Father Joseph T. O'Callahan, Medal of Honor receipient

Joseph Timothy O'Callahan was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 14,1905. He graduated from Boston College Preparatory School in 1922, and entered the Jesuit Order of the Roman Catholic Church shortly thereafter.

He received his bachelor's degree in 1925, master's degree in 1929, and became ordained in the Jesuit Order on 30 Jun 1934. Between 1927 and 1937, he was a professor of Mathematics, Philosophy, and Physics at Boston College.

Between 1937 and 1938, he was a professor of Philosophy at the Jesuit seminary of Weston College in Massachusetts. Between 1938 and 1940, he was the Director of the Mathematics Department at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.

On 7 Aug 1940, Father O'Callahan was commissioned a lieutenant (jg) in the United States Naval Reserve Chaplain Corps, assigned to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, United States. He was at Pensacola when the United States entered the war.

In 1942, O'Callahan was assigned to the aircraft carrier Ranger, serving off Norway and French Morocco. Between 1944 and March 1945, he served at the Naval Air Stations at Alameda, California and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

On February 12, 1945, he came aboard the aircraft carrier Franklin. On March 19, while only 50 miles off the Japanese home islands as indirect support for the Okinawa campaign, the carrier was attacked by a single Japanese dive bomber. Two 250-kilogram bombs hit the carrier, igniting fires and leaving the ship dead in the water with a 13-degree list.

Lieutenant Commander O'Callahan was in the thick of the raging fires, comforting his injured comrades and administering last rites to the dying while assisting with damage control tasks, despite also being wounded.

US Marine Corps pilot Mike Sansone helped manning fire hoses in a makeshift firefighting team led by O'Callahan; he recalled him bravely leading teams into the fire, safely bringing them out when explosions got too dangerous,and inspiring the men to go back in again when the shrapnels stopped flying.

"He couldn't be everyplace at once, though it seemed like he was." He also went down deep into the ship several times to lead over 700 men to safety. Franklin's commanding officer, Captain Leslie Gehres, described O'Callahan as "the bravest man I ever saw".

He was recommended for, and received, the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Chaplain on board the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy Japanese aircraft during offensive operations near Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. A valiant and forceful leader, calmly braving the perilous barriers of flame and twisted metal to aid his men and his ship, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan groped his way through smoke-filled corridors to the open flight deck and into the midst of violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets and other armament. With the ship rocked by incessant explosions, with debris and fragments raining down and fires raging in ever-increasing fury, he ministered to the wounded and dying, comforting and encouraging men of all faiths; he organized and led firefighting crews into the blazing inferno on the flight deck; he directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding of the magazine; he manned a hose to cool hot, armed bombs rolling dangerously on the listing deck, continuing his
efforts despite searing, suffocating smoke which forced men to fall back gasping and imperiled others who replaced them. Serving with courage, fortitude and deep spiritual strength, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan inspired the gallant officers and men of the Franklin to fight heroically and with profound faith in the face of almost certain death and to return their stricken ship to port."

O'Callahan was promoted to the rank of commander in Jul 1945 and transferred to the Navy Department and then to the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, United States, through the end of the war.

In October 1945, he was assigned to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1946, he served as Escort Chaplain as the body of the late Filipino President Manuel Quezon was carried from the United States to Manila, Philippine Islands. Released from active duty in November 1946, he returned to his civilian profession as a professor at Holy Cross College. He retired from the United States Naval Reserves in Nov 1953 and was promoted to the rank of captain on the retired list. He passed away at Worcester, Massachusetts in 1964.

The destroyer escort USS O'Callahan was commissioned in 1968 in his honor.

Sources: Inferno, United States Navy Naval Historical Center, Wikipedia.

Michael Corcoran, Medal of Honor recepient

MICHAEL CORCORAN
8th US Cavalry, Indian Wars



The family of Michael, Albert, James, Robert, Patti and Donna, we are delighted to have located you and be with you today. The Corcoran surname is found in ancient Irish annals. According to Edward MacLysaght, there are the Mac Corcrain sept (corcair purple), who are of the Ely O'Carroll country in County Offaly and there are the O Corcrain, who were an ecclesiastical family located near Lough Erne, County Fermangh.

Why have we gathered here today at Calvary Cemetery on behalf of one who bore the Corcoran name? Some would call these grounds a resting place for the dead. I look around me and see it is ground for the living.

In 1869, while Andrew Johnson was serving his last year as President, Michael Corcoran, a fellow 'Desert Rat,' served with the U.S. Army in the great Mojave Desert, territory of Arizona. It did not become a state until 1912. The United States at that time was younger, expanding westward to a place where the cultures of the Native American, and other Americans, clashed. Violence and savagery defined the borders

Military service in any desert is not easy duty. Back then it was even harder. Besides the dry heat of the day, the thirst, sudden nosebleeds and the surprising cold of the night, the troopers of the 8th Cavalry were confronted with the ever-present danger of violent death. In one of Corporal Corcoran's letters he wrote, "We had several fights with the Apache Indians this last winter. There is not a day but someone is shot here.....We had three men shot since we got here this spring."

The 8th Cavalry was up against the Apache; the name being a Zuni word meaning "enemy." Their own name for themselves was "Inde", or "the people." By 1869 Apaches were already veterans of fights against the Spanish Conquistadors and the Mexican Army. During Corporal Corcoran's military service the Apache nation was led by a man who has been called "a brilliant personal and charismatic leader, and immensely spiritual." We all know his name - Geronimo.

We don't know exactly what individual actions Corporal Corcoran took on that August day in 1869. We know he displayed courage, valor and unselfishness when he took action against an enemy of the day. Nonetheless, it tells us much about who Michael Corcoran was. In 1916 the government dropped 911 names from the roster of the Medal of Honor. Michael Corcoran's name was not one of them. His discharge papers simply say, "He was a good, sober and faithful soldier." His great-grandson Robert recalls that Michael enjoyed a cup on occasion.

We are here today because of our link to the past. The ancient Celts believed that death in this life meant birth into another life. And, consequently, they believed that birth into this life meant death from the other. While there can be no doubt Corporal Corcoran found himself in a situation that called upon this character and his military training, he didn't flee when danger presented itself. He respected himself and his "Band of Brothers.

General John P. Jumper, former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, spoke to a graduating NCO Class at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. "The character we seek to define is the fire of conscience that burns within us and superintends our conduct over a lifetime. But character is out of vogue in this world, whose standards are set more by the culture of Beavis and Butthead or the Simpsons, than by the standards of, say, our founding fathers: like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. These men were truly unique. They transitioned easily from the pulpit, to the plowshare, to the musket. They wrote the history of their time with powerful words that will live forever: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers; and they used words we don't hear today, words that describe the supreme traits of virtue and character that inspired them."

The Irish, it is sometimes said, suffer from too much history. It could be equally stated that Americans suffer from too little. Corporal Corcoran's act of valor on that day so long ago speaks to us of character and individuality.

On Friday, May 31, 1889, twenty years after his actions in the desert, this loving father and husband again saw the need to take immediate action. Perhaps he heeded telegraphed warnings from Elias Unger, President of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Unger had warned that the old "South Fork Dam," fourteen miles up the Little Connemaugh River, might give away. The dam, 450 feet higher than Johnstown, held the 3-mile long Lake Connemaugh. At 3:15 pm it broke, sending a crescendo of 20 million tons of oily and muddy water rushing down the Connemaugh valley at forty miles per hour. Over 2,000 people died and thousands more were injured in what has become known as "the Johnstown Flood." Again, by his individual action, reputed physical strength and possiobly help from others, Michael Corcoran demonstrated his character by saving his family from injury or death by drowning. He moved them all to higher ground before the floodwaters devoured most of the city.

If we chose to further examine the character of Michael Corcoran we would first see the character of the parents who raised him. We would also see others who were a part of his life; brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. And we would see him in his descendents today.

Perhaps the energy created here today by our presence and our prayers, will reach the spirit of both Michael Corcoran and his spouse Johanna Culliton. Perhaps this energy will nourish their spirit... and ours as well.

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