THE WALL OF FACES

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a great worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end triumph of high achievement and, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while caring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

I grew up hearing stories of my heroic Uncle Chrissy my whole life. My mom, Grace, was his little sister. She, along with all of my aunts and uncles, never had a bad word to say about him. They spoke of his humor, his talent, his love for his family, and his heroism. I grew up hearing stories about how he made a specific connection with each of his siblings, as the oldest, he made sure that they could all turn to him for advice, support, and friendship. I grew up looking through his art portfolios, because in addition to being heroic, he was also a talented artist. His little doodles on seemingly every scrap of paper he could get his hands on, provides a look into his beautiful mind and the unique way he saw the world. I grew up admiring a man I never had the pleasure to meet, but I can confidently say that he would be so proud of his siblings. They take care of each other. They love each other with a ferocity that I know they learned from him. I grew up loving my Uncle Chrissy in the way that he would have been proud of, without judgement and without condition. He was a big brother, a son, a hero, and artist, and my Uncle Chrissy.

Dear Cpl Christopher Meagher, Thank you for your service as an Infantryman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. The anniversary of the terror attacks just passed. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

I remember Chris and his entire family from Midland Beach, Staten Island, NY. Christopher lived next to my cousin Cpl. Louis W. Bellach, Jr. who was KIA in Sept. 1967. How sad that these two young men who resided next to each other would both give their lives 2 years apart. RIP both of you though the wounds and sadness never heal nor stop.

PFC Christopher W. Meagher was an infantryman serving with D Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. He was a grenadier in the platoon he was assigned, carrying a M79 grenade launcher. On February 21, 1969, PFC Meagher was on LZ Buff, an Americal Division forward firebase on a hill southwest of Chu Lai in Quang Ngai Province, RVN. In the early afternoon, his platoon rushed off the hill to assist another unit in contact at a small ville below Buff. The enemy had fled by the time Meagher’s platoon arrived, but they stuck around while four captured North Vietnamese Army nurses were being interrogated. A couple hours later, the two platoons began trekking back to Buff, with Meagher’s platoon leading the way. Meagher was in the “slack” position, right behind the point man. While moving atop a dike next to a water-filled rice paddy, the NVA suddenly sprung an ambush, unleashing a burst of fire from an adjacent tree line. The point man went down, as did the soldier behind Meagher. Near him a large explosion occurred which was later reported in Army casualty reports as a booby-trap detonating. What actually happened was the sack of M79 ammo Meagher carried was hit by the enemy rifle fire, causing the rounds to explode. The blast resulted in catastrophic injuries and he died instantly. The enemy quickly broke contact, and medics began treating the two wounded. A “dustoff” (evacuation helicopter) was called, and the three troopers were flown to an Army field hospital in Chu Lai. Meagher’s remains were turned over to Graves Registration where they were prepared to be returned home. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Ronnie Baily (July 2019)]