Charles J Foran

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Reprinted courtesy of Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing
From the St. John's Daily News
Tue. Nov. 10, 1925

BRITISH WAR HERO DIES FROM WOUNDS

CHARLES J. FORAN, 52
SERVED IN BOER AND WORLD CONFLICTS
WINNING HONOR

(Akron Beacon Journal)

Charles J. FORAN, 52, a veteran of the World War and the Boer War and one time member of Lord Kitchener's bodyguard, died Tuesday night from wounds received at the battle of Ypres. He had been in failing health for the past year, receiving treatment at Cleveland and Cincinnati hospitals. FORAN came to Akron with his friend the late Aaron W. BURNETT, and was employed by the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company until the outbreak of the World war when he went to Canada and enlisted. He was an expert horseman, having served with the Canadians cavalry in the campaign against the Boers.

He has been awarded several medals for distinguished service. Requiem high mass and burial will take place Friday morning at Massillion. His brother, A. E. FORAN, of New York, was at the bedside when death came.

He also leaves two sisters Miss Margaret B. FORAN of St. John's, Newfoundland, his birthplace, and Mrs. Charlton B. DOUGLAS, wife of a captain in the British navy.

TRULY A HERO (Akron times Press) Until the fact was made known in a death notice nobody in Akron realized what a true hero we had living and working among us. Charles G. FORAN kept his cheerful smile and stuck to his daily task of selling without letting the people with whom he came in contact know that he was suffering from wounds received in the world war and without boasting about how these honorable wounds were received.

Death revealed that this man, whose smile was well known on Main Street, was the possessor of five medals awarded for valor in four campaigns as a member of Canada's famed fighting force. One of them has been presented in person by King George of England 25 years ago. Had these facts been known, Charles G. FORAN might have capitalized his heroism and advance in business, but he chose to keep the memory of these honors sacred to himself and to succeed in business through his individual efforts, an example which many of us might do well to emulate.

HERE WAS A TRUE HERO REMEMBRANCES
(November 11th, 1918-1925)

Memories are bringing me over the years
To the land of the long ago.
And I'm back again in the old schoolhouse
With the Pals that I used to know,
There are the blackboard on the wall;
There is the teacher, too
But, dearer by far than all the rest'
Old comrade of mine, were you.

Little we knew or cared about war
Except what the history told;
But we learned with a thrill of joy and pried, -
"What the Motherland has-she'll hold!"
One day the news came down the street,
to hear it we stopped our play:
"The foemen have entered Belgium's gates
And England is in the fray!"

Overseas went our bravest and best,
In defence of Freedom and Right,
And brought with their life-blood the lasting peace
That blesses our home to-night.
You were among them, comrade mine,
The troops who came marching by,
Stalwart and khak-clad, down the street,
waving a last good-bye.

You were too young for a soldier lad
So they gave you a drum to play,
And they say you, marched with your regiment
Into the thick of the fray
then again to the base you went
And joined the stretcher band,
Who brought back the wounded, all night long,
From the place call "No Man's Land."

They say you were bringing a comrade in,
when a shell bust close by your side,
And then, far away from the hearts you loved,
Old pal of my school days, you died.
A white cross marks your resting place,
And high up in the sky
The birds, with carols of Faith and Hope,
Go singing happily by.

How very few of the lads we know
Come back at the close of day
For the god of Battle summoned them home
To a land not far away.
The things that they died for perish not -
Liberty, Honor and Right!
And the banner of Freedom is floating o'er
A country of peace to-night.

The world is remembering the deeds they have done,
Though they sleep 'neath a foreign sod,
And our souls shall keep faith with them until
We meet in the Land of god.
We cannot think of them lost to us,
For just beyond the bend
they are waiting to clasp our hands and say
With a smile, 'Welcome Home, old friend'"

GLADYS M RUSSELL
Bay Roberts.

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