 |
| PFC Joseph Healey served in the 29th Infantry Division in the Battle of Brest.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138184116
https://echoesofawar.wordpress.com/tag/29th-infantry-division/ |
Today is National Gold Star Mother's Day, created by Congress in 1936 to recognize and honor the mothers who lost a son or daughter while serving in the US Armed Forces.
Joseph Patrick Healey never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Joseph was born on September 30, 1919 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His parents Joseph and Mamie were also born in Pennsylvania. His father worked as a laborer in a coal mine. He had four older sisters, two younger sisters, and one younger brother. In 1940, Joseph had completed six years of school and was living at home with his parents in Scranton. Prior to being drafted, Joseph was employed by the Schwartz Produce Company.
Joseph was drafted into the US Army in March 1942, trained at Fort Meade, Maryland and Ft. Benning, Georgia, and was stationed in Washington D.C. for a year before going overseas. In April 1944, he married the former Teresa Mary Brooks of Binghamton, New York. He served as a PFC in an antitank company of the 175th Infantry Regiment, which is the seventh oldest regiment in the US, with lineage that goes back to the Revolutionary War. The 175th IR deployed to England as part of the 29th Infantry Division in October 1942 and over the next year and half underwent intense training for the invasion of Europe, then landed at Omaha Beach on 7 June 1944. According to a newspaper story, PFC Healey went overseas in June 1944, but its not clear if he participated in the D-Day landing or joined the regiment sometime later as a replacement.
In the days following the amphibious landing at Omaha Beach, the 175th proceeded to its objective to seize the village of Isigny, then pushed through Isigny and crossed the Vire River and on to St Lo, battling stiff German resistance hedge row by hedge row. The 175th fought in Normandy until the end of August, then moved to Brittany to participate in the capture of the port city of Brest and the German submarine pens located there. By September Brest was surrounded and eventually stormed but the fight proved extremely difficult, as the German garrison was well entrenched and partially made up of elite paratrooper forces. PFC Healey was killed in action 9 September 1944, likely during the Battle of Brest.
Joseph Patrick Healey is buried in Cathedral Cemetery in Scranton, PA. I was unable to find any information on his widow.
_____
This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Airman Cecil Lanning, his sailor brother, and Band of Brothers' Lewis Nixon. You can read about Cecil here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
No comments:
Post a Comment