which he reflects on larger questions of faith and muses on the joys and sorrows of his job: helping an enlisted man sort out his complicated emotions about being in combat; giving last rites to soldiers for whom he had said Mass earlier that same day; writing letters to families informing them of a loved one鈥檚 death.
鈥淎 rooster far away crows his tune with no echoing reply,鈥� he writes during a stopover in New Zealand. 鈥淭he summer wind is sighing in the pines. The whole scene breathes of peace and happiness. I can鈥檛 help thinking of the boys up north, pouring out the red sweet wine of their youth on Bougainville and those others who died in Tarawa recently.鈥�
“Through Fr. Foley, you get a sense of the sacrifice these young men made, what they felt and experienced...You also see the important role of religion, of faith, in the lives of the soldiers, what it meant to these young people who were facing death. And there with them is a Boston College Jesuit providing spiritual care at this critical time in their lives.”
Part of what makes Fr. Foley鈥檚 journal such a unique window onto World War II is its very existence: American officers and enlisted men were forbidden to keep diaries, for fear these might fall into enemy hands and provide useful intelligence. But Fr. Foley carried his notebook throughout his training at Chaplain鈥檚 School in Virginia and subsequent service in the North Africa and Pacific theaters of war, and brought it back with him when he returned to his post at AV研究所. His secretaries transcribed and typed the entries, and the diary was preserved in the Society of Jesus New England Provincial Archive at the College of the Holy Cross, where Fr. Duffy鈥攁 devotee of 20th-century Jesuit history鈥攃ame upon it.
鈥淲hat struck me about the diary is that it realistically captures the on-the-ground reality of war,鈥� said Fr. Duffy. 鈥淭hrough Fr. Foley, you get a sense of the sacrifice these young men made, what they felt and experienced. That is something worth remembering, especially during this month of Veterans Day, and as we approach the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
鈥淵ou also see the important role of religion, of faith, in the lives of the soldiers, what it meant to these young people who were facing death. And there with them is a Boston College Jesuit providing spiritual care at this critical time of their lives. Fr. Foley鈥檚 great respect for all of them, whatever their religion, is very apparent.鈥�
Birnbaum, who worked with Fr. Duffy on his three previous digital publications of Jesuit history鈥攈oused in the at the Jesuit Archives and Research Center鈥攕aid the insights into Fr. Foley through his journal make for another compelling thread.
鈥淗e was trying to figure out what kind of a man he was, and how he could endure the terrible things that come with war. What becomes clear is that the soldiers didn鈥檛 look at him as somebody privileged by the fact of his being a Jesuit chaplain; they judged him as a peer, as one of them. That was terribly important to Fr. Foley. He comes across as an astonishingly thoughtful, resilient, and generous person, someone who recognized the common humanity of others, including the Japanese.鈥�
鈥淔or God and Country,鈥� which includes photographs and explanatory footnotes, can be viewed as a flipbook below.
Sean Smith | University Communications | November 2021