Last year, the U.S.S. Mason arrived in Derry, honoring the crew of the ship’s World War II namesake, which made port in Northern Ireland in 1944. ℘℘℘ Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, squared up in their dress blues, shoes and buttons shining, the officers and crew of the U.S.S. Mason (DDG-87), 250 strong, faced the Celtic Cross MemorialRead more..
Patrick Gallagher, who everyone called Bob, left County Mayo at 18 to live in America. Four years later, in April 1966, he was drafted and enlisted in the U.S. Marines and, following basic training, travelled home to let his family know he had joined up. He didn’t, however, tell them he was being deployed toRead more..
Now in its tenth year, the Wounded Warrior Project’s Adaptive Watersports Festival invites injured veterans to Rockaway Beach for a weekend of restorative mental and physical activity. Removed from the scaffolding of Manhattan in the middle of one of the country’s oldest and most vocally patriotic Irish neighborhoods, the Wounded Warrior Project’s Adaptive Watersports FestivalRead more..
Dr. Francis O’Donnell and his daughter, Dr. Mary O’Donnell, have dedicated their careers as physicians to serving our soldiers. The story of their service to their country and to our servicemen and women is a reminder of what makes our military great – the people. “I was not interested in the military,” Francis O’Donnell recalls.Read more..
OVER 210,000 IRISH ENLISTED IN THE BRITISH ARMY DURING WORLD WAR I. AMONG THEM WERE DOCTORS SUCH AS MY GRANDFATHER WHO TENDED THE WOUNDED AND SAW THE BRUTALITY OF MODERN WARFARE UP CLOSE. “A British advance has just begun, and the surgeons of a Divisional Collecting Station near the Somme are awaiting the arrival ofRead more..
September 11 has become this generation’s “Day of Infamy.” The terrorist attacks forever changed the way we live, and have made our daily lives more difficult. A secure environment can no longer be presumed. Some post 9/11 changes, however, have been positive. Is there anyone who doesn’t now have a greater appreciation for our policeRead more..
Father Frank O’Grady, a U.S. Army chaplain at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was awarded a medal of heroism for his work following the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. Fr. O’Grady, who hales from Gurteen, County Sligo, was presented with the Army Commendation Medal for “exceptional meritorious service.” He was cited for leadership, dedication to dutyRead more..
When American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the of the Pentagon on September 11, Commander Charles E. Coughlin, like hundreds of other Pentagon employees, started to evacuate. “But then I began to think of my wife and four children,” he recalls. “And I would hope if they were in a situation like this someone wouldRead more..