DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Now, some men pick one life and live it well. Marius Etienne Chataignon picked about four — and lived every single one of them all the way to the edge.
He was born on September 17, 1886, in France. Served in the French army, as young Frenchmen did. But somewhere along the way, the road turned west.
He came to the United States in 1907, and by 1910 he was in Texas — La Porte, to be specific — attending St. Mary's Seminary. After his ordination, he was appointed assistant pastor at St.
Mary's Cathedral in Galveston in 1911. A priest. A shepherd.
A man of the cloth. But that cloth was about to get a whole lot of miles on it. When World War I broke out, Father Chataignon went back to France — not as a soldier this time, but as a U.S.
Army chaplain. Walking into the noise and the ruin of that war wearing a collar instead of a rifle. That takes a particular kind of courage, and he had it in abundance.
He came home, and in 1923 he was appointed chaplain in the U.S. Army Officers Reserve Corps, serving also with the Texas National Guard's 36th Division. Then in 1924 he became pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Galveston.
You might think a man would settle in after that. You would be wrong. Because when World War II came calling, Father Chat — that's what they called him, Galveston's soldier priest — answered.
In 1942 he was promoted to the rank of colonel and served as chief chaplain of the II Corps, 5th Army. North Africa. Italy.
The whole brutal, grinding march of it. And in 1943, while he was still in the middle of all that, Pope Pius XII appointed Father Chataignon to the rank of domestic Prelate. Monsignor Chataignon returned to Sacred Heart Church in 1945 — a highly decorated veteran.
He retired from the army in 1953, after decades of service across two world wars and two continents. Back in Galveston, the Monsignor didn't exactly slow down. During his years as pastor at Sacred Heart, he was instrumental in the establishment of Odin High School for Boys, which became Kirwin High School.
He organized Boy Scout troops. He built community the way a man builds a fire — steadily, patiently, with real intention. Marius Etienne Chataignon died on November 18, 1957, and he is buried at Mt.
Olivet Cemetery in Dickinson. A native of France who served two nations, crossed the ocean more times than most people cross a county line, led men through the worst wars the world ever conjured, and still found time to build a high school and organize the scouts. The marker remembers him as Galveston's soldier priest.
Sounds about right to me.
What the marker says
(September 17, 1886 - November 18, 1957) A native of France, Marius Etienne Chataignon served in the French army before coming to the United States in 1907. He came to Texas in 1910 to attend St. Mary's Seminary in La Porte. After his ordination, he was appointed assistant pastor at St. Mary's Cathedral in Galveston in 1911. Chataignon served as a chaplain in the U. S. Army in France during World War I. Appointed chaplain in the U. S. Army Officers Reserve Corps in 1923, he also served with the Texas National Guard, 36th Division. In 1924 he became pastor of Galveston's Sacred Heart Church. In 1942 "Father Chat, Galveston's soldier priest," as he was fondly known, was promoted to the rank of colonel and served as chief chaplain of the II Corps, 5th Army in North Africa and Italy during World War II. Pope Pius XII appointed Father Chataignon to the rank of domestic Prelate in 1943. Monsignor Chataignon returned to Sacred Heart Church in 1945 a highly decorated veteran and retired from the army in 1953. During his years as pastor at Sacred Heart, "Father Chat" was instrumental in the establishment of the Odin High School for Boys which became Kirwin High School, and he organized Boy Scout troops. He is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Dickinson. (1991) Incise on base: Msgr. Chataignon Knights of Columbus #9978