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Duffy's
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| Duffy’s War: Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan,
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The legendary “Fighting 69th” took part in five major engagements during World War I. It served in the front lines for almost 170 days, suffering almost one thousand killed and thousands of others wounded. This highly decorated unit was inspired by its chaplain, the famous Father Francis Duffy (whose statue stands in Times Square and is now being restored) and commanded by the future leader of the OSS (predecessor of the CIA), “Wild Bill” Donovan. One of its casualties was the poet Joyce Kilmer. The lads of the 69th came from many of the Irish neighborhoods of Gotham, from the Gas House District, the Five Points, Hell’s Kitchen, from the East Side, the West Side, and from Brooklyn, Queens, Long island City, the Rockaways, Staten Island, and from Father Duffy’s own parish in the Bronx. They streamed out of the tenements and apartment houses, enlisting en masse. Brothers joined up, oftentimes three and four from one family. One of the lads from Harlem was Sgt. Richard O’Neill, whose heroics at the Battle of the Ourcq River earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. O’Neill, who was married to his next-door sweetheart after the war by Father Duffy, came home as New York State’s most decorated hero of the Great War. |
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Duffy’s War captures the story of all these brave New Yorkers through letters and diaries, some never seen before. Sergeant O’Neill kept one of the unpublished diaries. Also, the letters of Capt. Basil Elmer, Joyce Kilmer’s commanding officer in the regiment’s Intelligence Section, are made public for the first time. Weaving all these letters and dairies, including recently discovered letters by Father Duffy and rarely read letters by Wild Bill Donovan and Col. Frank McCoy, Duffy’s War is one of the best regimental histories to come out of America’s World War I experience. “If you are an Irish Catholic you will love this book. If you are just Irish you will enjoy it immensely. If you are merely a World War I historian you will find it valuable. If you are a social historian you will find it useful. If you are a student of the US Army you should read it regardless of your ethnicity, religious persuasion, or professional orientation. . . . How urgently you read this book depends on who you are, but no matter what the answer to that question may be, it will be worth your time. “As is his custom, Harris seeks material widely, drawing upon all sorts of evidence, from official documents and reports, to personal accounts, diaries, news stories and more to tell the story of the regiment and its men, and their role in the war. The regiment’s operations are clearly explained, within the context of the ‘Big Picture,’ thus fitting its experiences into the overall experience of the war. . . . A rattling good tale about a fine regiment. . . . There is, of course, a great cast, with Fr. Duffy and Bill Donovan in the lead, and a wealth of interesting New York characters in support.” “The more accurate story of the ‘Fighting 69 th” from New York, and its travails in Europe during the Great War. Going though all alongside the beloved Catholic chaplain, Duffy, and the great Irish lion, Donovan, is very worthwhile. A wonderful recall of the history of the Irish and other immigrants in New York, and how they worked and fought together in this conflict.” “The ‘Fighting 69th’ New York National Guard—known in the U.S. Army as the 165th Infantry—was the most famed regiment in the American Expeditionary Force. In this very readable book, Stephen Harris captures the spirit as well as the achievements of this legendary unit and its indomitable officers and men.” —Edward M. Coffman, author of the War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I “Riveting!” —Jack McCormack, Irish Edition, February 2007
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| St. Mihiel Trip-Wire Interview | |||||
© 2007 Stephen
L. Harris
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