Virginia Garland

I think that Dave passed away in Vietnam, but I haven't been able to find his name on the memorial lists for that era, so please let us know if you have more details.

Dave and I went to the junior prom together!  He also hosted many terrific parties at his house, including a great one the night of our graduation.

His service to the country need to be recognized.

Alfred F. Johnson

I agree with Professor Garland that my brothers, and they were mostly brothers then before everybody got a chance to go to war, who did not make it back from 'Nam (or name your war), or came back broken and hurt, or who could not adjust to the "real world " and took to drugs,alcohol,the road (and I don't mean the storybook road of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" but the Sally shelters,the railroad hobo jungle camps, the ravines, and under the bridges of this country) deserve respect and honor. As a result of my own military experiences I am now an active member of Veterans for Peace whose goal is to make sure that our sons and daughters,our grandsons and granddaughters, Jesus,our great-grandsons and granddaughters in some cases, are not used as cannon fodder for some ill-conceived military adventure. Whatever differences we have on the questions of war and peace it was guys like David, guys from old working-class towns like ours,, the ghettos,the barrios, and the wheat fields of Kansas, who did their duty as they saw it, maybe kicking and screaming, maybe gladly,whose names are now honorably etched for all eternity on that black marble down in Washington and on the Quincy memorial over at Marina Bay.     

Christopher Sorrento

Had some classes with Dave always a great guy. looked on the list of the ones gone,hard to beleive so many. SAD.    Chris Sorrento Lost my brother Fran (Class of 63) 2years ago Oct. 1 2011.

Thomas Burns

Chris,  so sorry to hear of the passing of your brother Fran.  He was one of my buddies growing up in Squantum.  Great kid.

Dave Meagher was one-of-a-kind.  It seems it was pre-ordained he'd be a military man. If memory serves, his dad was a German soldier in WWII and came to America shortly after the war.  We used to go to Dave's house after school on occasion and toss down a few PBRs!  (When we couldn't go to Dave's we'd go to Gary DeCoste's!).

Dave was very proud to be a United States Marine and cut an impressive figure in he dress blues.  I believe he lost his life in a parachute jump during combat.  It was an insidious war that took many of our friends and classmates (Dave, Jimmy Stark, George Fells, Richie Vasconselus, and many others I can't remember at the moment), and it changed many of the same when they returned.  Maybe we can create some sort of tribute to all of them at the reunion.

Alfred F. Johnson

Diane T Mulcahy (Malmgren)

Bob Flaherty recently sent this e-mail:

I didn’t know Dave and only stumbled upon your website by accident. I went to Quincy High School, Class of ’64.  I was looking at your list of deceased classmates, and since I was a Marine I was curious about the other veterans in your class.  When I saw the comments about Dave it seemed that odd that he wasn’t on other lists of Vietnam casualties (he is not on the wall in D.C.), but had his name on the clock tower at Marina Bay.  In fact, he is probably the only person on the website for the clock tower that doesn’t have any biographical information.

To make a long story short, after checking various archives and websites I came upon an article from a couple of newspapers in 1972.  On 7/17/72 there was a training accident at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and four Marines were participating in a helicopter training exercise where the men jump from low flying helicopters into the water.  One man was killed, two were injured and one went missing.  The missing Marine was David, and they had his address at the time as North Weymouth.

I’m going to do more research to see if the body was ever recovered and where he might be buried. I will also give the information I have to the people who run the website for the clock tower.  In fact I’ll be seeing one of them today.

I’ll get back to you if I find out any further information.  Maybe what I have will jog somebody’s memory. 

Patricia A. Sullivan

I believe David's name is on the Vietnam Memorial at Wollaston Cemetary.  I go there whenever I'm in Massachusetts; that's were my brother, David O. Sullivan, is buried there (Marine LCpl. KIA 2/14/69).  If you still need help, you should contact the Quincy Vietnam Combat Veterans.  They have been working very hard to acknowledge each and every Vietnam veteran casualty from Quincy (they number 48).  They are dedicating squares to 4 veterans a year in the spring.  My brother was one of the four in 2014.  (His square is at Hamilton Ave. and Safford St. in Wollaston).  My contact with the Vets is Linda Percherd (617-773-6382).  If there is anyone on the planet who can find out how and where David Meagher died, she can.  I shared homeroom with David when we first moved to Quincy and I found myself at Atlantic for the last half of the eighth grade.  I remember him as a very nice guy with a good sense of humor. 

I hope this helps.

Diane T Mulcahy (Malmgren)

Thanks, Patricia.  I'll contacct Linda next week and see if she can provide more information.

Patricia A. Sullivan

Great! Tell her hello from me.  She was the driving force in finding a memorial plaque of my brother's and getting it re-set in Bishop Field in Montclair.