Wing O. Hom was born on January 10, 1924, and resided in Boston. Private Hom entered the United States Army in Boston and served in World War II. In February of 1944, Hom was assigned to B Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

On February 2, 1944, Hom went missing while his unit was engaged in defensive fighting against German Forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy. After his body was not recovered and he wasn’t reported as a prisoner of war, the War Department declared Hom dead on February 3, 1944.

In 1946, a set of remains were found three miles west of Cisterna. Unable to positively identify the remains, they were interred at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. A DPAA historian believed that the set of remains could possibly be Hom’s. In September 2021, the remains at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The remains were formally identified on April 6, 2023. Hom’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery where a rosette is placed next to his name indicating he has been accounted for. Wing O. Hom is buried in Brooklyn with his parents.

Wing Hom was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. 

To honor service members killed in the line of duty, we dedicate Hero Squares in recognition of their memory. 

William G. Walsh was born on April 7, 1922 in Roxbury, MA. He attended public schools in Boston before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps on January 6, 1942 and began active duty that same day. William served as Gunnery Sergeant in the 2nd Raider Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, and the 5th Marine Division.

From Camp Lejeune, he went to Samoa and was assigned to a unit of Marine scouts. His next assignment was with the 2nd Marine Raider battalion, the famed Carlson's Raiders. During the United States' war with Japan in the Pacific, he saw action at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, and in the Russell Islands. He was killed in action at Iwo Jima, while leading his men against a fortified hill on February 27, 1945, he threw himself on a hand grenade, sacrificing his life to save the lives of fellow Marines. William was survived by his wife Mary Louise and family, residents of Roxbury.

To honor service members killed in the line of duty, we dedicate Hero Squares in recognition of their memory. 

Sidney Daniel Lane Jr. was born on April 11, 1942, and resided in Roxbury Massachusetts. Sergeant Lane graduated from Brighton High School in June of 1962 with a Co-operative automobile mechanics diploma. Sidney “Sid” Lane enjoyed playing sports such as basketball and had the ambition to take up machinery in the Service. Sidney served with Company A, 1st Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force when he was an Assault Amphibious Vehicle Crewman.

In February of 1965, he was deployed to Camp Schwab, Okinawa before being deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in July of 1965. While on a resupply mission in Da Nang on April 7, 1967, a vehicle in which Sidney was a passenger was hit by an enemy mine. He suffered third degree burns to the front of his body and was medically evacuated to Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Houston Texas.

Sidney remained at that hospital for 12 days until he passed away due to his injuries on April 29, 1967, at age 25. He was awarded the Purple Heart and is buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. Sidney D. Lane Jr. is honored at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., his name is inscribed on Panel 18e, Line 115. Sidney was survived by his wife Mrs. Laura (Gibbs) Lane, and his parents Sidney Sr, and Gloria (Kennedy) Lane.

This is the 40th Anniversary of the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon where 241 Servicemen were killed, mostly Marines, 9 of whom were from Massachusetts.  One of them was my brother, Lance Corporal Michael J. Devlin.  Let's us all join together to remember our heroes.