Fr. Ignatius Maternowski, OFM Conv., was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts on March 28, 1912, the son of Polish immigrants. He chose to pursue religious life through the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.) and was ordained a friar priest in 1938. He joined the U.S. Army in 1942.
Fr. Maternowski was the first Polish American priest to give his life in service to the U.S. in World War II and was the only U.S. chaplain to die in the Normandy invasion on D-Day. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and his name is commemorated on memorials in several locations in the United States, in London, England, and in Normandy, France.
Life and Ministry
Fr. Maternowski “embodied the highest aspirations of any branch of the human family.”
D-Day: June 6, 1944
On the morning of June 6, 1944 (D-Day), Fr. Maternowski was among the thousands of paratroopers who touched down behind enemy lines.