In the 1930’s and early 40’s there was a group of Woburn young men who played on the “Shamrock Football Team / Shamrock Athletic Club”. They played their last game on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and shortly thereafter the team disbanded so that the young men could serve in World War II. Seven members of that team gave their lives serving our country. It is in honor of those seven brave men that our school bears the name “Shamrock Memorial Elementary School”.
Those seven men, whose pictures hang in our front lobby, were from left to right in the picture below…
1) Sgt. John Davoren, Army Air Corps, Shot Down in North Sea, Germany, 6/11/43. (birth: 5/29/1914)
2) Pvt. Thomas Flynn, Winchester, MA. Army. KIA – Aachen, Germany, 11/19/44. (birth: 8/18/1917)
3) 2nd Lt. Francis “Coopie” Gonzalves, Army. KIA – Italy, 10/10/44. (birth: 2/16/1915)
4) Sgt. John McHugh, Army. KIA – Wesel, Germany, 3/24/45. (birth: 9/29/1916)
5) 2nd Lt. Vincent McHugh, Army Air Corps, Shot Down in Groniger, Germany, 11/26/43 (birth: 8/24/1920)
6) S1/C Michael J. Mulkerrin, Navy, USS Truxtun-sank, 2/18/42. (birth:8/16/1917)
7) S1/C Patrick J. Paleo, Navy, KIA – Okinawa, Japan, 4/2/44. (birth: 3/29/1918)
We are Extremely Proud of our Shamrock Heroes
Click HERE or on the image to the right to view a WPMC program about the Woburn’s Shamrock Athletic Club’s history. This program was written by John McElhiney and Kathy Lucero, narrated by Kathy Lucero from the Woburn Historical Society and filmed and edited by Brian Ouellette. It features Woburn native Mike McGann who played for the Shamrocks and Andy Crawford who played for Nashataugs. Produced by Plasma Films and Woburn Historical Society in 2011.