By Carol P. Bartold

May 20, 2015:  "I was happy teaching at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains," said Fr. Peter McGeory, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Bronxville and grand marshal of the village's 95th annual Memorial Day parade.

Fr. McGeory had served as a priest in the diocese for ten years when John Cardinal O'Connor asked him to serve in the United States Navy.

"I kind of respectfully said no," Fr. McGeory related, but the archbishop insisted and suggested Fr. McGeory take a three-year tour of duty to see if he liked it. "I stayed for twenty five years," Fr. McGeory said. "They kept giving me better and better assignments." He spent eight years at sea on a variety of ships.

Fr. McGeory said his primary obligation as a military chaplain is to support the First Amendment rights of every one of the ten thousand sailors and marines in his battle group.

As a staff corps officer, a military chaplain supports the commanding officer. Fr. McGeory explained that his job involved carrying out the religious program of the commanding officer, whose job was to ensure that the religious needs and rights of every person in his command are met. "I was responsible, as the Roman Catholic chaplain on a ship, to make sure that every faith group had space, materials, and a budget to worship," he said.

Since 1775, when the United States Navy was founded, chaplains have worked in an ecumenical environment with over one hundred denominations represented, Fr. McGeory noted. "Chaplains do not work side by side, we work together and follow the mantra 'cooperation without compromise.'"

As he advanced in rank, Fr. McGeory served three- and four-star admirals and had charge of all operational ministry. "I was in charge of the chaplains and knowing how religious needs were being met on anything in the world that floated," he said.

Fr. McGeory described his experiences as a chaplain in the United States Navy as a very healthy one that made him aware of the religious needs of others.

"Those who serve," he said, "especially our enlisted sailors and marines, those are the people we live for. Those are the people we need most to take care of because they're young. That's what you try and train the young officers for."

Fr. McGeory spent the last years of his naval career at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. "That was great," he said, "because I had the time to really mold future leaders." He retired from the Navy in 2010 with the rank of captain and as the academy's senior chaplain.

Fr. Peter McGeory's advice, not only for Memorial Day but also for every day, is to find the people who are serving. "Go up to them. Look them in the eye. Shake their hand and thank them for what they're doing. It makes their day."

Pictured here:  Fr. Peter McGeory, St. Joseph's Church. 

Photo by N. Bower