Michael Donovan

Newtown native pays tribute to local veterans who died in WWII.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com

U.S. Coast Guard Veteran Michael J. Donovan has become known as the hometown researcher who keeps a folder filled with a variety of information for each of Newtown’s service people who lost their lives during WWII.

He prides himself on having been “born and raised” in Newtown.

On one sheet of paper, Donovan, who served stateside during WWII, has assembled the photographs of 16 people, many he knew from attending Newtown High School. The Chancellor Center, as it is known today, now houses the Council Rock School District central administration.
Their pictures are situated under the heading: “1941 Reflections of WWII 1945.”

The photo page pays tribute to George Hennessey, Billy Swayze, Leon Hennessey, Ned Maher, Varsal Kirby, Cliff VanArtsdalen, Arthur Strathie, Wm. T. Werner, Wallace Murfit Jr., George Dutton, Mary Bond, Mickey Swayze, Conrad Atkinson, Bob Cahill, Marvin Hilsee and Norman Davis Jr.

Donovan is ensconced in his complex project, which is being made into a Power Point presentation.

Those who attended Newtown High School are part of a memorial at the center, which Donovan made.

“I was young when the war started,” he said. “You are part of the group. I was 13 or 14 when the war started.”

Donovan is married to Josephine and they have two grown children, Amy and Patrick. The couple’s home is in Newtown Township. He enjoys sitting in his easy chair with the fireplace aglow, paging through his research, which is carefully organized.

He went into the service on Oct. 8, 1943 when he was 17 with his father’s permission. The recruiting station was in a former bank at Third and Chestnut in Philadelphia. Basic training was at the Manhattan Beach Training Station in New York.

“I enlisted because I didn’t want to go into the Army,” Donovan said. “I would have gone in the Army when I was 18. I was a junior in high school.”

He would have graduated from Newtown High School in 1945. He had attended St. Andrew School until the eighth grade.

Donovan is humble about his time in the service. “I was just a seaman -- that’s all. I wasn’t an admiral,” he joked.

He said one of the reasons he compiles history about Newtown’s part in World War II is for younger people to learn more.

He emphasizes that WWII is an important part of history. “Hitler was going to take over the world – he tried to anyhow – Hitler and the guy in Japan – Tojo,” he said. “The Imperial Japanese Navy was taking over the whole Pacific Rim. It started with Pearl Harbor.”

Donovan described what the feeling was in the States when the war broke out. “Everybody made a great effort to get the planes, and the tanks and the ships into production,” he said.
“We didn’t have anything -- we started from scratch,” he said, noting that he worked at an aircraft factory after the war in West Trenton.

Donovan described the climate when everyone learned that the war was over. “We were all glad, but we didn’t get discharged until the following June” he said. “The ones with the higher points [amount of action you saw] were discharged first.”

One of his prized pieces of history is a picture of the “Newtown Honor Roll,” which listed all of the people from Newtown who served in World War II. When someone was killed, a star was put next to their name.

The actual honor roll had been displayed in the Gaine and Murfit Chevrolet showroom at 215 South State. Donovan said the expansive board with seemingly countless names no longer exists. He thinks it was destroyed in a barn fire, though he does not know that for certain.

The deaths of ‘Newtowners’ who perished during WWII weighs heavily on his mind and heart. “I knew all them - I knew everybody from Newtown,” Donovan said. “Instead of graduating, we were in war.”

William H. Swayze was one of the 16 who died. He was killed in action on April 28, 1945 in Okinawa, Japan. “The war was over in August 1945,” Donovan stressd.

Donovan’s file on “Billy” Swayze is nearly complete, including a write-up by Donovan.

“Pvt. Swayze and others were guarding a restricted area when an enemy artillery shell exploded nearby,” Donovan wrote. “He was wounded in both legs and received immediate treatment from a medical officer. He was rushed by ambulance to a field hospital where he received treatment on both legs.

“However, the “shock?” seemed to be too much for him,” Donovan wrote.

Donovan explained where he found the information about the 16 who died during WWII. The Newtown Historic Association has a 100-year history of Newtown in a newspaper called the Newtown Enterprise, which was published from 1865 to 1965.

“It’s on microfilm – that’s where I got a lot of this information,” he said, noting that he also wrote to the Army, Navy and Coast Guard for information.

Ned Maher was killed in action in Anzio, Italy. He was in the 3rd infantry division, U.S. Army.
George Hennessey’s transport was “rammed by a French aircraft carrier,” Donovan.

His brother, Leon, died in the Azores off the coast of Africa on March 3, 1945.

“I have a file on every one of them,” Donovan said.

He is especially proud of is seniority in the local American Legion. “I got 63 years in The Legion,” Donovan said. “Not many people can say that.” He is the historian for the Morrell Smith Post 440 in Newtown.

One of Donovan’s treasured possessions is a photograph of himself with his boot-camp buddy, Joe Connell, who he keeps in touch with today.

The picture was taken in Baltimore on the 110-foot harbor tug – a Coast Guard cutter called the Chinock.