Roll of Honor
Home | About | Campus Tour | Help Us
James T. Deacy
- School: Journalism
- Class Year: 1936
- War: World War II
- Date of Death: July 13, 1944
Captain James T. Deacy, 137th Field Artillery, U.S. Army, was killed in action in France, July 13, 1944.
Tributes
Prior to leaving the states, he was an artillery instructor at Ft. Sill, OK. He was offered a more permanent position there, but he insisted that he be permitted to join the rest of his unit, when they were ordered to Europe. After a visit to his family in the Bronx, NY, he left for England, around the end of January, or the beginning of February, 1944. After being stationed in England for several months, he and his divisional comrades arrived in France, about eight days after D-Day, on Omaha Beach. Not long later, the 30th, and other units, became involved in a savage battle to take the city of St. Lo during the campaign to break out of Normandy. On the 13th of July, while directing artillery fire, he lost his life when enemy counterbattery fire found his position somewhere WNW- NW of St Lo, east of Haute Vents and west of the Vire River. His family received notification, some two weeks later. His remains were interred in a US military cemetery afterwards, and were later repatriated, in 1947, to be buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne N.Y. that same year. Thanks to all that remember him, and the other fallen graduates as well; they made the ultimate sacrifice. They have a lot to teach us still. May their stories never be forgotten. Rest in peace, amen!
- John Deacy
Is any of our information incorrect? You can submit corrections, additional photos, and/or tributes to uarchives@columbia.edu.