MGen Francis Patrick Mulcahy
By Oceanside – Veteran’s Writer’s Group, Gail Chatfield
Some might have called it a suicide mission that October day in 1918 on the frontlines in France, but not 24-year-old Capt. Francis Mulcahy, Flight Commander, Squadron A, First Marine Aviation Force. He was not a risk takerthat was evident from the risk assessment test he took to become an aviator— and more importantly he had a fiancée waiting for him back home.
Capt. Mulcahy had already flown numerous bombing missions over enemy lines since he arrived in France five months earlier, but this sortie would be different. A besieged French regiment had been cut off from supplies and without food for two days. Orders came that Capt. Mulcahy, along with Capt. Robert S. Lytle and Lt. Frank Nelms, would resupply the troops by air. Loading their all-wooden two-seater DH-4 aeroplanes with canned goods and bread, the three pilots flew at an altitude of 100 feet to drop the cargo. Despite intense fire from German rifles, machine guns and artillery on the ground, Mulcahy, Lytle and Nelms made four resupply trips. The three pilots were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. This would be the first of many heroic endeavors and medal recognitions for Mulcahy, a modest man who was known to say, “Everyone is a hero who can bring the plane back.”
World War I ended and Mulcahy returned home to marry his sweetheart, Elinor Wolf. Sadly, his young bride and baby died in childbirth three years later. He was devastated and heartbroken. The only thing that seemed to keep his grief at bay was the structure and purpose of his beloved Marine Corps, and his love of flying.
Lt. Gen. Mulcahy was born on March 9, 1894 in Rochester, New York, and graduated the University of Notre Dame as an English major in 1914. With the drumbeat of war getting louder, Notre Dame established a program where anyone who graduated would receive a commission in the military. He tried the Army, but weighing only 135 pounds, he felt he didn’t stand a chance wielding a heavy bayonet, so he made a special trip to New York City to talk with the Marines. He was impressed with what he heard and the Marines accepted him into their nascent aviation program. His flight training began in June 1917. Most surprising to him, he turned out to be a natural in the cockpit.
Building on the experiences learned during the First World War, Mulcahy became one of the Marine Corps pioneers of providing close air support to ground operations.
He served with Marine aviation on many expeditionary campaigns in Haiti, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It was in Haiti that he met Elizabeth Bertrand whom he married in 1934. A son, Thomas, was born while Mulcahy’s career brought the family to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. A daughter, Patricia, was born while at Quantico.
In 1940, Mulcahy was stationed at North Island, beginning his family’s decades long love affair with Coronado. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Mulcahy was in North Africa as an observer with the British Western Desert Air Force. In January, he was recalled to the U.S. to serve as Chief of Staff of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing and by August he was Commanding General of the Wing staging for deployment.
Before he left for the Pacific, he told Elizabeth to buy a house for them on Coronado but cautioned her to spend no more than $8,000. Elizabeth found the perfect bungalow on J Avenue and bought it for $12,000. Mulcahy didn’t complainit was small but a perfect home for their family.
While Commander of Allied Air Forces on Guadalcanal in late 1942, he sent home a photo standing in front of his tent. On the back he wrote that Elizabeth should notice he had designated his tent number as #13her lucky number because that was the date they met.
On Guadalcanal, Brigadier General Mulcahy received his second Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
His citation read in part:
“During this period of continuous battling for control of the sea lanes to Guadalcanal, Brigadier General Mulcahy planned and directed the operations of the air units with such superb professional ability and unrelenting determination as to frustrate the enemy efforts to transport desperately needed troops and supplies to the island. Although constantly subjected to severe hostile bombing attacks, the forces under his skillful and fearless command were responsible for tremendous destruction of enemy surface vessels, aircraft and shore installations. The brilliant initiative and sound tactical judgment displayed by Brigadier General Mulcahy throughout the entire campaign contributed immeasurably to the continued successful occupation of Guadalcanal by our forces and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
After his first tour of duty in the Pacific in early 1944, the Brigadier General returned to the U.S. briefly to serve as Commanding General, USMC Fleet Air, West Coast. In late 1944, he returned overseas as Commanding General of Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.
Preparing for the Okinawa campaign, now Major General Mulcahy was assigned as Commanding General, Tactical Air Force (TAF), 10th Army, and Commanding General, Second Marine Aircraft Wing. The Second Wing’s tactical units were augmented by Army and Navy personnel and formed the core of TAF.
MGen Mulcahy and his team deployed ashore early during the battle on Okinawa to the newly captured airfields at Yonton and Kadena. Working exhaustively, he coordinated the combat deployment of his joint-service aviators to neutralize the Japanese kamikaze attacks to the Navy fleet while also providing close support to the 10th Army’s horrific prolonged inland campaign.
For his service before and throughout the Okinawa campaign, MGen Mulcahy was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal. “Through his superior military knowledge, foresight and unwavering devotion to duty, General Mulcahy made contributions in inestimable value to the prosecution of the war against the Japanese,” the citation read.
In June 1945, MGen Mulcahy returned to San Diego and his family on Coronado. After hospitalization at the Naval Hospital, he was assigned to an inactive status later that year, awaiting retirement. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant General on April 1, 1946, after 29 years of service.
After retirement, Mulcahy attended Cal Western Law School in San Diego and was admitted to the California Bar in 1954. He headed the contracts department at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, or Convair, until his retirement in 1961.
Lt. Gen. Mulcahy died December 11, 1973, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His family still has the house on J Avenue in Coronado.
*note: Lt. General Mulcahy’s banner is located at Fourth and G.
Next week’s Avenue of Heroes biography will be Major General Joseph H. Pendleton
By Veteran Writing Group, Gail Chatfield (Banner at Fourth and Palm)
To nominate someone for a Hero Banner, download and application from the City of Coronado Website or visit City Hall and pick one up. Upon submission, you will need a photograph and news article or DD214 form. The nominee should have lived in Coronado. A base address constitutes residency.
City of Coronado web banner address: http://www.coronado.ca.us/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=8501
Also available on Avenue of Heroes Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avenue-of-Heroes/1376195569330748?fref=ts ;
