John Corcoran

A young man who was not destined to grow old The story of John Corcoran of Coolikerane in Duhallow one i often heard told By people far older than i was then decades ago Long before this thing known as time had become my foe John in his late teens went off to the U S of A Where by the U S Army he was sent to fight in Korea in a war far away Where he was badly wounded and from his injuries died in a hospital in Japan He died as he lived a heroic young man He died without children or without a wife And to save the life of another he sacrificed his own life Posthumously decorated by the U S Army for his acts of bravery Yet his tragic passing a sad time in Coolikerane for his friends and family Stories of war never make for a happy read And one war to another only does seem to lead The article published by Michael Cashman on the Millstreet Web Site another sad story of war Of a brave young man who died in battle from his home Parish afar And the comment by Denis O Sullivan a pupil then at Cullen School of how John's dad Broke the news of his son's death to Roger Kiely the Principal was so very sad Time is the great healer as the wise one does say But sad like happy memories for decades in the memory tend to stay In Coolikerane in Millstreet Parish his life's journey began And he migrated to the U S A as a young man He never had the chance for to father children and live on for to grow old and gray For he died as a young hero in a war far away.