"As chaplains in…the American military, we work together, so that when I was young, I worked for bosses who were Southern Baptists, Lutheran, Presbyterian--people that I would never deal with." (Video Interview, 26:28)

Peter William McGeory

Peter McGeory [2009] War: Cold War; Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, 2001-present Branch: Navy Unit: USS LaSalle (AGF 3); USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70); Naval Academy Service Location: Philippines; Bahrain; Norfolk, Virginia; Okinawa; London, England; San Diego, California; Millington, Tennessee; Bremerton, Washington; United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; also: Persian Gulf; United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland Rank: Captain Place of Birth: NY

Peter McGeory was a New York priest in 1985 when, at the strong suggestion of his new Cardinal, John O'Connor, himself a Navy veteran, he became a chaplain. McGeory was in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS LaSalle in March 1987 when its escort ship, the Stark, was struck by two missiles fired by an Iraqi jet during the Iran-Iraq War. He helped in the gruesome task of recovering 37 bodies from the Stark. Two years later, he was assigned, in the wake of another catastrophic incident, to the USS Iowa. During the Persian Gulf War, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. For McGeory, who eventually became Command Chaplain at the U.S. Naval Academy, working with persons of different faiths is one of the true rewards of his job.