Matthew O'Gorman Square

The intersection of Prince Street and Pond Street (where it is contiguous with the Arborway) is designated as Matthew O’Gorman Square. This hero square was dedicated on October 12, 1921.

From the collection of the Catholic University of America http://hdl.handle.net/1961/cuislandora:54418

A May 19, 1930 edition of ‘Catholic Heroes of the World War’ lets us know that Chief Yeoman O’Gorman, serving as an aerial gunner, was killed in action August 1918 when his plane crashed. He was 27 years old at the time of his death and he was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

A notice of his death appeared in the Boston Daily Globe on September 2, 1918. Matthew was the son of Mr and Mrs Henry O’Gorman of 1 Marlou Terrace. He was a graduate of Leo XIII Parochial School (which was the primary school near St. Thomas Aquinas) and West Roxbury High School (the building located on Elm Street in Jamaica Plain). He participated in the Young Men’s Catholic Association and was a member of the Parish at Our Lady of Lourdes when he died. The Globe notes that his brother, Henry was also actively serving in the Navy aboard a destroyer.

The 1910 census has Matthew (age 21) living at home with his parents and various siblings. His parents, while Irish born, are naturalized U. S. citizens (since 1882) and have been married for 27 years. Matthew is listed as working as a Shoe Cutter in a factory.

His Navy Cross citation says “For distinguished and heroic services as a gunner and observer of airplanes of the Northern Bombing Groups in France, co-operating with the Allied Armies on the Belgian Front, from June to November 18, in bombing raids over enemy territory and in action against enemy aircraft.”

All the Hero Squares in Boston are searchable in a database maintained by the Veteran Services Department https://www.cityofboston.gov/veterans/herosquares/