Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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On the night of July 30-31 he was in charge of an o])eralion on th.e Soissons-Rheiins front. I nder lieavv shell fire his men were carry- ing ainnuinition in the dark over a long and winding road. He was in the rear of the column. A shell exjiloded nearby and killed two men instantly. A piece of it crushed Joe ' s shoulder and right side — a wound that was so jiromptly fatal that he didn’t live even to be carried to the dressing station. There can he no doubt that he was buried with full military honors. His grave is in the Ollicers’ Cemetery at Chaumont. Joe was the most beloved ottieer in the regiment. He won our admiration not only by his charm and gaiety, but by a life that was transparently clean and straight. His religion meant everything to him. Night after night (when I have bunked with him in some dugout on the front) I have seen him kneel down and say his prayers, and he never missed an opportunity for Confession and Mass. What is more, he lived his religion and made it attractive. I showed your letter to the colonel and he said: “You can’t ])ut it too strongly; I have never known a finer otiicer.” I am a teacher myself in a theological school, and I should be j)roud if I might ever have as my reward a friend and pupil like Joe. We can’t help judging you and yours by bim, and him we shall always hold in loving remembrance and bigh honor. From the same. {This and the following lelters, unless olherwise specified, were addressed to the parents of Lieutenant Hanton.) I was one of Joe’s many friends, and that friendship meant so much to me and I feel so keenly the loss which his death has brought, that 1 believe I can understand a little of the sorrow that has come to you, and because 1 can do nothing more, I want to let you know of my dec])est sym])athy. I shall always regret greatly that I was not able to be of service at tbe time of bis death or burial, for I was witli another Com- l)any at another i)art of the front. Rut you will have heard already that Joe was buried with full military honors by one of the chaplains from (ieneral Head([uarters — one of our finest Catholic jiricsts — who has given me a letter which I am addressing to you. 1 have often wished during the last ten days that you could have heard (as 1 have) from the lijis ol otliccrs and men, or have read in the letters they have written home, all the words of praise and atfection which they naturally sjioke and wrote when they learned that Joe had been killed. It is tbe jilain and simjilc truth to say what vou and his family ought to hear- that he was the most beloved otiicer of the 75 now in this regiment. Always he was gallant and gay, straight and clean ol life. It has been good for all of us to know him and to be with him. M e shall miss him heavily. And yet we can’t help feeling that 20

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with the figure to the wall. Then too, paintings are slashed, persona ' i belongings torn to shreds, mirrors broken, ete. The damage of tin Hun lads equals the wreckage of a shell — all the direct mean intent is in the former. 1 never expect to like a Boehe or help a Boche after this exiicrience, and I feel that my friends must be tlie same way or I will lose them. Personally I have looted to the extent of taking two jiraycr-hooks and two rosaries from the ruins; also a crueitix with tlie words ' ’Tn Hoc Signo Vinces”; that is about my neck. 1 have the addresses of all the people from whom these came, and in time I wif write them. They were taken by an American officer at the time the first American troops entered the cit} , just eight or nine hours after the Boche evacuated. The French had gone through a couple of liours Ijefore, but we ourselves took down barricades and opened the roads just last Monday. And even then some old civilians were to be seen, just returned, I believe, and with all lost. Still the sight of the Yanks brought joy to their eyes and smiles to their lips. The French are wonderful. I had heard about John Ganster. Yes, Father, it is regrettable, and I hope it will be the last. But we must learn that the cost is to he great. We come across the bodies of the dead on the field and the Boehe arouses only curiosity. Tlie French and English we handle as part of the day’s work. The Yankee stuns us; the boys hate to see a dead American and hate comes easilj ; but they will see to it that that body is buried and the grave marked. We all dislike to care for the bodies of the Boche and only sanitary precautions will lead us to place the enemy below the ground. Away back home these feelings are not easily appreciated, but over here we all realize the thing that is going on, and we all act the same way, prompted by the same impulses and by the same motives. There is a philosophy of war. It means in essence: “Beat the eneni} ; protect your own.” He does not play the game squarely and we are going to meet him on his own terms. Well, Father, keep me posted. You tell me stuff that I can get nowhere else. Best of luck. Jqe TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OE LIEUTENANT HANLON. From the Protestant Chaptain of the Regiment, James Thayer Addison. Dear Father Fte ming our letter reached me yesterdav and 1 am glad ot the chance to tell you all I know about Joe Hanlon. 1 was not with liis comi)any when he was killed, hut 1 heard the storv from several who were. 19

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lo have been killed in action, helping the advance of victorious Ameri- can trooi)S, is surely to have died nobly. Because we know how he lived and how he died, he has not only earned our grateful praise, but in this regiment his name will always be held in honor and in loving remembrance. From the Catholic Chaptain, Francis A. Doherty. Doubtless you have already received the otficial notifieation of the sad yet glorious death of amr son, Joseph T. Hanlon, who fell at the front and was buried by me lierc, the funeral services being with full military honors. I knew Joseph from visiting his camp before they moved to where the fatalit} happened. In the course of my ministrations, I came by invitation one day to a camp where my services were desired, and I was assisted in the prepa- ration of the altar and appurtenances by Joseph, who served my Mass and received Holy Communion. He was a rare soul, a combination of a soldier and a saint, and in this I am borne out by his Company Commander, Cai)tain Carlock, who said that besides being a brilliant and able young otlicer, that he was one of the cleanest-souled young men he had ever met. Ca])tain Carlock was visibly ah ' ected by the sad affair and the loss of one whom he seemed to regard as a real brother in arms, for both had received at a former time the Croix de Guerre. Colonel Atkisson also told me that Joseph was much to him and to the regiment. The first one to fall was the first in their hearts. It may comfort you much to know that Joseph suffered no pain — complaining only that his arm felt asleep. He was calm and conscious, hut probably didn’t realize the gravity of his condition. The end came swiftly and silently and he went forward as a real Christian Catholic soldier. His comrades brought the body here and had all care taken so that the body was emh aimed, placed in a zinc-lined casket, and everything made sure by us of registration in event of future recognition or return of remains after the war. These efforts show how Joseph was loved by all — both officers and men. For you, Mrs. Hanlon, and for all the family and friends, I would offer such consolation and symjiathy as one may find in the knowledge and realization that God’s will was early fulfilled in tliis bright, brave young soul, whose life has left a fragrance and a benediction to all who have been privileged to meet him. May God comfort you in this knowl- edge and in His ])romises, and may he rest in glory! Amen. 21