Edward Henry photographs

Edward C. Henry was born in 1912 in Trenton, New Jersey, the youngest of 10 children. He graduated from Our Lady of Angels Seminary at Niagara University in New York. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 13, 1937. He enlisted in the United States Army and served as a chaplain in Texas, England, and France. On August 25, 1944, Father Henry and his regiment assisted in the liberation of Paris soon after the landings in Normandy that June. In reflecting upon his service as an army chaplain, he noted that "it was hard to get used to," as soldiers "half alive would come in and you try to ease their last moments." He was one of the first American priests to say mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame post liberation. Father Henry traveled throughout France, performing last rites, saying mass, and administering communion to the troops. After the war, he returned to New Jersey and led three congregations prior to retiring in 1970. He died in 1999, age 87 years old.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Estate of Edward Henry

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by John Grasser.