Page 123 - Images: We were...We are

Christopher W. Meagher - NOTES FROM THE VIRTUAL WALL

04 Nov 2002

Chris Meagher was a resident of Staten Island, New York.

I was a friend of his, not a good friend but a kid from the neighborhood who
regularly competed against him, back in the '60s, and I spent many an afternoon
playing football with the Meagher brothers on the fields of Grant City, under the
brow of the great hills, and Midland Beach, not far from the ocean.

We lived in the sticks in those days. Nobody had very much. Staten Island was the
Forgotten Borough, the Capital of Weeds, where, as befit a maritime province, the
small streets were posted with the tiniest signs imaginable, and where there was
any pavement at all, the sidewalks were the narrowest in the world.

The Meaghers grew up in a working-class family; they stuck together and always
played on the same side. And I sought them out because I looked forward to
opposing them. They were very tough to beat.

The Meagher brothers hit hard but they played clean ball and they never cheated.
Chris wasn't big for a boy his age but he was very fast and built like a terrier: wiry,
feisty and tough. He had a tremendous fighting spirit and played with a passion: full
throttle, all out, take no prisoners.

Whenever I visit Staten Island and pass his granite memorial at Midland Beach, I
stop and take off my hat to him. He was an athlete. He was a sportsman. He was a
friend. It pains me to recollect that I received a student deferment, went on to
college and eventually became a writer, while Chris was drafted, went to Vietnam
and died before he had a chance to live.

May he rest in peace.

Marc-Yves Tumin

5 Mar 2004

Hi,

It has been 35 years since he left all of us at home. If anyone knew him you'd know
that he was the oldest of 11 bothers and sisters. In all this time I have had a lot of
fear about what I'm going to ask so, here it goes ... If you or someone you know,
might have met him in Vietnam I'd like to know. Also, some of my brothers and
sisters might not want to know anything about it. So, if you are able to make
contact please make it just to me.

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