Page 25 - Gold Star Sons of Georgetown Prep

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UNITED STATES ARMY AIRBORNE
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1ST LIEUTENANT EMMETT T. CORRIGAN, JR. ’39
MARCH 24, 1945 GERMANY
Emmett Corrigan of Great Neck, Long Island, son of the chairman of the board of one of New York City’s most prestigious advertising firms, transferred to Georgetown Prep from All Hallows Institute in the Bronx in September 1936. Gregarious, fun-loving, and personable, Emmett moved seamlessly into the rhythm of school life. He loved sports and played football, basketball, and baseball at the junior varsity level, and varsity basketball in his senior year. As a senior athletic booster, he led the student cheering section during the football season, and he sharpened his shooting skills in the rifle club.
But there was more to Emmett than athletics. He combined his love of sport with proficiency in writing to become the sports editor of The Little Hoya and enjoyed the spirited argumentation found in the debate club. Emmett also nourished his spiritual dimension through membership in both the Sodality and the St. John Berchmans Society. His grades in English, history, sociology, and biology were good, but much weaker in math and the physical sciences.
He received an “A” from classmates, however, in socializing.
His favorite song was a swing piece entitled, “Sing, Baby, Sing,” from the hit movie of the same name. He loved to dance and was never at a loss for female partners at parties. He was also part of a group of boarders known for their late night bull sessions after hours. A short story based on the hijinks of the group appeared in The Blue and Gray and was told from the perspective of a fictional Jesuit dorm prefect who heard the “gang of 10” at midnight. When he entered the room, the prefect beheld “unhappy faces” at his intrusion and “a pile of magazines, golf clubs, a tennis racket, and . . . odds and ends,
a dresser with drawers open” revealing a “confused mass of clothing,” and “ash trays filled to capacity.” Coca-Cola bottles littered the room as a student toasted bread while holding a jar of jam, and “a vulgar jazz piece” played from the radio.
In a class vote for the senior most likely to succeed, Emmett was one of 12 to receive votes. His name appeared on one ballot. If it was his own vote, it would have reflected his mischievous sense of humor and/or self-confidence, both of which he had in abundance.
Emmett graduated from Prep in 1939 as war clouds
GOLD STAR SONS OF GEORGETOWN PREP | winter 2021 25
COURTESY, MAUREEN E. RICHARDSON