US naval warship named after heroic young Irishman
The During As The Vietnam Patrick Of H Served 4th War With 2nd Corporal Of Pany Regiment A The Battalion Lance Gallagher The Marine
The US navy has just launched its latest warship, and named it after a heroic young Irishman who was decorated for his extreme heroism in the Vietnam War — after throwing himself on a grenade to save his comrades.
The US navy has named the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer after Patrick Gallagher, who was born in Derrigtogher, near Ballyhaunis, Mayo, and was the first Irishman to lose his life during that war.
The warship will be known as the USS Gallagher, in honour of the second eldest of a family of nine children who emigrated to America in 1962 to live with his aunt in Long Island, New York.
He joined the American military, and he was shipped out to Vietnam — where he served as a lance corporal with the H Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment.
At the age of 22, he was awarded the prestigious Navy Cross medal for his extreme selflessness and bravery when his position near Cam Lo was attacked by North Vietnamese troops on July 18, 1966.
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Early that morning, a North Vietnamese soldier lobbed a grenade in his defensive position.
LCpl Gallagher kicked it out and it exploded a safe distance away, not wounding him or his comrades.
However, seconds later another grenade was thrown into his trench, this time landing right between two of his comrades.
Without hesitation, the young Irishman threw himself on the grenade.
Miraculously, the grenade didn’t detonate. Afterwards his squad leader ordered him to throw it into a barrel of water where it immediately went off. Again, it was a miracle that nobody was injured or killed.
Unfortunately, LCpl Gallagher’s luck ran out when he was killed during a firefight with enemy troops near De Nang on March 30 the following year.
He was one of 30 known citizens from the Republic of Ireland who were killed while serving with US forces during the Vietnam War.
The citation announcing the naming of the new guided missile destroyer read: “Lance Corporal Gallagher is an American hero.
“His legacy will live on in the future USS Gallagher, and his heroic actions will continue to inspire future sailors and marines.”
Probably the most famous US warship with Irish connections was the USS Sullivan — named after five Irish-American brothers whose family hailed from Adrigole in West Cork.
Brothers Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison, and George all died after the American destroyer USS Juneau was sunk by a submarine during a naval battle with the Japanese at Guadalcanal, in the Pacific Ocean, in 1943.
To this day, their deaths remain the greatest single loss of life for any family in the history of the US at war.
There was a memorial erected in Adrigole to commemorate their unique sacrifice.