Page 31 - Gold Star Sons of Georgetown Prep

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EPILOGUE
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In the 1943 Cupola yearbook, Reverend Robert P. Arthur, S. J., the headmaster of Georgetown Preparatory School, addressed an open letter “To Our Alumni Serving in the Battle.” Father Arthur expressed profound pride in “the loyal sons of Georgetown Prep” in every branch of the armed forces, some of whom had already been wounded or killed. Then, in compelling words that reflected the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis, he emphasized that beyond pride, “your Alma Mater wishes the whole world to know that you belong to her. At the Prep you are not forgotten.” Not forgotten at every daily Mass celebrated by the Jesuits at the school, and not forgotten by the students who every day at 1:00 P.M., stopped whatever they were doing to say three Hail Marys for the safety of Prep alumni in uniform. To Fr. Arthur and the Prep community, an alumnus was any student who had attended Prep for however long, or however briefly. And clearly, the school kept track of its sons as seen in a long list of names with rank and branch that followed Fr. Arthur’s message.
Of course, twelve of those men – forever young in memory — did not return safely. Their grief-stricken families had lost sons and brothers, and in some cases husbands and fathers. They carried that burden for the rest of their lives. Acknowledging that words “are futile at a time like this,” the Captain commanding the Yorktown expressed his hope to the mother of John Battaile that she would find some measure
of comfort in the knowledge that her son had selflessly given
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
his life for a higher cause. To paraphrase the Ingnatian prayer for generosity that each no doubt had heard many times,
the 12 Prep alumni had given without counting the cost,
and had fought without heeding the wounds. With the 75th anniversary of the end of the world’s most terrible war just recently concluded, these 12 Gold Star sons of Georgetown Prep deserve to be re-remembered and honored by the Prep community. For the words of Fr. Arthur in 1943, still ring true today: “At the Prep, you are not forgotten.” H
• Unfortunately, no photograph of Robert Keeler could be found.
• Unless otherwise specified, all photographs, publications, and documents depicting student life at Prep are found in the Georgetown Preparatory
School Archives. Military records, genealogical sources found at Ancestry.com, college and high school yearbooks, and historical newspapers produced valuable information and photos.
• Special thanks to Andrew C. Battaile (brother of John Battaile), Andrew C. Battaile (nephew of John Battaile), Maureen Richardson (daughter of Emmett Corrigan), Elizabeth Kennedy Coakley Dolce (daughter of Henry Coakley), and Jason V. Mahoney (nephew of Andrew Mahoney) for generously sharing their memories, photographs, documents, and observations with the author. The effort continues to identify and contact the relatives of the other deceased Prep alumni of World War II.
• Thanks also to Ms. Bonita Hanes and Mr. Josh Furnary for graciously reading and editing the draft of this piece and to Brett Graham and Monica Allston for accommodating requests for copies of student publications. And finally, thanks to Headmaster John Glennon who set this project into motion by asking, “Do we have a list of Prep alumni who died during World War II?”
GOLD STAR SONS OF GEORGETOWN PREP | winter 2021 31