{"id":62923,"date":"2025-12-06T23:03:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T23:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62923\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T23:03:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T23:03:26","slug":"father-capodanno-statue-installed-ahead-of-long-anticipated-unveiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62923\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Capodanno statue installed ahead of long-anticipated unveiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Father Capodanno Boulevard, which runs from South Beach to Midland Beach, is frequently traveled by many Staten Island residents looking to get to and from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.<\/p>\n

Situated upon masonry at the boulevard\u2019s intersection with Seaview Avenue in Ocean Breeze now stands a shrouded figure. Lying underneath this covering is the long-anticipated statue<\/a> depicting the namesake of the busy roadway: The Rev. Vincent R. Capodanno, a U.S. Navy chaplain who died in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The sculpture, scheduled to be unveiled on Dec. 14, is a labor of love intended to commemorate the sacrifice and legacy of \u201cthe grunt padre.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 11 years of fundraising, the statue has finally come to fruition and found its home.<\/p>\n

\"Fr.The statue honoring Father Vincent R. Capodanno stands covered at the intersection of Father Capodanno Boulevard and Seaview Avenue in Ocean Breeze on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

An Elm Park native, the priest participated in seven combat operations before he lost his life at the age of 38 on Sept. 4, 1967, while administering last rites to mortally wounded Marines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we want to teach the children too, that\u2019s the whole idea of this. You know, what Father Capodanno did in the war, in Vietnam, and what he did for the people here while he was a priest,\u201d said James Haynes III, CEO of the United States Veteran\u2019s Organization, Inc., a conduit of 16 veterans organizations on Staten Island that sponsor the annual Memorial Day Parade.<\/p>\n

For Haynes, the statue conveys that Father Capodanno was a compassionate man who cared for the people.<\/p>\n

The sculpture was inspired by Father Capodanno\u2019s late brother, Jim Capodanno, and designed by the late artist and philanthropist Gregory Perillo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In recent years, USIVO has hosted a number of dinner-dance fundraisers, the profits of which were donated to the cause.<\/p>\n

In addition to efforts by USIVO, the project was partly funded through donations from Rolling Thunder, a not-for-profit motorcycle group that advocates for prisoners of war and missing in action service members of all U.S. wars, and the Nam Knights, also a veteran advocacy motorcycle group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt (the creation of the statue) shows camaraderie,\u201d added Haynes. \u201cYou know, how we all got together to make this thing along with the bikers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A driving force in bringing this vision to life is Anthony \u201cTony\u201d Leto, a Vietnam veteran himself.<\/p>\n

\"TonyTony Leto’s keychains and jewelry raised funds for the Father Vincent Capodanno statue.(Advance\/SILive.com | Carol Ann Benanti)<\/p>\n

Leto handcrafted keychains and assorted jewelry, donating the proceeds to the cause. He will offer opening remarks during the unveiling ceremony at 2 p.m. on Dec. 14. There, he will acknowledge individuals, groups and businesses who have contributed to the project.<\/p>\n

The outdoor event will be held rain or shine. Parking is available at Lot 6 on Father Capodanno Boulevard.<\/p>\n

Who was Father Capodanno?<\/p>\n

Born on Feb. 13, 1929 as the youngest of nine children, Father Capodanno was ordained a priest on June 14, 1958.<\/p>\n

A U.S. Navy chaplain, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Operation Swift during the Vietnam War. <\/p>\n

Father Capodanno was alongside the men of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines when he ultimately lost his life during a search-and-destroy mission. Despite being unarmed, he was shot 27 times on the battlefield in Que Son Valley while running to the aid of a wounded corpsman and the Marine he was assisting.<\/p>\n

Even though Father Capodanno had sustained his own serious injuries, the chaplain spent the last moments of his life administering medical and spiritual care.<\/p>\n

Because of his courage, fearlessness and heroism, an active effort is underway to have him proclaimed a saint. He\u2019s already been declared a Servant of God, the first step on the path that leads to sainthood.<\/p>\n

The former Seaside Boulevard was renamed to Father Capodanno Boulevard in memory of the Staten Island priest on July 4, 1974.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Father Capodanno Boulevard, which runs from South Beach to Midland Beach, is frequently traveled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-62923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}