A chara, – Further to your article on the New York Parade (Home News, March 18th), your reporter may have been unaware that a group, the 58th Infantry Reserve Battalion, from counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, made some history by being the first reservists ever to take part in the event. The trip had come about because of their strong ties with the 69th Infantry Regiment whose HQ is in New York City and which, as you correctly mentioned, led the parade.
Indeed senior members of our battalion, including the undersigned, were guests of the regiment at its headquarters earlier that day and then marched with the regiment to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where all attended Mass. Afterwards, all participated in the parade down 5th Avenue.
The background to our participation in the parade is as follows. One of the 69th Infantry Regiment’s most famous generals is Michael Corcoran who was a native of Ballymote, Co Sligo. The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg unveiled a monument to Gen Corcoran and the Fighting 69th, in Ballymote in August, 2006. In acknowledgment of the honour shown by the 58th Reserve Infantry Battalion to Mayor Bloomberg, the St Patrick’s Day Parade and Celebration Committee, New York and the 69th Infantry Regiment invited it to take part in the 2010 parade.
Indeed, the significance of our participation in the parade, is reflected in the fact that the 58th Battalion members were all guests of Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall on the previous day.
The interest in this trip and in serving the country generally, through participation in the Reserve Defence Forces, is reflected in the fact that 34 personnel of all ranks took part in the parade. It is vital to stress in these straitened times, that all personnel, some of whom are students, travelled at their own expense and at no cost to the taxpayer. To put the significance of the trip in perspective, this is the first Defence Force military group to march in the US since the funeral of President John F Kennedy in 1963. – Is mise,