Report of the Supreme Knight 2009

Fourth Degree

Father Tim Vakoc, Catholic priest, Army chaplain and Fourth Degree Knight, died in June of injuries suffered in an IED explosion in Iraq in 2004, just after he celebrated Mass for his troops.

Membership in the Fourth Degree of the Order grew to 310,719 during the fraternal year which ended on June 30. There were 288 exemplifications held, and a total of 15,403 men were initiated into our Patriotic Degree. After deaths, suspensions and withdrawals, we had a net increase of 5,506 new Sir Knights.

We added 65 new Fourth Degree assemblies during the fraternal year, and there are now 2,862 assemblies around the world.

Continuing to recruit new Fourth Degree members is important for a number of reasons, not least because a Fourth Degree Knight is statistically much more likely to retain his membership in the Order and to be an active Knight.

The Supreme Master tracks information on brother Knights who have given the last full measure of devotion in the conflict in the Middle East. Since the attack on 9/11, 33 brother Knights serving in the armed forces have lost their lives in combat, as well as two Squires and one civilian.

The most recent brother Knight to die of war-related injuries was Father Henry Timothy Vakoc, an Army chaplain who was severely wounded in northern Iraq in 2004. Father Tim died on June 20, after a five-year struggle with injuries sustained in an IED explosion as he was leaving a site where he had just offered Mass. He was in a coma for two years afterward and, with the support of many friends and brother Knights, he fought to recover from his wounds. He was retired from the Army with the rank of major, and was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Father Tim was an honorary Life Member and a Fourth Degree Knight. He joined the Order at the age of 18. He was a member of Council 3656 and Assembly 526.

Father Tim is the only military chaplain to have been killed in action - or from wounds suffered while in action - in the Iraq War. He is the latest of a great many Knight-priests who have died in the wars of the past century, serving the men and women of the armed forces with great courage and dedication.