Denver Catholic

INDEX Archbishop's Column ......................2 Real Life Catholic .............................3 The Catholic Difference ..................4 Letters to the Editor .......................4 Nun of the Above quiz ....................4 World/Nation.....................................6 Puzzle Page......................................13 Bulletin Board ................................. 14 www.DenverCatholicRegister.org I Follow us on INSIDE CATHOLIC LIFE 113 Years of Service to the Gospel Volume LXXXIX - No. 37 NOVEMBER 6, 2013 Veterans' memorial meaningful to survivors BY JULIE FILBY PHOTO BY JULIE FILBY/DCR Couples find healing in praying for their miscarried children PAGE 3 YOUTH Parents weigh scouting options PAGE 9 LAUNCHED TODAY Littleton Catholic Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Joseph Hannon had just turned 20 when he was killed Sept. 4, 1966, during the Vietnam War. He was one of the 58,220 members of the U.S. military that died during the 20-year conflict. He was the 89th of Colorado's 623 casualties and the first Littleton resident killed. Beyond the statistics, Patrick was Rosemary and Jack's son, Michael's twin, and brother to five sisters: Mary, Cathy, Carol, Barb and Linda. His five living siblings, one sister and his parents have since died, will gather on Veterans Day Nov. 11 at their elementary alma mater, St. Mary School in Littleton, for a ceremony honoring their brother. At 1 p.m. the Knights of Columbus St. Padre Pio Assembly 2813 will dedicate a plaque in Lance Cpl. Hannon's honor that will hang at the school's main entrance. "It means a lot to us," his sister Carol Hannon, a Littleton resident and parishioner of St. Thomas More Parish in Centennial, told the Denver Catholic Register. "St. Mary's is where we all went. "It's good for kids now to understand and appreciate veterans," she continued. "And it's a reminder we're all one big family Church-wise." Though Carol was just 12 when her brother was killed by small arms fire as his unit fought a Viet Cong company in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, she remembers him PHOTO BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES WENTWORTH Military Academy Cadet Capt. Joel Fowler, 18, takes a photograph of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first American combat casualties of the Vietnam War in this 2009 file photo. The Wall honors U.S. service members who fought, died or went Missing in Action during in the Vietnam War, including Coloradan Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Hannon, the first Littleton resident killed during the war. Hannon will be honored at St. Mary School in Littleton, his alma mater, on Veterans Day. being a "typical mischievous boy" growing up. She recalled his interest in writing, including writing for the school newspaper while attending Regis High School then in north Denver. And she remembers his most profound piece: a poem written just six months before he died titled "My Plea." On March 6, 1966, during night watch Patrick Hannon was accompanied by Scripps-Howard Newspapers' FILM Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Jim Lucas, who was working on his book "Dateline: Vietnam." During the course of their conversation, Hannon mentioned that he too liked to write. The next day he shared "My Plea" with Lucas. "It is not a good feeling to have to kill," the poem begins, "but when your country's in need, you know you will." It acknowledged fellow Marines who went down, adding "I'm sure each one is heaven bound." "If my time is here to be, I ask a favor from you to me," he finished. "Answer my one and only plea ... keep America free." Moved by Hannon's words, Lucas distributed the poem widely and it was published in several newspapers. "I think his poem is unbelievable," said Carol. "Though it See Hannon, Page 12 YEAR OF FAITH: VIRTUE Film urges culture to bring God back PAGE 10 Messages from the holy souls PAGE 11 Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. The moral virtues are acquired through human effort aided by God's grace. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love. Four virtues play a pivotal role and are called "cardinal," all the others are grouped around them. The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are gifts infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. –Catholic Biblical and Catechetical schools

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