McNamara's Blog

Francis Thomas "Mugs" McNamara December 20, 1933 - November 7, 2020 A Photographic Tribute The Five of Us Early Saturday morning, November 7, 2020, Francis Thomas McNamara took his final breath, in his own bed, surrounded by his family. Advanced Congestive Heart Failure may have won the battle, but he went out on his own terms, lucidly and methodically leaving instructions for his memorial service, lovingly sharing private farewells to each family member, listening to his classical music playlist of Debussy and Chopin, closing his eyes and then raising his right hand as if he was conducting his final concert. Young Mugs Born on December 20, 1933, he was the youngest of the five children of John and Josephine “Josie” McNamara and was the first to be delivered in a hospital. His mother was so smitten with her youngest that she called him her little “Muggings”, and old Irish term of endearment that was lost on his sentimentally challenged older brothers who shortened it to the m...

John McNamara & photos from Cantigny Today marks the 95 th anniversary of America’s first major engagement of World War I --- the Battle of Cantigny. Although much smaller in scale than the epic battles of Verdun, Ypres, and the Somme, Cantigny’s importance should not be underestimated. It gave the Americans the confidence, not that they needed it, that they could handle the seasoned and battle-tested German Army. My grandfather, John McNamara, a member of the 1 st Engineers, Company D, was assigned to accompany the 28 th Infantry Division in the initial attack. In a sense, my grandfather was part of the first group of American soldiers to go “over the top” and race across the crater dotted landscape known as No Man’s Land. Their objective was to build several strong-points for the infantry to use as machine gun nests. They were successful in their mission, but it was not without cost. The 1 st Engineers would sustain 30 casualties, including my grandfathe...