This Jesuit Earned Two Bronze Stars: Fight! Fight! Fight!

REV. WALTER HALLORAN Died Mar. 1, 2005

Jesuit priest Walter Halloran died at age 83 in a Jesuit retirement home. Rev. Halloran was the last surviving priest who performed the 1949 exorcism on a 14-year-old Mt. Rainier, (The Haunted Boy) Maryland boy. That exorcism was the inspiration for writer William Peter Blatty, author of the book "The Exorcist."

The real exorcism was performed at a St. Louis psychiatric hospital by Rev. William Bowdern. Rev. Halloran was asked to help control the child as he was having violent seizures.

Rev. Halloran’s nose was broken during the exorcism. He appeared as himself in the documentary about the real exorcism: "In the Grip of Evil." Rev. Halloran served his country in Vietnam. He earned two Bronze Stars as an airborne chaplain.

Link (here)