Memorial Day, The Irish, The Congressional Medal of Honor, and Private Cornelius J. Leahy
The Congressional Medal of Honor is bestowed "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in actual combat against an armed enemy force." The medal is awarded by the President of the United States on behalf of the Congress.
Of the almost 3,500 Medals of Honor awarded to date, 58% have been awarded to Irish-American recipients, more than twice the number awarded any other ethnic group. The 257 Medals of Honor awarded to Irish-born recipients represent more than half of all foreign-born recipients. A monument to these Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients is in the Medal of Honor Grove in Valley Forge. It was erected by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (a photo appears with this article).
On this Memorial Day weekend, the Ancient Order of Hibernians honors the twelve Irish-Americans recipients who were born in the USA, died in combat, and were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. These twelve made the supreme sacrifice:
World War I - Michael J. Perkins, South Boston, Massachusetts
World War II - Daniel J. Callaghan, San Francisco California
World War II - Robert Craig, Toledo, Ohio
World War II – Thomas McGuire, Ridgewood, New Jersey
World War II - William J. O'Brien, Troy, New York
Vietnam War - Thomas J. McMahon, Washington, District of Columbia
Vietnam War - Thomas P. Noonan Jr., Brooklyn, New York
Vietnam War - Daniel J. Shea, Est Norwalk, Connecticut
Vietnam War - Lance Sijan, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
War in Afghanistan - Michael P. Murphy, Smithtown, New York
War in Iraq - Ross A. McGinnis, Meadville, Pennsylvania
War in Iraq - Michael A. Monsoor, Long Beach, California
There has been only one Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who was born and raised in Ireland, emigrated to the USA, and lost his life in combat. His name was Private Cornelius J. Leahy.
Cornelius Leahy was born in June 1872 in County Limerick, Ireland as Conor Ó Laochdha. When he was a teenager he moved to San Francisco with his mother, two brothers and two sisters. He had just graduated from Lincoln High School when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. He volunteered to serve with the Third Artillery in the Philippines. In 1899, he joined the 36th Volunteer Infantry on Luzon, the Philippines largest island.
He earned the Medal of Honor for actions that occurred on September 3, 1899, during operations against the forces of Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo. Earlier that year, Aguinaldo had declared war on U.S. forces in the Philippines. Private Leahy’s scout patrol was ambushed in the jungles near Porac, Luzon. One American soldier was killed, and another seriously wounded; both were still lying exposed in the field of action. Without regard for his own safety, and under the heavy fire of the enemy, Private Leahy rushed into the battlefield to remove the body of his dead comrade and carried the wounded man to safety.
His Medal of Honor Citation Reads:
“The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Private Cornelius J. Leahy, United States Army, for distinguished gallantry in action in driving off a superior force and with the assistance of one comrade brought from the field of action the bodies of two comrades, one killed and the other severely wounded, this while on a scout on 3 September 1899, while serving with Company A, 36th Infantry, U.S. Volunteers, in action at Porac, Luzon, Philippine Islands.”
Leahy was later killed in action on December 1, 1900. His Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded in 1902. Private Leahy is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery.