The Reemergence of Lance Corporal William Hart From The Ashes

By Tom Callinan [USMC 1970-’71] and Life Member of TRD #1334

There is a saying that no one is truly dead until he has been forgotten. If that’s the case, then Lance Corporal William Hart, a 1981 graduate of Robert E. Fitch High School in Groton, CT has become a phoenix of sorts. On October 23, 1983, Lance Corporal Hart was among the hundreds who were killed in the horrific terrorist bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. And after his burial in New London’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, he pretty much disappeared from public memory.

However, in 2018, Jennifer McNeil-Donnel, a Fitch H.S. classmate of William Hart’s, and who in adulthood had become the mother of two Marines herself, realized that William was not listed as being among the deceased Connecticut servicemen killed in the Beirut bombing. Jennifer took it upon herself to notify Fitch High School, which resulted in a plaque in honor of Lance Corporal Hart’s service and sacrifice being installed in their alma mater’s lobby.

A while later, she remembered that an old friend, Dave Kargul, a New London native and a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, was then-serving as the Chaplain of the Thames River Detachment (TRD) #1334 of the Marine Corps League’s Department of Connecticut. She notified him about Lance Corporal Hart’s forgotten gravesite.

Representing New London County, CT each year on the weekend of Memorial Day, it has become a tradition for the TRD to visit the graves of its deceased detachment members, to
place new American and Marine Corps flags on their graves, to show that despite the fact that they have departed from our physical presence, they have not been forgotten. Prior to 2023, the TRD was neither aware of Lance Corporal William Hart’s existence, nor that he was interred in New London. But after learning about the burial-site’s location, Marine Kargul. passed the word, and each year since then, that long-forgotten grave has been decorated with new flags. The fact that Lance Corporal Hart’s death predated the founding of the TRD by 26 years didn’t matter. He was a New London County Marine, and the TRD had to honor our brother Marine.

In 2024 the TRD felt that was not enough, so the members decided to establish a $250 cash award in memory of Lance Corporal Hart, for a graduating senior from Fitch H.S., who plans on enlisting in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States. Since expressions of patriotism in the United States have been waning in recent years, it was hoped that this modest cash award would further honor Lance Corporal Hart’s service and sacrifice, and might inspire others to follow in his footsteps, in service to our country.

For the initial year of their cash award (2025), TRD #1334 has provided the seed money, and will administer it in future years, soliciting funds from donations, bequests, grants, Fitch H.S. alumni, and targeted fundraisers. Hopefully, the generosity of New London County citizens and businesses will enable the TRD to present annual cash awards indefinitely into the future. In that way they will continue to remember the name and sacrifice of one of their own, while supporting Fitch High School graduates, who choose to follow the path of military service.

The TRD’s application form is available from Ms. Jennifer Allanach, Fitch High School’s College and Career Counselor, and the first award was made on June 3rd of 2025, in this, the Semi-Quincentennial year of the Marine Corps’ founding in 1775 as The Continental Marines.
The recipient was Omkari R. Mehta of Groton, an outstanding student and a member of the Navy Junior ROTC at Fitch High School. In reading her application, and the endorsement of her Senior Naval Science Instructor, Terance J. Henkle, LCDR USN (Ret), who wrote, she will “succeed in any program or direction she chooses.” She will soon be entering the U.S. Air Force, with hopes of becoming an astronaut and one day to work for NASA.

Marine Tom Callinan (Left Chairman of TRD’s LCpl Wm. Hart Memorial Cash Award Committee) and TRD #1334 Commandant Bill Barnes (Right) presented the award to Ms. Mehta, along with a Certificate of Commendation from U.S. 2nd District Congressman Joe Courtney. Her proud parents attended the award ceremony.

Marine Dave Kargul and Jennifer McNeil-Donnel were able to see their efforts
to preserve the name and sacrifice of Lance Corporal William Hart come to fruition.
Anyone wishing to donate to the Lance Corporal William Hart Memorial Fund, should send their checks [made payable to the Thames River Detachment #1334, MCL with LCpl Wm. Hart Mem. Fund in the Memo line], to TRD #1334, P.O. Box 462 Uncasville, CT 06382.

The Marine Corps League maintains a 501c4 non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service with special tax exemption.