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What does courage look like when your work is to stand beside men under fire?
In Father Duffy's Story, Francis Patrick Duffy follows the soldiers he serves as Catholic chaplain of the 165th Infantry, the Fighting Sixty-ninth. His memoir takes you through long weeks of training, cold billets, and the trenches of Lorraine. This is war seen from the ranks, where a priest goes where his men go.
As the regiment faces the hard fighting of 1918, Duffy keeps officers and privates in view. He records their jokes, songs, letters, faith, and grief alongside the combat. Drawing on his own notes and experience, he shows a New York militia unit becoming a fighting force—and explores what a chaplain can offer men under fire.
What you’ll discover
- A scholar among soldiers Follow a seminary teacher into wartime service, where his work brings him close to fighting men.
- The Fighting Sixty-ninth Meet an Irish regiment whose old name carries weight as it prepares for a new war.
- Life beyond the fighting Find jokes, songs, and letters beside the cold billets and grief of soldiers' daily lives.
- From Lorraine to Champagne Move from the regiment's first trench duties to the hard fighting of the summer.
- A chaplain's practical care Explore what service means for Duffy through his place beside the men who trust him.
Who will love it
For readers who love military history, Irish American history, and stories of faith in wartime, and for anyone who wants to see the First World War as ordinary soldiers lived it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A priest who chose to march
- An old regiment becomes a new one
- Crossing the sea and learning the trade
- First trenches in Lorraine
- Standing firm in Champagne
- The bitter road to the Ourcq
- St. Mihiel, the Argonne, and the end
- What a chaplain does for fighting men
- Home, memory, and what the book left
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La historia del Padre Duffy
by Francis Patrick Duffy · 1919
Father Duffy goes into the trenches with the Fighting Sixty-ninth, bringing compassion to men facing fear and loss.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What does a priest do when his regiment marches into battle? Francis Patrick Duffy answers by going with it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A priest who chose to march
Francis Duffy is born in Cobourg, Ontario, and grows into a scholar. He teaches at the Catholic seminary at Dunwoodie, near New York City, and helps edit a journal of theology. Nothing in that life of books makes him an obvious soldier.
Yet he is drawn to the Sixty-ninth, the regiment with deep roots in the city's Irish community. He becomes its chaplain and goes with it to the Mexican border in 1916. There he learns how soldiers live.
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What is Father Duffy's Story about?
It is a memoir by the chaplain of the 165th Infantry, the Fighting Sixty-ninth of New York, covering the regiment's training, trench service, and battles in France during the First World War, seen through a priest's eyes.
Who was Father Duffy?
Francis P. Duffy was a Catholic priest and seminary professor who became chaplain of the Sixty-ninth New York. He served with the regiment in France, won high military honors, and is remembered by a statue in Times Square.
Who was Joyce Kilmer in the book?
Joyce Kilmer was a poet who served in the regiment. He was a close friend of Duffy, and the book remembers him warmly as a cheerful, devoted member of the regiment.
The author
Francis Patrick Duffy
1871–1932 · American priest and military chaplain
Francis Patrick Duffy (1871–1932) was a Roman Catholic priest born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. He lived and worked in New York City and served as a United States Army chaplain during the First World War. He wrote Father Duffy’s Story, published in 1919. He died in New York City.
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