Daniel J. Mangan

Killed in Action June 24, 1944

The following poem was written by his mother:

Beloved Son

Beloved son, your mortal form
Lies mouldering in its grave;
But in spirit hovering there
I walk among the brave;
Spanning countless foreign miles
Kneeling at your head,
For ‘tis there a small white cross
Stands out among the dead.

I walk familiar earthly paths
In yesterdays you trod;
In dreams I fly the skies you loved
To feel the hand of God;
And died a thousand deaths with you
In perilous plunging flame,
’Til hallowed earth with open arms
Reached out, its prey to claim.

Your faithful friends are willed to me
A priceless heritage;
Reflections of a noble life
Are mine to feeble age.
From this my very fiber
God formed a perfect one;
So long as I shall walk the earth,
You too, shall live, my son!