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4 unusual facts about Tim Vakoc


New Hope, Minnesota

Chaplain (Major, retired) Tim Vakoc – first United States military chaplain to be critically injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, died in New Hope

St. Anthony, Minnesota

H. Timothy ("Tim") Vakoc – former associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, in St. Anthony, and the first U.S. military chaplain to die from wounds received in the Iraq War.

Tim Vakoc

He was critically injured on May 29, 2004, when his Humvee was struck by an IED (improvised explosive device) as he was returning from celebrating Mass for soldiers.

Vakoc received the Purple Heart in his room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center during a private ceremony limited to immediate family members, Army personnel, and then-U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, who presented the medal.



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