Storyteller’s Performance at Holy Cross Marks 60th Anniversary of Attack on USS Franklin

WORCESTER, Mass. – Storyteller Jay O’Callahan will perform "Father Joe: A Hero’s Journey," on March 19 at 8 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. "Father Joe" is the story of Holy Cross math and physics professor, Rev. Joseph T. O’Callahan, S.J., Navy Chaplain, who earned a Medal of Honor during World War II. March 19 marks the 60th anniversary of Joseph’s heroism on board the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, which was attacked in the Pacific during the war. Admission is $5.

Fr. O’Callahan was the first Jesuit from the New England Province to enter the Navy during WWII. On March 19, 1945, he was onboard the USS Franklin when the ship was attacked by a Japanese bomber. He was injured while rescuing shipmates and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. O’Callahan left the Navy in late 1946. He later returned to Holy Cross to teach philosophy. In 1956, he wrote a book, titled I was Chaplain on the Franklin, recounting his experiences.

Jay O’Callahan ’60, Fr. O’Callahan’s nephew, is a professional storyteller whose performance credits include Lincoln Center, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Winter Olympics, and the Abby Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Hailed as a "genius among storytellers," by the New York Times, O’Callahan writes all of the stories he performs. In 1991, he received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, in the category of "solo theatrical performance." His audio recordings have won numerous awards, including the ALA/Carnegie Award, the Birmingham International Educational Film Festival Award, the Indie Award, and the Parent’s Choice Classics Award.

In "Father Joe," O’Callahan re-enacts that fateful day on the Franklin, interweaving his narrative with personal reminiscences of his uncle during his student days at Holy Cross. O’Callahan draws the audience into the story with his re-creation of "bursting explosions, the bewilderment of the sailors, the flames scudding about as though alive, the sight of smoke and burning flesh, the intense battering and subsequent shaking on that ‘burning city,’ the Franklin." The story concludes with his uncle emerging "a figure of extraordinary calm amid chaos who snaps sense into the men, creates order from disorder, and again and again risks his own life to save others."

Jay O’Callahan last performed at Holy Cross in 2003.

The performance is sponsored by Student Programs and Leadership Development at Holy Cross. For additional information, please contact SPLD at 508-793-3487.