Pfc. Patrick J. Gallagher
United States Army (1948-1951)

Patrick Joseph Gallagher Jr., known to his friends as "Pat," was born on August 28, 1929. His parents were Sylvia and Patrick J. Gallagher, a motorman with the Pittsburgh Railways Company. The Gallagher family, formerly of 2010 Plainview Avenue, lived at 206 Bodkin Street in Brookline when World War II began.

Pat had one brother, Donald, and four sisters, Eileen, Claire, Marilyn and Nancy. He was a graduate of Resurrection Elementary School and South Hills High School. Sandlot baseball was Pat's favorite sport and he played for the Brookline American Legion team in 1947.

Donald and Patrick Gallagher, 1933.

One year after graduating from South Hills High School, in 1948, Patrick entered the Army. He served one year on occupation duty with the 24th Infantry Division in Japan on the island of Kyushu. After his discharge from active duty, he joined the reserves.

At age 20, Private First Class Patrick Gallagher was called back to active duty on October 19, 1950, and assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 19th Regiment, 24th Infantry Division of the U.S. Eighth Army. He arrived in Korea on December 25, Christmas Day.

The 24th Division was the first American unit to arrive in Korea, beginning on June 30, 1950, to oppose the North Korean Invasion of the South. The 21st Regiment formed Task Force Smith, with the sole mission of delaying, as best they could, the onrushing North Korean Peoples Army (NKPA) while the rest of the Division disembarked at Pusan.

Once completely deployed, along with the 1st Cavalry and 25th Divisions, the 24th Division took up defensive positions around the Pusan Perimeter and continued to delay the enemy, withdrawing slowly under relentless pressure. Fighting on the western part of the perimeter, along the Naktong River, the Division saw some of the most bitter fighting of the defensive struggles near Pusan.

After General MacArthur's successful amphibious invasion at Inchon, the North Korean Army began a hasty withdrawal from the South. The 24th Division pursued the fleeing NKPA to Songju, and then to the capital city of Seoul. The Division continued along the west coast of the peninsula across the North Korean border. By November 1, elements of the Division captured Chonggodo, only eighteen miles from the Yalu River and the Chinese border.

  
The Chinese Intervention in Korea sent the U.S. Eighth Army and U.N. Forces into a two month-long retreat.

This was when the Peoples Republic of China entered into the Korean War. The Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) swarmed across the border. The 24th Division was hit hard by the 50th and 66th Chinese Field Armies and, along with the rest of the Eighth Army, driven all the way back to positions along the Imjin River, south of the 38th parallel. Logistical and supply problems forced a halt to the Chinese advance.

This was the situation when Private First Class Patrick Gallagher joined his unit along the Imjin River shortly after Christmas Day, 1950. There was no time for holiday celebration. No sooner did Patrick arrive at the front, the Chinese launched another major attack, the New Year's Offensive.

On January 1, 1951, over 500,000 Chinese troops attacked the Eighth Army's line, forcing it back fifty miles. The enemy recaptured Seoul on January 4. By the end of the month the PVA had again outrun its supply lines and was forced to halt the drive south. The Chinese abandoned their battle lines and withdrew to positions near Seoul to regroup.

  
Soldiers of the 19th Infantry Regiment north of Seoul, retiring in the wake of the Chinese New Year's Offensive on
January 3, 1951 (left) and men of the 24th Division fighting off attacks near the Han River on February 14.

On February 5, the 24th Division participated in Operation Roundup, a reconnaissance in force counter-attack that brought the United Nations forces back to positions along the Han River. Around this time Pfc. Patrick Gallagher was injured in the hand and sent to the rear for medical attention. He was also suffering from frostbite in his feet.

After a month in the rest camp, Pfc. Gallagher was ready to rejoin his unit. By now it was the beginning of March. The 24th Division and the United Nations forces had successfully repelled another large-scale Chinese offensive and were preparing for Operation Ripper, the drive to recapture Seoul and advance to positions along the 38th parallel.

On March 5, Patrick wrote home to his parents. "We've just left rest camp and are headed toward the 38th Parallel. General MacArthur has promised us a surprise when we get there. Keep the family saying the Rosary, Mom. Not for me alone, but for all the guys over here."

In his letter, he enclosed his last pay, requesting that it be used to buy a high school class ring for his sister Marilyn, then age seventeen, a junior at South Hills High School. He also asked that some of the money be used to buy a gift for his favorite nephew, one-year old James Gorman of Baldwin Manor.

Two days later, on March 7, 1951, Private First Class Patrick J. Gallagher, age twenty-one, was killed in action on the first day of the Allied "Ripper" counter-offensive.

Patrick's family was notified of his fate on March 29, only days after his last letter arrived. The Pittsburgh Press announced his death on April 6, 1951. He was the second soldier from Brookline to die in the Korean conflict.

While Patrick's family and the neighborhood mourned, a Gold Service Star appeared in the window of the Gallagher home at 206 Bodkin Street. Patrick J. Gallagher's body was returned home to the United States on September 6, 1951, for burial at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Hazelwood.