Posted by jean on September 9, 2006:

Cornelius John ?Mike? Molloy Served in 3 Wars Defending our Country Cornelius John ?Mike? Molloy was born in Jersey City, New Jersey August 28, 1922 to Cornielius and Mary Newell Molloy. After graduating from St. Peter?s Prep in 1940, he attended Seton Hall University until he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1941. After Pearl Harbor, the four-year program was shortened to three years with no breaks in training or classes. On D-Day, June 6, 1944 his class graduated and he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry. June 17, 1944 he married the love of his life Jean Ann Marquier, from South Orange, NJ at Sacred Heart Catholic Church near Seton Hall and across the street from his father-in-law?s neighborhood pharmacy. After the wedding he joined F Company of the 290th Infantry as they were preparing to depart for the European Theater. Upon his arrival he was told there were too many people in this company with fancy names so from now on his name was ?Mike?. The name stuck and he has been called ?Mike? ever since. After crossing the Atlantic in a troop ship with his platoon he fought through the Battle of the Bulge with the 75th Division, enduring freezing foxholes and German artillery barrages. As part of the Occupation Forces he worked in General Eisenhower?s headquarters after the war, in Frankfurt, Germany. He was wounded in Korea while the Commanding Officer of Headquarters Company of the Third Infantry Division and was one of the first soldiers ever evacuated by helicopter by being tied to a strut on an open stretcher. In addition to being a first rate instructor at the Army Air Defense School in Ft. Bliss, Texas he was stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, and Ft. Brooke in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He led the Army Concept Team in Viet Nam during the time of the Tet Offensive. After a tour at the Pentagon he was the commanding officer of the 1st AIT Brigade at Fr. Dix, New Jersey. A heart bypass operation slowed him down during his job as military liaison with the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa, Canada. The final years of his thirty-year career were spent leading research and development projects to improve the equipment and living conditions of infantry soldiers in combat. Mike retired as a full Colonel in a Pentagon ceremony in 1974. Among his many decorations are three Legions of Merit, three Bronze Stars, Combat Infantryman?s Badge, Korean Service Medal with four stars, Army Commendation Medal, and the Viet Nam Gallantry Medal with four stars. He retired to El Paso, Texas where he managed a real estate company until relocating to Scottsdale in 1995. A devout Catholic his entire life, ?Mike? was member of the Holy Name Society, a lector, cantor, and Eucharistic minister, actively involved with every parish, wherever he resided. His strong religious beliefs and commitment to freedom of religion lead to a special award from the US Army?s head Chaplain, while he was training Brigade Commander at Ft. Dix, New Jersey in 1966. A member of Our Lady of Joy parish in Scottsdale, Mike is survived by his wife Jean, children Bill and wife Lorraine, Scottsdale, Arizona, Mike and Kathleen, Ventura, California, Nancy and Bob Longoria, Monahans, Texas, and James and Nancy, Marble Falls, Texas. He will be greatly missed by his 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. He is welcomed to his heavenly home by his brother Bill, a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Newark and WWII Chaplin under General Douglas MacArthur and his sister Mary, a successful teacher and business woman in New York City, whom Mike cared for during her last years at the Life Care Center in Scottsdale. ?The Colonel? enjoyed telling stories, spending time with friends, and doing everything he could to demonstrate his love and admiration for his wife Jean. 656 words 02?6-06v.1

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