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.