Fr. John Leonard Curran, O.P. Papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-Curran

Staff Only

Abstract

Perhaps the finest example of this Province's historical work in military chaplaincy, Fr. John Curran served as a military chaplain during World War II with the 88th Field Artillery Regiment in the Philippines where his unit was captured in 1941 and subjected to the Bataan Death March and captivity in a Japanese POW Camp until 1945. Fr. Curran maintained his spiritual and personal support for the soldiers around him. Upon the war's conclusion, he wrote a memoir and received the Distinguished Service Cross.

This collection includes many of his personal affects from the war, including the original manuscript, letters written to families of fallen soldiers, and his personal communication. For ease of access, the memoir has been scanned and is available in digital form.

Dates

Creation: 1901-1972

Conditions Governing Access

Material from this Collection may only be accessed upon consultation and written permission from the Provincial.

Conditions Governing Use

Some materials might require the use of audiovisual materials. Any AV materials must be viewed using equipment within the archive. Contact the archivist prior to visiting.

Biographical / Historical

Obituary

Father John Leonard Curran died on March 14, 1972, at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. After services in Jackson and in St. Joseph's Church, Ponchatoula, where he had twice been pastor, he was buried in the cemetery at Rosaryville.

Father Curran was born on July 23, 1901 in South Boston, Massachusetts where he received his elementary education and graduated from Boston College High School. For two years he attended Providence College and then entered the Dominican Order at St. Rose in Kentucky where he made profession on September 11, 1927. He pursued his studies for the priesthood in River Forest, Somerset, and Washington, D.C., where he was ordained on June 17, 1933.

He began his ministry in Louisiana at Boyce and Ponchatoula. From there, since war seemed imminent, he entered the military service as an Army Chaplain and volunteered for duty in the Philippines where he arrived at the end of June in 1941. In December, the Japanese invaded the islands. When the U.S. military forces were overcome, Father Curran was among the prisoners on the infamous Bataan Death March. For heroism he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and, later, the Bronze Star.

As the war dragged on, he volunteered to accompany prisoners who were being transferred to Fukuoka prison-labor camp in Japan. Shortly afterwards, nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the latter raid was intended for the Yawata Steel Works on Kyushu in which prisoners of war were employed although American bomber crews were unaware of it). On September 14, 1945, the prisoners in Fukuoka were returned to Allied military control.

Early in October, 1945, Father Curran was en route home. In Nevada he suffered serious injuries in an auto accident which in his weakened condition required long hospitalization and left him crippled for life. However, in mid-1947 he returned to serve the people in Ponchatoula and Pass Manchac where he built its little church. As his health declined, Father Curran was appointed chaplain to St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi where he served for seventeen years in semi-retirement until his death.