Several weeks ago I mentioned a story I uncovered from 1918 where a little boy fell through the ice of Spy Pond, but was saved by a young man who drowned in the effort. It made me think about the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" where little Harry Bailey falls through the ice, but his brother George saves him. Later, Harry becomes a war hero and saves a troopship full of soldiers. I began to wonder what became of the little 2-year-old Francis Ahern, saved from a tragic death. Did he grow up and marry and have kids? Did he become a doctor or a fireman and save people's lives? Did he go off to war? I've spent a good bit of time in the past few weeks investigating what became of him and this is what I found. He grew up to be an Eagle Scout in Troop 7, the same troop I was in and my father before me. He was a star athlete at Arlington High School, was on the track and football teams, and President of the Student Council. He went on to Boston University and was a sophomore in the School of Business Administration when he was shot and killed by a police officer in Mexico. See http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aherns/fdahern.htm for his story. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dennis Ahern | Middlesex County Massachusetts Newspaper Abstracts Acton, Massachusetts | http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamidnws/index.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thank you Dennis, follow-ups like this are fascinating. At 12:39 PM 3/22/2006 -0500, Dennis Ahern wrote: >Several weeks ago I mentioned a story I uncovered from 1918 where a little >boy fell through the ice of Spy Pond, but was saved by a young man who >drowned in the effort. It made me think about the movie "It's a Wonderful >Life" where little Harry Bailey falls through the ice, but his brother >George saves him. Later, Harry becomes a war hero and saves a troopship >full of soldiers. I began to wonder what became of the little 2-year-old >Francis Ahern, saved from a tragic death. Did he grow up and marry and >have kids? Did he become a doctor or a fireman and save people's >lives? Did he go off to war? I've spent a good bit of time in the past >few weeks investigating what became of him and this is what I found. He >grew up to be an Eagle Scout in Troop 7, the same troop I was in and my >father before me. He was a star athlete at Arlington High School, was on >the track and football teams, and President of the Student Council. He >went on to Boston University and was a sophomore in the School of Business >Administration when he was shot and killed by a police officer in Mexico. >See http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aherns/fdahern.htm for his story.