It's OK to be Irish. Sixteen of the thirty-one foreign born United States Marines that have been awarded the Medal of Honor were born in Ireland. An Irish-American from Glen Cove on Long Island by the name of Dan Daly won that medal twice.

On June 21st, 1924 my grandmother Mary Ellen (Cork, Ireland, nee Driscoll) gave birth to my uncle Raymond Aloysius. On that day my grandfather was doing 30 days drunk and disorderly in the Raymond Street Jail in Brooklyn and he hated the name Aloysius. Granpa Pat was an Ulster man named McVeigh but he got arrested on the piers a lot as a longshoreman as McVeigh, McVey and McVay. Different names in a world of paper records kept your rap sheet short and lessened your lockup time.

Mary and Pat sent all four sons into WWII combat. Their oldest boy, my father John, got wounded twice and was hurt badly but all four got home. Grandsons went to Korea and Vietnam as Micks but I've lost track of my relatives since my mother died back in '99 and my older sister in '04. Everybody had a job and paid taxes so far as I know. I suppose my Irish family ties weren't too bad. It's not like I have to hide behind the garage on St. Patrick's Day.