Irish Veterans Historical Research Centre Ltd

Admin Office: Capel Chambers, 119 Capel Street, Dublin 1, Republic of Ireland.

Tel/Fax: (353.1) 87 22 371.  E-mail:Sec@IrishVeteransResearch.com

When I left Dysart, my boyhood home in South Roscommon, in the west of Ireland more years ago now than I care to recall, Ireland was an economically starved backwater, an insignificant dot on a very large map.  The country had struggled through the war years – or, the ‘Emergency’, as it was known here – and in the opinion of many, that emergency lasted well into the 1980s and 90s before the advent of the Celtic Tiger.

Leaving the boreens of Roscommon at 16, and all the villages and simple farming folk I had grown up amongst, was more than a difficult journey of fear and trepidation at what the future might hold.  It was almost the equivalent of stepping from one world into another, more extraordinary, ‘future world’.  Moving from an age of turf and donkey, to atomic power and, only a few years on, men aiming for the moon and stars.

And of course, I wasn’t alone.  Ireland’s landscape was already pitted with the tracks of her emigrants, and Ireland’s history misted with the tears of her children.  Work was what you could get, when you could get it.  For many it was building the great railways of the world, constructing the giant dams, digging out the canals, and burying friends who were unlucky enough to lose their lives in the increasing struggle to survive.

For others, myself included, the United States Army called, and when Uncle Sam cast his benevolent eye in your direction, your choices became very limited indeed.  Money was still scarce, even in the land of opportunity, and if you were selected, advanced infantry training got you a few dollars more.  Being young, inquisitive and adventurous, Airborne School became my next step, and from there to the all-volunteer 173^rd Airborne Brigade.  Other Irish became part of other Units, and other branches of the Service.  Irish women serving were scattered throughout the length and breadth of the military, in a variety of roles, and of course to a Combat Infantryman, in that most important of all roles – the Nurse.

For myself, and for many of my contemporaries, it was the war in Vietnam that came up.  For others it was other armies, other theatres, other regions of the world.  Korea took Irishmen and women, many of whom have yet to be identified.  The World Wars, and the conflicts in between took tens of thousands more.

Irish men and women served in The Gulf War, and doubtless you wouldn’t have to go far in Afghanistan today to hear a distinctive Irish accent emanating from some camouflaged emplacement.

Supporting the establishment of a Memorial here in Ireland to all these men and women, many of whom are still to be identified, is not much to ask of all of us who were born into freedom and liberty.  Whether men fought and died as a result of the often random lottery of military service, or whether they carried sincere ideals into battle with them, matters little in the final analysis.  The fact is they did don the uniform of their adopted land, and gave of their time, and in so many cases, gave of their lives.

My colleagues and I, as Directors of the Irish Veterans Memorial, ask for your support in a very worthy endeavour.  To establish a Memorial to all those Irish men and Irish women who served, and especially those who died serving, over the last 100 years and more.  A site has been identified in the centre of Ireland, by the Athlone-Roscommon road, where an old disused church is waiting to be renovated and transformed into a living Memorial to our fellow countrymen and women.  ‘A Living Memorial’ because we see it very much as history yet to be recorded.  The Irish men and women who served were, as someone has said, ‘not written out of Irish history, because they were never written into it in the first place’.

Serving on the Project presently are men like Wexford born Ed Somers, John Hawkins and Harry Cookman, who served in Vietnam, Korea and World War II respectively.  Men like Mayo born Gay Nevin, who lost a brother to the war in Vietnam, or Ron Howko, living in Mayo after retiring out at Master Sergeant level after 30 years.  Men like Mike Coyne, who emerged from the fields of battle with three Purple Hearts, and a Bronze Star with ‘v’ device for rescuing men from a minefield in the middle of an ambush.  Or Brendan Dodd, the Dubliner who joined the United States Air Force and then the US Army, and saw service all over the world, including the 196^th Infantry Division, Vietnam.  Or Otis Daniels, Combat Engineer now living in County Meath.

Your valued and consistent support, both in financial and other areas, is needed now to take this project on to the next level.  A financial contribution now will go a long way to help attain our goal.  Financial “Letters of Comfort” also, which may be honoured at a later stage of the development, can be especially helpful in attracting a range of extra support here in Ireland.

In coming months we will be seeking to put in place a broader Advisory Board, drawn not alone from Veterans Organisations but also to include individuals who have specific talents the project could draw upon.  We welcome interest from any individual, corporation or organisation who feel they would have something to offer in this regard.

Success in this venture means receiving your support.  I am as proud and honoured to be involved as President of this project as I am of my service in the United States Military.  Survival in combat, as every soldier knows, is as often a matter of sheer luck as any other factor.  For all those of us who have survived, and who have welcomed more sunrises than perhaps we feel we’ve deserved, it is incumbent upon us to never forget those who have gone before.  It is, I believe, incumbent upon us all to do what we can to ensure they are never forgotten, always remembered and forever honoured.

I ask your support for a worthy and honourable cause, and I ask it from the bottom of my heart.

Please spread the word wherever you can.  Please send whatever you raise.  Please support however you are able.

Tom Kelly (ex-Sgt 173^rd Airborne Brigade, Vietnam 1965-66)

Past-Commander, Commodore John Barry American Legion Post, Claremorris, Ireland

Member in good standing Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America

President, Irish Veterans Historical Research Centre Ltd

Incorporated as a Limited Company under the Companies Acts 1963-2001.  No 358691.

Irish Veterans Historical Research Centre Ltd is a registered charity No CHY14643.