Matt Lanighan
| Date and Place of Birth: | Lockport, NY |
| Date and Place of Death: | October 16, 1918 St. Juvin, France |
| Baseball Experience: | Semi-Pro |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | Company I, 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division US Army |
| Area Served: | France |
Matt Lanighan and Leo Dolan were semi-pro batterymates and good friends. Together they left the sandlots of America to serve their country in France during World War I. Both men were killed in action within minutes of each other.
Described as “one of the ablest, cleanest, most popular men that ever
participated in local sports,” Matthew S. “Matt” Lanighan was a catcher
with the Lockport Fibres – the Fibre Corporation’s entry in the semi-pro
Lockport Industrial League. Playing for the Fibres for five years,
during which time they clinched five league titles, he batted .318 in
1917.
A gifted athlete, Lanighan also played football as a fullback with the
Manhattans of East Lockport, had previously played baseball for the
North Ends of Lockport and played for the North Mains team in the
Washington League of the Municipal Baseball Association in Buffalo.
Employed at the Fibre Corporation’s plant, Matt Lanighan and pitcher
Leo
Dolan - who'd had a trial witht he Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched
minor league ball in Columbus, Georgia - boarded a train at Lockport bound for military service on
September 26, 1917. Bob Wood, manager of the Fibres and George O’Brien,
field captain, as well as other members of the Fibre team and employees
of the Fibre Corporation, were at the station to bid farewell to the
best battery to ever play semi-pro ball in Lockport. Little did they
realize that neither would return home.
Days earlier, Lanighan had played his last game for the Fibres, catching
his good friend Dolan in a win over the Niagalks, Industrial League
champions of Niagara Falls. The two men were honored at the second
meeting of the Fibres and Niagalks. “A testimonial will be tendered
these boys by the Fibres, who will wear small flags on the left sleeve
of their uniforms,” announced the Union-Sun & Journal on September 29.
“It will be "Dolan and Lanighan Day" and the Fibres' share of the gate
receipts will be turned over to them. Although absent, Leo and Matt will
be honored, feted and applauded by Lockport's fandom in real style."
Lanighan and Dolan trained at Camp Dix in Wrightstown, New Jersey, where
they found a little time for more baseball, both playing on the same
team in the regimental league at the camp. The following year Sergeant
Lanighan and Corporal Dolan were in France with Company I, 309th
Infantry Regiment of the 78th Division.
During Company I’s attack against German positions in the Argonne on
October 16, 1918, Sergeant Lanighan led his platoon in the face of a
rain of enemy machine gun fire. As men all around him were mowed down
Sergeant Lanighan slowly forged ahead and captured 86 German troops.
With two thirds of his men killed or wounded he was recalled by his
commanding officer 1/Lt. John H. Field, Jr., and was planning the next
move when an enemy artillery shell exploded in their midst and Lanighan
was killed instantly.
A half hour before that a short distance away Corporal Leo Dolan saw a
comrade fall after being struck by machine gun fire. With complete
disregard for his own safety he went to the aid of his comrade. Struck
in the stomach by machine gun fire, Cpl. Dolan died 30 minutes later;
within minutes of Lanighan being killed.
Of the 250 men of Company I that went into the attack that day, only
nine returned.
In January 1919, Matt Lanighan's father, Edward, received a letter from
1/Lt. Field.
"Mr. Edward Lanighan,
Lockport, N.Y.
"My dear sir:
I want to try to express to you my feelings and to assure you that
"Matt" died happily. I know that you will miss him terribly - as no
father ever gave a better son for his country - but he will be waiting
for you in Heaven.
"He had just lead his platoon in atttack and had captured a German
position - for which he was highly commended, when the shell came that
took him from us. He lived but a few seconds and did not suffer.
"It is not neceesary to tell you that he was always a thorough
gentleman, a hard worker, a true soldier, and a fine example for all of
us; forever cool and absolutely fearless. He was known to everyone and
sadly missed and will be more than any of God's chosen ones from '309,'
"I have often wished that I might have exchanged places with him, and ow
I hope that some day I may meet the father of one of the finest boys
I've ever known.
"Sincerely yours,
JOHN H, FIELD, Jr.
1st. Lt. 109th Inf."
Sergeant Lanighan was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross. He is buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne,
France, at Plot E, Row 41, Grave 17.
Leo Dolan, who also posthumously
received the DSC, is buried at the same cemetery at Plot A, Row 45,
Grave 31.
Sources
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Sept 26, 1917
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Nov 14, 1918
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Dec 11, 1918
Date Added July 7, 2012
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