Exploring history’s mysteries, one leaf at a time.
Bernard Pius Leahy
1893-1918
It seems that a member of my family has served in every war the United States has been involved in from the Revolutionary War through at least the Vietnam War. Most of them lived to tell the tale. Some did not. This post is about one member of my family tree who never came home.
Bernard Leahy was born in Sawkill, New York on September 26, 1893, the fifth son and seventh child of Bernard Leahy and my second great-grandaunt, Anna J. Haggerty. By the age of 16, Bernard was working as a quarry man at a blue stone quarry. In June of 1916, Bernard was working as a special patrolman for the 74th Precinct of the NYC Police Department in Brooklyn when he was drafted for World War I. He was given the rank of Sergeant, assigned to the 307th Infantry Regiment and shipped off to France.
On the night of September 12, 1918, Sgt. Leahy was on patrol just north of Fisme, France. The Battle of Fisme and Fismette had ended on September 1st and the patrol was out to locate and establish an observation post. During that patrol, Sgt. Leahy encountered either a German patrol or outpost and received a machine gun bullet to the abdomen. Despite the severity of his injury, he managed to make it to a first aid station unaided, but later died of his injuries in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
This American hero, received full military honors upon his return to Sawkill and was remembered by his captain and company as a “splendid soldier”. Unfortunately, his life was cut short, a casualty of a war fought defending the freedoms we all take for granted each and every day. I salute Sergeant Bernard Pius Leahy and thank him for his service to our nation and for making the ultimate sacrifice for his country and countrymen.