A petition with over 10,200 signatures was handed over to the US Marines at a function in Ballyhaunis last night, as part of the campaign to have a US Naval ship named after local Vietnam war hero Patrick Gallagher.

Corporal Patrick “Bob” Gallagher from Ballyhaunis was just 23 when he and ten colleagues died in an ambush in Vietnam on 30^th March 1967 .

Just weeks earlier, he had been accorded the Navy Cross for bravery after saving the lives of comrades in an earlier ambush.

On the 50^th anniversary of his death earlier this year, a memorial service was held in Ballyhaunis, with a monument in his memory unveiled at the local cemetery.

A campaign was also launched to have a US Navy ship named after Patrick Gallagher, and the target of 10,000 signatures has now been surpassed.

Peter Gallagher, brother of the late Corporal Patrick Gallagher, told Midwest News that the  petition passed the 10,000 mark about a month ago and has now been handed over to the US Marines….