Pope Leo comes from a Navy family! Pope Leo XIV’s father, Louis Marius Prevost, served in the Navy during World War II. After graduating from college, he was commissioned in November 1943 and became the executive officer of a tank landing ship. He participated in the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, June 6, 1944, as part of Operation Overlord. He also commanded an infantry landing craft, which the Allies used to land infantry soldiers and Marines onto beaches during the war.

The Normandy coastline did not have the port capacity for the enormous number of materials needed to keep the Allied momentum going. The Navy subsequently sent Prevost and other landing ships to southern France, as part of Operation Dragoon beginning Aug. 15, 1944.

Prevost spent 15 months overseas and attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade before the war in Europe finally ended, May 8, 1945.

Credit: By David Vergun, DOD News