Private First Class John Joseph Deasy, A Soldier's Story
Private First Class John Joseph Deasy, A Soldier's Story
John Joseph Deasy was born on November 6, 1886, in Ballinadee, County Cork, Ireland. Like many immigrants of his generation, he sought opportunity in the United States, eventually settling in Pennsylvania.
Before his military service, Deasy worked as an attendant at Blair County Hospital, a position that placed him in daily contact with injury, illness, and the realities of emergency care. That experience would shape the role he later played overseas.
On April 3, 1918, as the United States expanded its involvement in World War I, Deasy enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was deployed to France and assigned to the 320th Ambulance Company, part of the 80th Division. Rather than serving in the trenches with a rifle, Deasy served on the front lines of survival — moving the wounded out of active combat zones and toward medical care.
During his service, Private First Class Deasy participated in evacuation operations across some of the war’s most brutal campaigns, including the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, actions in the Artois Sector, and operations around St. Mihiel. Ambulance companies operated under constant threat, navigating shellfire, damaged roads, and overwhelming casualties as battles surged and retreated around them.
Deasy was honorably discharged on June 9, 1919, after the war’s end. Returning to civilian life, he continued a life of public service, working as a police officer in Pennsylvania.
Private First Class John Joseph Deasy died on November 18, 1953. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, remembered for steady service performed far from headlines but essential to saving lives during the Great War.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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