The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots: From Combat to Camelot to Katrina -- A Memoir of an Extraordinary Life - Hardcover

The 82nd Airborne:
"Gripping the door's rim for leverage, I hurled myself into the air, doing a half-turn. The propeller instantly ripped open my chute, followed by a terrific body wrench courtesy of my skin-tight harness. In seconds, my entire body was reacting to a forced sudden stop after going 120 miles an hour in a plane."

Freeing Jews in Germany:
"Walking into the barracks, we were immediately assailed by a suffocating stench, leading to the shocking panorama of hundreds of half-alive, emaciated prisoners, dressed in tattered, utterly soiled uniforms, shuffling amongst clumps of corpses as if they were not there.... Never in my life had I experienced nor will I ever again such an incomprehensibly barbaric insult to the human spirit."

John F. Kennedy:
"I could never have imagined that my first conversation with then-Congressman Jack Kennedy was the beginning of a collaborative, mutually respectful friendship that would last until his death. It would also remain a secret. I could not never did publicize our relationship."

Vatican II:
"Little did I realize that Vatican II would become another defining moment in my life as a priest and bishop.... I spoke passionately about the morality of nuclear deterrence, a position that at first isolated me from my brother bishops, but eventually was adopted by the full council. That remains to this day, one of my most cherished achievements."

Pope John Paul II:
"My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the pope.... He looked dead tired. I said, Your holiness, welcome to New Orleans, and thank you for coming here. ... But as he walked down the aisle, he walked shakily. I said to myself, How will this work out?"

Hurricane Katrina:
"St. Nicholas of Myra Church was destroyed by the storm surge, and Father Red's body was never found.... At the height of the surge, the water was estimated to be 30 feet high. Red had no chance. The only things left of the church were some structural steel beams."

Archbishop Philip Hannan is the retired bishop of New Orleans.

Nancy Collins is a respected journalist whose in-depth interviews have appeared on the covers of Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Rolling Stone, and others. She has interviewed politicians and actors. She has been an on-air correspondent for NBC's "Today Show and ABC's "Primetime Live" and "20/20".

Peter Finney, Jr. has served as executive editor and general manager of the Clarion Herald, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans since 1993. In 2001 and 2009, he was named by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada as the national winner of the Individual Excellence Award for an Editor/Writer. He is a former sportswriter for the New York Post and New York Daily News.