Ballyhaunis

One of our tour members is a USMC Vietnam veteran who did his tour in 1967. A month before he arrived in country, a young fellow was killed in a firefight. His name was Patrick Gallagher, born in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. He emigrated, followed his cousin into the Marine Corps, and was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary valor. When several grenades were tossed into a group, he tossed one out, kicked another out, and threw himself on to a third to protect his mates. The third did not explode, so he survived, but was killed a week later in a firefight. A missile destroyer ship will be named for him in the near future.

His cousin accompanied Patrick’s body back to Ballyhaunis, presented his flag and Navy Cross to his mother, and the whole town turned out for the funeral procession and graveside service. A standard issue US military gavestone is placed on the site, and veteran flag markers on the front corners, along with his parents’ more ornate marker.

The vet in our group, a retired firefighter from Petaluma and one of three on our tour, wants to visit the grave to honor the hero, read a poem, and place a veteran’s recognition pin that he had received in a recent thanks event. Our leaders have arranged for a brief detour off the highway and Martin, our bus driver, masterfully negotiates the secondary and tertiary roads and backs the bus into the small cemetery parking lot. The whole bus unloads and walks to the grave at the back of the acre or so, a fairly modern and tidy place, to witness the ceremony. Ed makes a little speech, lays the pin in honor of all those who did not survive to receive the current recognition for their service, and chokes up, attributing his own devotion to survivors guilt.