The Boy
Thomas Francis Healy was the only son and youngest child born to Patrick and Mary Healy of 196 Bronson Avenue (now Dr. Samuel McCree Way) in Rochester, New York. Thomas had five older sisters.
Thomas’ father, Patrick was a Foreman for the City of Rochester Water Works. Thomas was the joy of his father, a handsome boy full of promise. Thomas was widely known and popular in the city of Rochester. He was educated in the Immaculate Conception Perish and there was a leader among junior classmates. He was enthusiastic about all outdoor sports. He was said to have been a good amateur baseball player, daring football halfback and a strong swimmer.
The sinking of the USS Maine, in a Cuban harbor in 1898 piqued Thomas’ interest in the military. The death of 250 sailors and Marines aboard inspired Thomas to Join the Army and the United States to join the war against Spain.

The Soldier
His parents were opposed to him joining the service. He argued with his father that he was young and wanted to make a military career for himself. He reasoned that he might become popular with the officers of his regiment and upon his return, enlist their help in an effort to attend the West Point Military Academy. At length he gained the reluctant consent of his parents.
Captain Peshine, from Buffalo, enlisted Thomas in the U. S. Army on January 11, 1899 at the Elwood building in Rochester.
He was happy and joyous as he went off to join his regiment in Buffalo. Thomas became a member of Company M, 13th U.S. Infantry, stationed at Fort Niagara.
The regiment sailed from San Francisco on April 27th, 1899 aboard the chartered shipping and transportation ship, Ohio, bound for the Philippines. His father received a letter from his son written and mailed from Honolulu, Hawaii. The letter was full of hope, enthusiasm and love of country. One month after leaving the United States his unit arrived in Manila on May 29th.

The Battle
A Force of 4,500 American troops assembled on June 10th, 1899 to conduct a campaign south of Manila to sweep the country between the Bay of Manila and the bay lake.
Even before the attack began many of the troops were exhausted as they had been marched from camp to camp in torrential rain and enduring extremely high temperatures. The battle was a grueling ordeal that few forgot.
Marching out at 5 a.m. without breakfast, they quickly broke through enemy lines. They entered an area known as “El Desierto”, a barely cultivated road-less expanse of thickets, head high grassland, rice-fields, ridges and gullies. Trudging through the tall grass seriously hampered the advance of the 13th Infantry.
Snipers raked the footpaths, forcing the troops to march in extended skirmish order through the ravines and scrub. Slowly units began to separate into isolated groups.

The heat during the battle was overpowering. Most threw away their ponchos, blankets and haversacks, everything but rifles, ammunition, and canteens.
The troops were suffering from lack of water and exposure to the sun. It was estimated that forty percent of the troops had heat exhaustion.
The double turreted USS Monadnock and the gunboat Helana shelled the coastal towns of Paranaque and Las Pinas all day with the full power of their batteries. Captain Nichols, Commander of the Monadnock, died of heat stroke the day following the battle.
Near Las Pinas, at the base of Telegraph Hill, the Filipino rebels launched a determined attack, but were beaten back by the Americans defending the hill.
The 13th regiment, supported by the rest of the regiments, formed a skirmish line winding a mile long around the hill. On command they swept down the valley towards the enemy. As they wheeled into action they received heavy enemy fire.
While most of the troops advanced in a stooping posture, Thomas advanced upright on the double quick with his gun to his shoulder. He fired his .30 caliber Krag-Jorgensen rifle as fast as he could load.
That is when Thomas was shot in the throat, the bullet piercing the jugular vein. He fell attempted to regain his feet staggered and fell again, this time he lay quite still.
Finally the rebels fled to the woods having sustained severe losses and leaving behind many wounded and dead in their retreat.
The newly arrived 13th Infantry had so many suffering from heat exhaustion they were sent back to Manila the following day to recuperate.
A telegraph message from the Philippines to Washington DC sent on June 11, 1899 detailing the battle stated:
 

Manila, 11 June 1899
AGWAR, Washington:
“Terrific heat here yesterday. The movement was a great success. The enemy is disorganized and routed, suffering heavy losses. The troops are resting today at Las Pinas and Paranaque. The Navy did excellent execution along the shores of the bay, but many insurgent detachments retired in that direction protected by the presence of women and children, whom they drove along with them. Report of casualties later. Conservative estimate places enemy loss at about 400.”

Fallen Hero
Just thirteen days after landing on foreign soil Thomas F. Healy fell in his first battle and lay mortally wounded. A few moments later he died. His death came just six months lacking one day of his enlistment.
He was spoken to while on the stretcher. He could not speak but died with a smile on his face. He like other heroes was gathered up at evening. His body was wrapped in the flag that he fought for and buried in an improvised cemetery. At a later date his body was placed in a metallic casket and then shipped to his native land.
Captain Peshine, Commander of the young soldier’s company, said “ The lad was as brave a soldier as any who went to war. His youth was not against him. He had the courage of a seasoned veteran and the dash of impetuous youth. He was an ideal soldier”.
Words that came from the officers and enlisted men of the 13th Infantry show that the boy died a hero, with his face towards the enemy. His comrades spoke highly of the youth’s charge and dash.
Although he perished in the first battle he had ever seen he conducted himself admirably that day. The close of the young life was among his many comrades, but far away from the dear ones at home.
Thomas’ father saw an account in a local paper of a Thomas Healy who died in battle. He was fearful that the soldier might be his son, even though the article stated the young man was a member of a Minnesota regiment. The boy’s father at once telegraphed the military authorities in Washington, DC. All doubt was dispelled when the following telegram was received by the grief stricken father.
 

Washington, DC
Commander Philippine Islands cabled today that the soldier killed south of Manila was Thomas F. Healy, Private, Company M, 13th U.S. Infantry, who enlisted in Rochester, New York January 11, 1899.

The death of Thomas F. Healy on June 10th 1899, in the aftermath of the Spanish American War, shook the city of Rochester. There were daily stories in the newspapers until his body was returned home.

Journey Home
It was more than nine months later that his body was returned to Rochester for burial. Rochester’s patriotic grief reached a feverish pitch as his body made a slow journey by rail from San Francisco to his home in Rochester. When the remains finally arrived, city leaders declared the funeral day, March 19th 1900, to be a local holiday and closed the city of all business.
The casket, covered by a forty-five star American flag, was escorted by a military detail from the family residence to the church and from the church to the grave.
The funeral service at the Immaculate Conception Church was attended by loved ones and friends, many who knew the young soldier during the time he was a member of the perish.
Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated and the Gregorian Mass for the Dead was sung by the church choir. As the remains were carried out of the church the solo “There is a Land” was sung. The pallbearers were chosen from among his former school friends.
There was a huge crowd at the church and the funeral procession stretched over many city blocks to the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on Lake Avenue, where internment was made.
After the remains had been lowered into the grave, the military escort fired three volleys of rifle shots. “Taps” was blown over the open grave. The soft and beautiful notes of the bugle call echoed throughout the grounds where lie the remains of so many.
Everyone present felt the solemnity of the occasion and all bowed their heads to the memory of Thomas F. Healy, who’s loyalty and patriotism resulted in him being the first City of Rochester resident, to die in battle overseas, on foreign soil. Thomas was but 17 years old.

.Thomas F. Healy Monument

Why Fight A War So Far Away?
The Philippine Insurrection grew out of the Spanish American War. A mysterious explosion sunk the USS Maine on February 15th 1898, in a Cuban Harbor. This event led the United States to enter the war in an attempt to aid Cuba with their struggle for independence from Spain. Three Rochester men died in the USS Maine disaster. They were Francis C. Phillips, a Marine aboard, John P. Etts and Daniel Tehan both in the US Navy.
American troops were not only sent to Cuba, but to Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands, which also were territories of Spain. Elmer G. Wood of Spencerport NY was killed in the Battle of El Caney (Santiago Campaign) in Cuba on July 1st, 1898. His body was buried in the tropical soil on which he had laid down his life.
The Spanish American War lasted less than three months. The Spanish asked the French to mediate a peace agreement. The Treaty of Paris not only gave Cuba its independence, but also allowed for the United States to take possession of Puerto Rico and the 7,000 islands called the Philippines located in the South China Sea.
The U.S. considered the Philippine Islands valuable for it’s nearness to China. Theodore Roosevelt, then Secretary of the Navy, and others thought the islands would enhance America’s sea power.
The Filipinos had been fighting a bloody revolution against Spain for many years and had no intentions of becoming a colony of another imperialist power.
The take over did not go smoothly. For more than three years the Filipinos carried on a guerrilla war against the U.S. rule.
By law and Army regulations (now that the Spanish American War was over) all the volunteer troops, about seventy-five percent of the available force, had to be sent home. Almost all the volunteers chose to stay until regular Army replacements arrived. Tropical diseases were also taking their toll of the Americans. At times one-third of the U.S. troops were on the sick list.

The “official” end of the war, as proclaimed by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was July 4th 1902. However, major fighting continued on some of the islands for many years until 1914. Some hostilities were still encountered during jungle patrols even as late as 1936, making this conflict America’s longest foreign war.
U.S. Troops stayed in the Philippines in force until 1932. Following the conclusion of major hostilities the U.S. did it’s best to “Americanize” the Philippines.
Because of the U.S. administration of the Philippines the islands were modernized and the nation prepared for independence. The Philippines became an independent nation on July 4th 1946.
Casualty figures of the Philippine Insurrection approximately cost the U.S. 4,234 dead and 2,818 wounded. The Philippine Rebels suffered 70,000 military dead and 200,000 civilian dead.

Veterans of Foreign Wars And Post 16
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States traces is roots back to 1899. Starting that year and in others to follow, Veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service.
In Ohio, they founded the American Veterans of Foreign Service. In Colorado, they organized the Colorado Society, Army of the Philippines. Pennsylvania Veterans started the Philippine War Veterans and American Veterans of the Philippine and China Wars. By 1913 all these groups merged and changed their name to become known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
Veterans in Rochester New York chartered Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 16 on January 13th 1916. The post is named for Thomas F. Healy, a private with Company M, 13th U.S. Infantry, who was killed in battle June 10th 1899 while fighting in the Philippine Insurrection.

Research References
Alphabetical list of battles, 1754-1900: Strait, Newton Allen, 1922
The American occupation of the Philippines 1898-1902: Blount, James Henderson, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1912
Correspondence relating to the war with Spain and conditions growing out of the same: Center of Military History, U. S. Army, 1993.
Fighting in the Philippines; authentic original photographs: Nealy, Frank Tennyson, F. T. Neely 1899
Our islands and there people as seen with camera and pencil: Olivares, Jose, N. D. Thompson, 1899
The Philippine War, 1899-1902: Linn, Brian McAllister, University Press of Kansas
The Rochester Post Express News Courier: July 25,1898; June 10, 1899; June 12, 1899
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper: July 25, 1898; June 15, 1899; March 13, 1900; March 20, 1900
The Rochester Herald Newspaper: June 12, 1899; March 17, 1900; March 19, 1900; March 20, 1900
Rochester Times-Union: July 25, 1898; May 29, 1982
Monroe County Library: Rochester History Booklet, Vol. XIII, April 1951, By P. E. Fisher, Edited by Blake McKelvey.
Veterans of Foreign Wars: http://www.vfw.org/aboutvfw/history.shtml
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery: 2461 Lake Avenue Rochester, NY
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester: 1150 Buffalo Road Rochester, NY

About the Author
The story of Thomas F. Healy was extensively researched, compiled and written by Ned G. Northrup.
Ned is the Historian for the Thomas F. Healy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 16, located in Rochester New York. He became a member of the VFW in November of 1999.
Growing up in the Rochester area he is a graduate of Eastridge High School class of 1986.
Ned served in the United States Marine Corps from 1987-1995 achieving rank of sergeant. While a member of 2nd Battalion 4th Marines, aboard the USS Saipan LHA-2, he participated in “Operation Sharp Edge”, rescuing and evacuating civilians from the war torn city of Monrovia Liberia in Africa.
Ned and his wife Christy have two children, Emily and Benjamin.

Contact the Thomas F. Healy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 16:
Website
VFWPOST16/Thomas F. Healy

e-mail
vfwpost16@cs.com
 
 
 
 
 

 `                                                                                                .