MANSFIELD — Cornelius McCafferty Jr. was killed during what was supposed to be a ceasefire.
It was February 17, 1969 — the final day of celebrations for Tet, the Lunar New Year.
McCafferty was a signalman in the U.S. Navy, six weeks into his second tour of duty in Vietnam.
A husband and father of three, McCafferty was killed in action while manning a river patrol boat. He was 28.
According to archived copies of the Mansfield News Journal, he was the 30th Richland County resident to die in the Vietnam War and the second Mansfield resident to be killed that year.
Now, more than 50 years after his passing, McCafferty’s sacrifice is being highlighted once again.
State legislators are considering a bill to designate 29 memorial roads and bridges across the state of Ohio.
If enacted, House Bill 380 would designate the SM1 Cornelius Anthony McCafferty Jr. Memorial Highway. The proposed highway would include the portion of State Route 39 between State Route 430 and Interstate 71.
The bill passed in the Ohio House of Representatives on June 12 and was introduced in the Senate on Monday.
House Bill 380 would create two memorial highways in Richland County, one in honor of Cornelius McCafferty and the other in honor of Army veteran and firefighter Charles Swank. To read his story, click here.
McCafferty earned Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal for heroism
McCafferty graduated from Madison High School in 1958 and entered the Marine Reserves a few weeks later. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1960.
On the day he died, McCafferty was captaining a boat on the Vàm Cỏ Đông River.
According to his oldest daughter, Julia Hawke, the boat approached a rough area of the river. McCafferty offered to switch places with another sailor who was steering the vessel.
It proved to be a fatal decision — one that put McCafferty in the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to a death notice published in the Mansfield News Journal, McCafferty was killed instantly after a rocket exploded behind his right shoulder.
The sailor he switched places with was injured, but survived.
“We have become pretty close with him and his wife,” Hawke said. “He’s alive because he switched places with my dad 10 minutes (earlier).”
It wasn’t the only time McCafferty’s actions saved the lives of his comrades.
During her testimony in favor of House Bill 380, Representative Marilyn John told legislators McCafferty rescued the crew on another river boat that caught fire the day before he died.
According to Hawke, McCafferty received both a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal posthumously for his heroism.
McCafferty was a leader among his peers
McCafferty left behind a wife, Susan, and three children. Hawke, the oldest, was just 4 years old when her father passed away.
She and her sister Kasey have attended several Vietnam veteran reunions and met the men their father served alongside.
They’ve told her that at 28, McCafferty was something of a role model to the younger sailors.
“He kind of looked out for the other guys because he was older,” Hawke said. “So many of them were 19, 20 years old. They looked up to him.”
McCafferty said her father considered being an architect or a park ranger after retiring from the military.
“At one point, he talked about getting a charter boat down in Florida,” she said.
While he never got that chance, Hawke said her father was proud of his service to his country.
“He wanted to go there because he believed if we didn’t fight communism on foreign shores, we would be communist here,” she said.
