| 61 years after falling in Africa, a soldier is honored back home
Six brothers served their country, and the one who didn't make it home
from World War II was given a place of honor in his old neighborhood last
week. More than 60 years after his death, John McCormack received a public memorial on the Allston street corner where he grew up. The oldest of seven children, six of whom saw military action, McCormack was killed in Africa in 1943 while repairing communication lines in full view of enemy fire. At the dedication of John A. McCormack Square last Sunday, his only surviving brother, George, pulled from his wallet a laminated photo of John in uniform overseas, smiling and leaning on tangerine crates. "They were all my heroes," said George of his brothers, who all served in World War II, "But John was especially because he went to work when my father couldn't find a job during the Depression, and he helped support the family. He even saw to it that we had a player piano." Looking over towards the house at 9 Appian Way, George said rent was $17.50 a month. "And we had trouble just scraping that together." About 30 other onlookers were on hand at the dedication, including veterans, friends, family, and George's sister, Anne Cotter, his only living sibling. George, who served in the Air Force in the Korean War, said he is grateful to State Representative Brian Golden for putting the wheels in motion for the memorial. "Somebody loved his neighbors so much that he gave his life for them," said Golden at the dedication, pointing to the new marker at the corner of Appian and Prescott Place. "Every time I walk by these markers now, I think not only about the person, but I think about my own life and just try for a brief moment to think, ''Do I live a life that is worthy of the sacrifice of this person who I didn't even know?'" PAT HEALY |
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