THOMAS MORAN O’LEARY

HAMPDEN – Thomas M. O’Leary, 83, was such a soldier and more; he was also a very good man. He died 7 p.m. Friday, April 20, 2007, at a Bangor hospital, after a short illness resulting from complications of injuries he suffered from a fall in his East Hampden home. Thomas Moran O’Leary peacefully passed away in the presence of his only surviving sister and a few loving cousins. Mr. O’Leary was born April 3, 1924, the son of the late Edwin (Dolan) and Hannah (Moran) O’Leary. In the mid-1960s, Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler wrote and sung a popular song called “The Ballad of the Green Berets.” In one line he sung, “Put silver wings on my sons’ chest, make him one of America’s best,” challenging his wife to raise their son so he joins the Army and earns the silver wings of a Special Forces solider affectionately called “Green Berets” because of the hat they wore. Mr. O’Leary was born April 3, 1924, the son of the late Edwin Dolan and Hannah (Moran) O’Leary. He graduated from John Bapst High School in 1942 and was on their hockey team. He was an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan, unassuming and very good-natured. He volunteered for service during World War II, like many of this greatest generation had done, choosing to serve in the Army in Company A, 295th Engineer Battalion, as a pioneer/combat engineer. From March 16, 1943 to Dec. 1, 1945, he served at Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe, attaining the rank of Tech 5. This would be the first of eight enlistments he would complete in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. After completing his first tour of duty, he took a crack at civilian life for four years. He attended Husson College, completing a two-year course in commercial business. In August 1949, Mr. O’Leary entered the U.S. Air Force as a senior radar analyst and answered the call to arms for the Korean War, until October 1951. On his next enlistment in 1956, he volunteered for an Airborne Engineer Battalion, completing Airborne School at the age of 32. On and off for the next 17 years, Specialist 5 O’Leary would perform the duties of a combat engineer and demolition’s specialist. In 1962, he volunteered to be a medical corpsman and completed the U.S. Army medical school courses for corpsmen and another for aidmen in 1963. Sgt. O’Leary served in Vietnam from May 1964 to October 1965 as the corpsmen and demolition’s expert of a Special Forces “A Team.” In this capacity, Sgt. O’Leary was the sole source of immediate medical care for his isolated team. Treatment would extend from minor injuries to combat surgery. In the local villages, he would provide the people with much needed health care and medicines in an effort to maintain their health, nurture friendships and win their hearts and minds. He received an Army Commendation from Gen. W.C. Westmoreland for meritorious service in combating the Viet Cong insurgents and was promoted to staff sergeant. In 1966, Staff Sgt. O’Leary volunteered for the 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) and for his second tour in Vietnam from September 1966 to August 1967, for which he received a certificate of service and was promoted to sergeant first class. Upon completion of this term of service Sgt. 1st Class O’Leary took a six-month break in service for a well-deserved rest. He re-enlisted into the Army for his last tour of duty in December 1969 as a staff sergeant, losing a grade due to the break in service he took. Staff Sgt. O’Leary volunteered for yet another tour to Vietnam, serving from January 1970 to January 1971, at the age of 46, when most people are looking for a safe haven and retirement. Staff Sgt. O’Leary served nine months of this tour in Laos and Cambodia and was decorated with the Bronze Star for exceptional mer-itorious service and his third Bronze Service Star. Staff Sgt. O’Leary was the subject of a New York Times expose, which reported on his personal efforts to train and prepare Army nurses arriving in Vietnam to perform combat triage they would encounter, and to better treat the many varied and difficult combat injuries and traumas our solider suffered. In August 1971, Staff. Sgt. O’Leary graduated from the Defense Language Institute for Korean, and completed his final tour at Fort Hood, Texas. Besides Korean, he could communicate in Vietnamese, Laotian and Japanese. His other decorations include the World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal, Army Commendation with cluster, the Parachute Badge, the Combat Medical Badge, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and seven Good Conduct medals. After 21 years, 10 months of active military services, five years, five months of which was in combat, he qualified for retirement with full pay and benefits. Like his proud father before him, Staff Sgt. O’Leary believed it was a man’s duty and an honor to serve ones country, and he should expect nothing in return. On April 30, 1973, Staff Sgt. Thomas Moran O’Leary performed one more selfless act and refused to accept any retirement pay or the benefits he so well deserved, and chose to donate them back to the country he loved so. Mr. O’Leary entered his civilian career in Belton, Texas, working for a store chain in his field of construction, but rose to become store manager. He later sought opportunity in the construction field and moved to Jacksonville, Fla., and operated his own construction bus-iness, building large commercial buildings and airports. In 1998, Mr. O’Leary retired and moved back to his childhood home in East Hampden, to care for his two ailing sisters, Mad-eleine (Dolan) O’Leary and Mary O’Leary Kane, both of whom predeceased him. Tom lived a simple life and enjoyed long hikes around his childhood family orchard and lunches at MacDonald’s restaurants. He is survived by his sister, Charlotte O’Leary Janson; his brother-in-law and very good friend, John Janson of Saco; his maternal cousins, Betty and Bill Austin of Ellsworth and Catherine George of Dennisport, Mass.; several Moran family cousins of Ellsworth, Troy and Machias; and several Dolan family cousins of Canterbury, Conn., Stratford, Conn., Fairfield, Conn., Shelton, Conn., and Machias. He will be greatly missed by his loving family and his many area friends and neighbors. Tom never said good-bye, he always said, “so long.” Viewing is scheduled 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, May 1, at Hampden-Gilpatrick Funeral Home, 45 Western Ave., Hampden. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Matthews Catholic Church, 70 Western Ave., Hampden, with the Rev. Robert Vaillancourt, pastor, celebrant. Interment will be in the family lot at Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery in June, when the ground is dry.