17 Mar Fr. Cormac A. Walsh
The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC … one of the stops for the April 2nd Honor Air trip
On April 2nd the Roswell Rotary Club will charter a plane to fly just over sixty World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington DC to visit their memorials. This will be our sixth trip since 2008. It has been one of our most rewarding projects to honor these men … and yes, women too … who served our country so many years ago.
As a fundraiser, for a donation toward the trip I offered to create a tribute in honor of or in memory of a veteran of any war. The contributor only had to give me the name of the honoree and details of his service.
This is how I met Robert Allen “Bob” Moore. Bob served in Korea June of 1952 until May of 1953 in a combat rifle company. He was First Platoon Sergeant in Company I, 180th Regiment, 45th Division, and saw combat on the hills of Old Baldy, Heartbreak Ridge, and Sandbag Castle in the Punchbowl.
These days Bob is a member of a group of Korean War veterans who work with the USO to greet returning veterans from Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Bob wants to honor Father Cormac Walsh, the most decorated Chaplain of the Korean War. According to a 1955 AP report, “First Lt. Cormac A. Walsh of Boston; was the Regimental Chaplain of the 180th Regiment in the 45th Division.” He was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, three Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, the National Defense Service Medal, the Presidential United Emblem, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Four Chaplains Medal.
In 1955 President Eisenhower named him “Chaplain of the Year.” The citation stated that during the fierce fighting in July 1953, “He was a beacon of courage and inspiration to his regiment, repeatedly risking his life to help the wounded and organize litter bearers, himself carrying many men to safety.” It was for those acts of gallanty in July 1953 that Fr. Walsh was awarded his Fourth Sliver Star.
Bob remembered all of this and more. Father Walsh knew that Bob’s mother was Jewish, that his father was Christian, and that Bob had not been baptized.
On the 2nd day of February, 1953, Fr. Walsh told Bob that he had been informed by the CO that their platoon was expected to participate in an assault on enemy positions on Sandbag Castle the next day. Fierce fighting and casualties were anticipated. Fr. Walsh strongly urged and was finally able to convince Bob to bring two buddies as sponsors and meet him at 0600 the next morning on the reverse slope of Sandbag Castle, about thirty yards from the top of the hill. When the men arrived at the appointed time they saw that Fr. Walsh had set up an altar on the hood of his jeep, and on February 3rd Bob Moore was baptized, right then and there on Sandbag Castle.
I’m not sure about Bob, but I was having a hard time holding back the tears as he told me the story.
Following his military career, Father Cormac Walsh became prison chaplain at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, where he served for eighteen years. According to the website of Franciscan Friars, an inmate at the prison “summed up Fr. Cormac’s life: ‘He created a legend of goodness and left us a legacy of love.’ “
Fr. Walsh died of a heart attack on May 3, 1977 while on vacation in Florida. He was 61 years old, born as Dennis Walsh in Boston, Massachusetts, of Irish immigrant parents. When he entered the priesthood as a Franciscan Friar he was given the fine name of Cormac.
I can’t think of a better time to honor this wonderful man than on St. Patrick’s Day.
May there be a rainbow today, please, for Father Cormac Walsh.
May 2, 2014: Please see the comment below, a wonderful story about Father Walsh from someone else who knew him.
Related Posts
Honor Air Atlanta 2010
Honor Air Atlanta 2011
Honor Air Atlanta 2012
“Like” our Facebook Page to see more photographs of our trips.
Jerry S. Byrd
Posted at 13:46h, 02 MayHere is an article I wrote about Father Cormac Walsh to my parish, St. Anthony of Padua, in Greenville S.C. I will never forget him. Hon. Jerry S. Byrd (ret.)
Father Cormac Walsh
By
Jerry S. Byrd
When I was stationed in Germany in May 1955, I read in the military newspaper, the Stars and Stripes, that Chaplain Cormac Walsh had been named Chaplain of the Year. I knew Father Cormac. He was assistant pastor at St Anthony from the summer of June 1948 to late 1951. He taught Latham William and me catechism, baptized us in April 1950, and trained us to be the first alter boys at St. Anthony. He also presided over the young boys club. I tried to find him in Germany, but, little did I know at the time, he had received the award from President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House and was in the United States. Over the years I tried to find him with no success. As I approached retirement, I was able to put forth a more comprehensive effort. It was time consuming but I finally made some headway. What I found out about him was worth the effort.
Father Cormac was the most decorated chaplain of the Korean War. He received the Korean Service Metal, the United Nations Service Metal, three Silvers Stars, two Bronze Stars, the National Defense Service Metal, the Presidential Unit Emblem, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Four Chaplain Metals. His third Silver Star was received for evacuating wounded solders from the front line just nine days before the Korean War ended, July 27, 1953. He physically carried many to safety while under intense enemy fire. When asked about his heroic actions, Father Cormac said that he was very, very scared, but felt the Blessed Sacrament he had in his pocket and remembers that he had God with him. The Chaplain of the Year Award reads: “He was a beacon of courage and inspiration to his regiment, repeatedly risking his own life to help the wounded and organize litter bearers, himself carrying many men to safety.”
Father Cormac was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on January 28, 1916. His given name was Dennis. Cormac was the name given to him when he entered novitiate in August 1942. His father, a fireman, was killed while saving people from a burning building. “Dinny,” as Father Cormac was known, was the second child of Mary and Michael Walsh and was born three months after his father’s death. Father Cormac graduated from high school and worked for a plumbing contractor and learned a number of mechanical skills. It is interesting to note that his mechanical skills were put to good use when he organized the effort to convert the old house on Douthit Street into a convent and elementary school. The renovations were begun in the summer of 1950. During the day, a number of us teenagers were supposed to assist Father Cormac in the renovation. After about two hours of work, we would miraculous find ourselves in the gym playing basket ball, even in 95 degree heat—Poor Father Cormac was working in the none-air conditioned, hot house. He did most of the work
St. Anthony was Father Cormac’s first assignment after his ordination on June 12, 1948. He left St Anthony in late 1951 to become an Army chaplain. All of us in the boys club were sadden, but it was rumored that he needed to provide for his mother, for whom the Army provided an allotment. We understood. After basic training, Father Cormac was sent to Korea. After the Korean War, Father Cormac was assigned to Fort Mead, Maryland and remained there for sixteen months. He spent long hours administering to patients in the hospital and prisoner in the stockade. He doubled Mass attendance. His last assignment was as Chaplain of Dannemore State Prison in Clinton, N.Y., where he was known for his faith, courage, devotion, and pugnacity. He incurred the wrath of the Prison Administration and many of the town’s people in 1977 when he testified for an African-American prisoner who had been charged with assaulting eight prison guards—all at the same time. The prisoner was nevertheless found guilty.
Father Cormac died of a heart attack on May 3, 1977, while vacationing in Tampa, Florida. He was 61 years old, had been a Franciscan Friar for 33 years, and a priest for 28 years. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery along with his brother, Marine Gunnery Sergeant William Gary Walsh who won the highest military award, the Medal of Honor, for his action on Iwo Jima in February 1945.
At a memorial service in 1977 a prison inmate who knew Father Cormac said of him:” He was a man of towering size and goodness. It is impossible to relate all the things he did almost single-handedly for the betterment of the entire prison system. We shall not see his likes again. He created a legend of goodness and left us a legacy of love.” Surely St. Anthony was blessed to have Father Cormac pass our way, albeit for only a little while.
Pat DiGeorge
Posted at 15:10h, 02 MayJerry, thank you so much for your tribute to Father Cormac Walsh. I will share this with Bob Moore who knew him in Korea.
Dave Kenney
Posted at 14:35h, 08 AugustJust noticed this item on internet–I am a past Commander of the Wm G Walsh A/L.Post.. Father Cormac married my wife and I 57 years ago this month – Father Walsh also came to the post frequently while at Arch St –He used to bring ll the Franciscans and we had to have a member outside informing arriving members to “Watch their Language” with all the Monks in the Post. I also had the pleasure to bring a bouquet of flowers to Fathers Walsh’s Mother at Xmas while Commander and met his sister as well.
djk
Pat DiGeorge
Posted at 08:49h, 21 AugustDave, thank you for your contribution to this tribute of Father Cormac Walsh. How wonderful that he married you and your wife!