Francis L. Sampson – The Paratroop Padre

“Saving Private Ryan” is one of my favorite films. The film takes its viewers on an incredible mission as a brave army captain, and his skeptical troops go deep into occupied territory to try and save find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. “Saving Private Ryan” is brilliant fiction. A critical and popular smash, the character of Captain Miller is an example of American devotion to humane duty. He and his men risk their lives to comfort a soldier they’ve never met.

Many people with knowledge of World War II assumed “Saving Private Ryan” was based on the story of the Sullivan brothers. They were sailors who, serving together on the USS Juneau, were killed in action on its sinking around November 13, 1942. However, it turns out Father Francis L Sampson, nicknamed the “Paratroop Padre,” was in many ways the inspiration for “Saving Private Ryan’s” Captain Miller!

Although you may not have heard of Father Francis L Sampson, the ‘Paratroop Padre,’ he is mentioned in John Toland’s Battle: The Story of the Bulge, in Cornelius Ryan’s “The Longest Day,” & John Eisenhower’s “The Bitter Woods,” father Sampson was considered a hero throughout the military and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest medal of valor awarded by the United States Army.

Francis Sampson was born on Leap Year Day in 1912 in Iowa. After graduating from Notre Dame and being ordained as a Catholic priest, he eventually joined the military and volunteered as a chaplain in the Air Corps. He openly admitted to being terrified as he prepared to be trapped behind enemy lines on D-day. In his autobiography, he said: “Frankly, I did not know when I signed up for the airborne that chaplains would be expected to jump from an airplane in flight….no pair of knees shook more than my own, nor any heart ever beat faster in times of danger.”

Father Sampson On D-Day

The text of his distinguished service cross commendation explains, in part, how this incredible priest served on D-day.

On the afternoon of D-Day, a small force of parachute infantry was forced to evacuate its position to the enemy’s advance. Though strongly urged otherwise, Chaplain Sampson elected to remain behind with fourteen seriously wounded men. When the enemy seized the position of Chaplain, Sampson immediately made his presence known so that no attack would be made on the injured men. Granted permission to remain with the wounded, he valiantly struggled in the face of the most hazardous and difficult conditions to keep the men alive. On the second night, during an artillery barrage that lasted four hours and virtually demolished the house, he administered blood plasma and aid to the wounded. As three shells hit the building, he threw his body across the wounded to protect them. He made numerous trips across a shell-swept courtyard to ascertain the condition of one of the most seriously wounded men. When a shell destroyed the adjacent room, fatally injuring the two men therein, he went immediately to their assistance and attempted to dig them out from the debris. He suffered a second-degree burn from a tracer bullet but continued to care for the wounded. After the Germans left the vicinity in the morning, an evacuation party arrived. Assured that the living wounded were evacuated to the division hospital, Chaplain Sampson proceeded to the same hospital where he gave a seriously wounded man a liter of blood and spent the remainder of the day and night rendering physical and spiritual aid to the wounded.

Father Francis Sampson – The Paratroop Padre – Prisoner Of War

During the horrendous Battle of the Bulge, Father Francis Simpson repeatedly demonstrated fantastic courage. He would often leave secure emplacements to search for wounded soldiers and try to aid them. It was then. Nazi soldiers captured him. Father Sampson marched 185 miles along with the other POWs in ten days. 1,500 men were crammed into overcrowded boxcars. With no food and only snow to use as water, Father Sampson went from man to man, offering physical and spiritual help. Imprisoned for five months,

Sampson was the only Catholic Priest tending to 5000 American POWs. He held mass daily and offered non-denominational services. Many contemporary reports show his great kindness, courage, and devotion to others during that terrible time.

“Saving Private Ryan” and Father Sampson

After his selfless heroics on the day and before his harrowing imprisonment, Father Simpson settled on a mission of mercy that is considered to be the inspiration for “Saving Private Ryan.” During the Normandy campaign, Father Sampson selflessly volunteered to stay behind in a makeshift hospital, caring for the wounded and staying with the men who could not walk. The Germans captured Father Sampson, who put a gun to his head. He was spared when one German realized he was a Priest.  At the hospital, he met Fritz Niland. The paratrooper told him that two of his brothers had been killed on D-Day. Making matters worse, a third brother was reported missing in the Pacific. Father Sampson arranged for Sgt. Niland is to be sent home. As did the fictional Private Ryan, Niland refused to leave his post. He said, “I’m staying here with my boys.”

Sampson would not budge, “You can take that up with General Eisenhower or the president, but you’re going home.”

Father Sampson After The War

Father Simpson never entirely left the military, serving heroically in Korea, where his courage and kindness were noted by the grateful man he served. In 1967, Father Francis L. Sampson, the World War II ‘Paratropp Padre,’ was appointed Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Army! General Sampson, in his 70s, continued serving throughout the Vietnam War. He always spent Christmas with the troops. Stateside, he served as the president of the U.S. and never tired of visiting any soldier in any hospital. He died of cancer at 83 on January 28, 1996, and was widely mourned by men who had served in three conflicts. The movie “Saving Private Ryan” premiered ten years after his death. It is a shame that he is not mentioned in the beautiful film.  His heroic life should inspire all of us.