Photo of the USS Midway aircraft carrier, courtesy of pexels
There’s much in the press these days about the world at war and sailors’ shipboard experience halfway around the world. These current news reports stir memories of days gone by and my own Navy background, as well as life and ministry in Holy Cross.
When I was 17 years old, at the height of the Viet Nam war, I enlisted in the US Navy. A sense of patriotism, civic duty, and the draft moved me to take that step. Over the course of the next four years, working as a technician on jet airplanes, I found myself halfway around the world on deployment aboard two aircraft carriers.
Having grown up in a strong, Catholic family, in a small and rural town where much of life revolved around the Catholic church and school, I found myself in culture shock in the Navy. The language and lifestyle often taunted and tempted this young adult. About the only place I felt at home and at peace during those days at sea was at daily Mass. And, during those deployments, a couple of Chaplains listened graciously to me as I struggled. Because of my commitment to daily Mass, fellow workers in the shop affectionately began to call me “Padre.” Their jest touched a chord, and I began investigating religious life and priesthood. Holy Cross’ Vocation Director at that time (Fr Bill Melody, C.S.C.) corresponded regularly via snail-mail (no email in those days). If he didn’t hear from me for a couple of months, he’d inquire: “did you fall overboard?” His engagement, encouragement, and welcome found me at home in Holy Cross.
Following ordination and six years in parish ministry, I asked for permission to return to the Navy as a Chaplain. Gratitude directed that step. As I had been assisted by Chaplains along the way, I wanted to support others in their journey of faith; a kind of payback. That six-year journey found me overseas and, in the end, at sea on an aircraft carrier once again, during wartime. The ship (USS Midway) was the first aircraft carrier to pass through the Straits of Hormuz as the First Gulf War (Desert Shield/Storm) erupted in 1990. I thanked God that I was able to have been a part of those sailors’ lives during such challenging times. In 1992 I bid the Navy farewell and went to work in the Province’s initial formation program.
Sixteen years later, in 2008 the War On Terror again found sailors and Marines deployed halfway around the world in Afghanistan and Iraq. At that time, the Navy and Marine Corps experienced a critical shortage of Catholic Chaplains, which meant thousands of servicemembers around the world were cut off from the sacraments. So, I returned to the Navy once again. A desire to provide pastoral care and celebrate the sacraments with those deployed during another challenging time directed that step. Over the course of the next ten years, I found myself at sea in the Middle East onboard three different aircraft carriers and a Marine troop ship. During one of those deployments, I was told that there were only two Catholic priests in the entire 5th Fleet Theater (Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. Red Sea). I’d regularly board a helicopter to visit the smaller ships when they were nearby and was often told that the last time they celebrated Mass or Reconciliation onboard was three or four months prior.
When on leave, I often visited the University. At table, fellow Holy Cross religious would ask: “What are you doing at sea, halfway around the world? What about working in campus ministry?” I replied: “I am working in campus ministry.” An aircraft carrier is populated by about 5,000 souls, with the average age being between 19 and 20. These sailors and Marines grapple with the same issues, growing pains, personal discoveries and decisions that college students engage during this period of growth and development. It is a uniquely different campus.
There’s much in the press these days about the world at war once again. While I am no longer able to journey with them physically, I pray daily for those (on every side) who go in harm’s way, cut off from what is familiar, comfortable, and sacred. It was an honor to have had the opportunity to be of service as a “Padre” at sea over the course of five decades.
By Fr. Bill Dorwart, C.S.C.
Published August 27, 2026 by the Office of Vocations
