With the echoes of pipes and drums from St. Patrick’s celebrations still fresh in ear I turned my thoughts to the valor of Irish American Tommy Minogue on the 58th anniversary of his death in action in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam.
Tommy was a son of Inwood, the storied enclave in uppermost Manhattan from which many heroes, and some few rogues, arose.
Inwood is a fabled neighborhood that throughout the twentieth century was one of the many Irish-American communities that defined the urban, working-class existence of the Irish in New York City and elsewhere, an era that has for the most part been consigned to the history of our people.
Inwood was a singular place among those who called it home, with the Native American Lenape being the first of many people there, along with Jewish, Italian and other immigrant groups resident up to and including the predominantly Dominican and other Hispanic communities of today.
Still, it was the Irish who predominated and defined the area, particularly since the completion of the IND A train in 1932. It was in that mid to late twentieth century period that Inwood produced such sons as Tommy Minogue.
Inwood saw battle in the American Revolution and her people were represented in every conflict since, with many of the Vietnam era soldiers the sons of those who fought in the Second World War.
Tommy grew up in the heyday of Inwood in a family of five brothers, four of whom served in the military. Their father, a renowned NYPD detective, known as “One-Punch” Minogue for his ability to keep order when challenged would bring Mrs. Minogue and their five sons to Rockaway Beach and then Breezy Point in the summers.
The boys, on their own, would take the A train the entire route from 207th St. to Rockaway on sultry summer days, when they were not swimming in the Spuyten Duyvil, the turbulent waterway separating Marble Hill (attached to the Bronx but still politically a part of Manhattan) and Inwood, connecting the Harlem and Hudson rivers.
Growing up in this northern tip of Manhattan, much of the neighborhood’s social and athletic functions were based in the Roman Catholic Parish of Good Shepherd.
Inwood is blessed with green spaces, Isham and Inwood parks, as well as tar beaches where street games like Stickball, Handball and Stoopball, all of which entertained the brother’s Minogue, were played.
Jack Minogue, Tommy’s brother, is a well-known Trade Unionist, lead electrician at old Shea Stadium, and mentor to many younger sparks.
He is also a staunch friend of the renowned Chickie Donohue, Sandhog and one of the leaders of the Trade Union movement for many years.
Chickie, noted author of the book and movie, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever" which https://www.facebook.com/tells the story of how he took on the job of traveling to Vietnam to visit and bring beers to the neighborhood guys on active service in-country, landing right in the middle of the Tet offensive of 1968, and accomplishing his mission to remind those deployed that they were not forgotten at home, despite many adventures and near misadventures.
Chickie enters our story as Tommy Minogue’s death in combat was one of the incidents that inspired Chick to make his great beer run.
Inwood still has a remnant of the Irish traditions it is known for, and the unique urban Irish-Americans that became cops and firemen, construction trade unionists, professionals in law, finance and medicine, teachers, nurses and the many other pursuits that keep life livable.
It has also lost many of those sons and daughters through the years, the most recent mass loss being on September 11, 2001 when 22 of the community were taken, and requiems at Good Shepherd were daily or weekly.
In Vietnam, 28 of the sons of Inwood were taken, and Jack would also have been deployed there as he was in the U.S. army at the time his brother was killed, but was ordered compassionate assignment Stateside due to the crushing grief his and Tommy’s mother was going through.
In the midst of all the suffering, sacrifice and valor of those residents of Inwood, Tommy stands out, both individually with the highest degree of courage, and as an exemplar of that community of those who served.
This November will mark the official end of the fiftieth anniversary period, begun in 2012, of the Vietnam era conflict.
Private First Class Thomas Francis Minogue was serving as Platoon Medic assigned to the Third Platoon, Company C, Second Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Division on March 21, 1967 on patrol in Kon Tum Province when his company (about 100 strong) encountered a battalion of NVA (about 1000) and a fierce firefight ensued.
Tommy’s company commander was hit and severely wounded, but conscious. Tommy was everywhere on that field of battle tending to the wounded. He sprinted thirty meters to where the CO was down and immediately started providing emergency care. The company CO was the only person on that field who could call in artillery or air support to provide the beleaguered troops cover against the overwhelming numbers of advancing enemy.
Tommy saved his company that day by providing the critical care the wounded needed, but also in shielding his CO from further harm by placing his body between the automatic weapons fire of the NVA and his commanding officer.
The CO was able to call in the support necessary to keep the perimeter alive, while fading in and out of consciousness.
Tommy was reported to have picked up a weapon and began firing on the advancing NVA while shielding the CO to protect him and through extension his comrades from the deadly fire.
With the CO was the radiotelephone operator, who provided the opportunity for the CO to request support, and the RTO also assisted Tommy in carrying the CO away from the advancing enemy. When they placed the commander down, Tommy again provided his own body as a human shield for the CO. Although hit multiple times, Tommy saved the CO and RTO and the integrity of the command center, so allowing communication for the hard-pressed troops.
Post-action reports documented the utter respect and esteem his colleagues had for Tommy’s actions above and beyond his strict duty in sacrificing himself for the CO, as while shielding the company commander, Tommy received mortal wounds.
He had turned twenty years old only the month before on February 22.
Tommy was recommended for the Medal of Honor, and those on the field of battle strongly supported the award as they personally witnessed the incredible courage and sacrifice of this son of Inwood.
As the rear echelon got involved a clerical decision was made to award instead the Distinguished Service Cross, the next award in order of esteem. It seemed that was done merely because another MOH had been issued the prior month in the same theatre, and a cold calculus was used to deprive Tommy of the posthumous decoration he earned and which his eyewitness comrades who had been under fire with Tommy had advocated for.
There have been campaigns in the recent past to have this injustice corrected, but thus far to no avail.
Major General John Hussey, a strong advocate for the award for Tommy, had tears in his eyes reading the account of Tommy’s exploits.
General Hussey asked me if I remembered the end of "Schindler’s List" and the families of the survivors alive due to Oskar Schindler’s actions, and said he often thinks of that as he considers how many of Tommy’s comrades survived and had children and grandchildren due to Tommy’s sacrifice, as his company would have been wiped out without the extraordinary heroism of Tommy Minogue from Inwood.
Of the close to 3500 Medals of Honor ever awarded, almost 2000 of them have been presented to Irish Americans, well more than half.
They were awarded for cause, and the cause of PFC Thomas Francis Minogue should be resurrected and this historic neglected honor should be rectified before any more of the old Inwood family, friends and neighbors and Tommy’s valiant fellow service members pass on. We will renew this cause, as Tommy and his valor must never be forgotten. Tell your loved ones about him.
Tommy will always be twenty years and one month old, but his exploits that day deserve eternal recognition and renown as he remains forever young. Tommy Minogue. Irish American MOH.
--
