#Camp song sergeant flynn full#
This shared history came full circle in Iraq.
No soldiers provided stouter resistance than those from Louisiana, where New Orleans was second to New York as a port of entry for Famine Irish immigrants. Lee who first called the regiment “The Fighting 69th” as they squared off with units from the Confederacy on battlefields throughout the Civil War. It was the Confederate Commander Robert E. The regiment’s motto, from the Civil War era, is “Faugh a Ballagh,” which is Irish for “Clear the Way.” It was part of the famed Irish Brigade during the American Civil War, and has served in World War I, World War II and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment has served at home and overseas. The Fighting 69th Infantry, now a National Guard unit, has been the parade’s official escort since 1850 when it was created as the 69th New York militia. On March 17, four hundred members of the Fighting 69th, and the Tiger Brigade led the parade up Fifth Avenue, accompanied by their official Irish wolfhound mascots, Garryowen and Glory. Patrick’s Day Parade was dedicated to the unit. The Ancient Order of Hibernians, longtime friends of the Fighting 69th also raised funds to help with the relief effort, and in recognition of Taskforce Wolfhound’s incredible sacrifice in Iraq, this year’s New York City St. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New York City firefighters drove the same truck down to New Orleans to help with the relief effort. Just four years earlier Louisiana, a state heavily populated by Irish since Famine immigrants made their way there in the 1800s, had donated a fire pumper, “Spirit of Louisiana,” to the City of New York in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack. Vic Olney, a former staff sergeant with the 69th and business manager of the Officers Association and the Garryowen Club, helped manage funds for Katrina relief as well as financial aid for families of the soldiers killed in Iraq. Still mourning their lost brethren, the units returned home last September – the 69th to New York and the Tiger Brigade to Louisiana, where the Southern soldiers faced the enormity of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in their absence.
In all, eleven men of the 69th and eight soldiers from the 256th lost their lives during Taskforce Wolfhound’s year-long tour of duty. On January 6, 2005, just outside the village of Awad Al-Hussein, six soldiers from Louisiana and one from New York, riding in the same military vehicle, died after a roadside bomb detonated. “Taskforce Wolfhound,” which combined New York and Louisiana National Guard units, trained together at Fort Hood, Texas, before going to Iraq in October, 2004 under the command of the First Cavalry.īased inside the Sunni Triangle, the unit was charged with safeguarding the checkpoints along the dangerous road to Baghdad airport, which they renamed Route Irish. In Iraq, they fought together, and some died side by side. The 245th New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade was dedicated to the Fighting 69th and Louisiana’s 256th National Guard, Tiger Brigade, which, serving together as Taskforce Wolfhound, lost 19 soldiers in combat in Iraq.ĭuring the American Civil War the Fighting 69th and the Tiger Brigade were mortal enemies.
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