Military heroes recalled

Lt. James McDonald

Two military heroes with local roots will be specially recognized as part of the Coudersport Area Armed Forces Honor Roll. American Legion Post 192 is erecting the huge monument facing U.S. Rt. 6, near the borough office and the Coudersport Arboretum.

According to Ralph Caldwell, who is spearheading the project, Post 192 also wants to pay tribute to two Congressional Medal of Honor winners, possibly with benches on which their names would be engraved. They are:

Thomas Cullen A native of Ireland, Cullen (1839-1913) spent time in the Irish Settlement area of Potter County as a child.

Cullen was among the first recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Its original honorees were largely those members of the Grand Army of the Republic who captured a Confederate flag during Civil War skirmishes.

Cullen, a corporal with Company I, 82nd New York Infantry, was honored for bravery in battle against a Confederate army from North Carolina on Oct. 14, 1863, at Bristoe Station, Va. During the heavy fighting, Corp. Cullen braved the fusillade and the close-quarter combat to capture the flag of a North Carolina Regiment (22nd or 28th, Confederate States of America).

Cullen is buried at Kinney Cemetery

Cullen was later captured and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, Cullen lived in Coudersport, where he died on Aug. 16, 1913. He never married. Cullen is buried at Kinney Cemetery.

James H. McDonald

Lt. McDonald’s heroics of May 23, 1939, have been the focus of numerous media accounts over the years.

Born in Scotland in 1900, McDonald was a master diver and chief metalsmith with the U.S. Navy, summoned to the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus. Not only did McDonald exercise leadership and devotion to duty in directing the rescue operations, he also participated directly in the dives that freed 33 seamen under the most hazardous conditions.

McDonald was aboard the USS Scupin when it picked up a distress signal. Under his leadership, a crew of four divers successfully employed a rescue diving bell, which had never been tested. McDonald and crew were the last Congressional Medal of Honor winners to be recognized for peacetime submarine rescue operations.

Continuing his Naval service into World War II, McDonald became a commissioned officer. He retired after the war with a rank of lieutenant. He and his wife lived for a time on Sixth Street in Coudersport. McDonald, who died in 1973, is buried in Fishing Creek Cemetery, Roulette Township.

Anyone who served in the military from the Coudersport Area School District, as defined by today’s boundaries, is eligible for inclusion on the Coudersport Area Armed Forces Honor Roll.

Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans’ names will initially appear. Service members from the Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War and today’s War on Terror will eventually be added.