Latest news with #EddieDoyle
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Parades and concerts mark Memorial day in Schuylkill County
Several communities in Schuylkill County are set to hold parades and other events for Memorial Day. Cressona A Memorial Day parade will be held in the borough, starting at 10 a.m. Monday near Hydro. It will be followed by a ceremony outside the American Legion Post, 1 Front St. Frackville The borough's annual Memorial Day parade will be held at 9 a.m. Monday. It will start at the Frackville Business Center (the former M&T Bank), proceeding up Lehigh Street to the Frackville Memorial Park along West Spring Street. A ceremony will be held at the park after the parade. The Frackville Community Pool will also open for the season on Saturday. Daily rates are $5 Monday through Friday and $6 on weekends. Minersville Minersville will hold a Memorial Day parade on Monday. It will step off at 9 a.m. at the Minersville Little League Complex parking lot, proceeding north on South Fourth to Sunbury Street, then to the Minersville Veterans Memorial at 3 E Sunbury St. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at the veterans memorial. New Philadelphia The borough will hold a Memorial Day parade starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the post office. After the parade, there will be a program at the town square; the featured speaker will be Schuylkill County Judge William Burke. In case of rain, the program will be held at the Good Intent Firehouse. Also, there will be a tree-planting ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday at the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute, 15 Alliance St. The tree will be dedicated to Eddie Doyle, a Pottsville Maroons football player who was fatally wounded in World War II. The public is welcome. Orwigsburg The borough will hold a parade at 8 a.m. Monday, starting at the Orwigsburg Veterans Memorial Hall. The event will conclude with a service on the town square, featuring borough manager William Reppy as the speaker. Pine Grove The M&J Big Band will perform a free concert from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, 108 Clubhouse Road. The concert will be held in the Clubhouse Pavilion; patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. The rain date is Monday, Sept. 1. Port Carbon A Memorial Day parade will be held at 9 a.m. Monday, proceeding through the main thoroughfares and ending at the gazebo area for a service and playing of 'Taps' to honor the community's military families and loved ones. Pottsville A Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Garfield Square, honoring a young local servicewoman. There will be playing of taps. A Memorial Day sunset service will be held at 8:10 p.m. Monday inside the main entrance of the Charles Baber Cemetery, 1400 W. Market St. Tom Shay, a local historian, will be the guest speaker. There will be a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Kurt Kovalovich, followed by the playing of taps at sunset. Schuylkill Haven A Memorial Day parade will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, stepping off at Schuylkill Haven Area High School and proceeding down Main Street to Parkway. The Schuylkill Haven Lions Club will also hold a pancake breakfast prior to the event, at the Schuylkill Haven Area High School cafeteria. Tamaqua A Memorial Day parade will be held at 10 a.m., stepping off at East Broad Street. It will conclude with a Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pottsville Maroons player was one of first casualties in WWII
Eddie Doyle could have rested on his laurels as being a member of the NFL Champion Pottsville Maroons in the team's championship season of 1925, where he played end in an exhibition game against the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. But his lasting legacy would come 17 years later when, as commander of the Army's 168th Infantry Regiment, he led a detachment into combat against German forces in Algeria, North Africa. According to the War Department, Lt. Col. Doyle fell victim to a sniper's bullet near Algiers, the country's capital, on Nov. 8, 1942. Doyle was killed in the Allied troop landings of the North African Campaign. He is reported to have been one of the first American casualties in North Africa during World War II. His name is included in a wartime heroes display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His death was reported in the Pottsville Republican on Dec. 12, 1942. He left behind a wife, the former Emily Belles of Pottsville, and two children in Bridgeport, Connecticut. On the day after Doyle's death, the Pottsville Republican ran a front page story reporting the American success in battle. 'United States forces, striking with overwhelming might and exquisite precision, closed in on key defenses of French North Africa, inflicting serious losses on the Vichy navy at Casablanca and capturing Algiers,' said the story, datelined London. Vichy was the term used for the French government set up after Germany's invasion in 1940. Algeria was a French colony at the time. J. Robert 'Jay' Zane, president of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, published a story about Doyle in a recent edition of the society's newsletter. 'During the 100th anniversary of the Pottsville Maroons,' Zane wrote, 'we should not overlook Eddie Doyle's sacrifice on Memorial Day.' Born in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1898, Doyle was a scholar-athlete and captain of his high school football team, Zane reported. He enlisted in World War I as a private in the U.S. Cavalry, and attended West Point Military Academy after he was discharged. He suffered a concussion in a football game between Army and Yale University, and left West Point afterward. He signed on with the NFL's Frankford Yellow Jackets, but was dropped after a few games. The Maroons' owner, Dr. John Striegel, brought Doyle to Pottsville in 1925. The Maroons clinched the NFL Championship by beating the Chicago Cardinals 21-7 on Dec. 6, 1925 in Chicago. The title was rescinded after the Maroons played an unsanctioned post-season game with the Notre Dame All Stars in Shibe Park, Philadelphia. Wearing jersey No. 1, Doyle scored three touchdowns during a two-year stint with the Maroons. He accepted a commission in the Army, leaving for duty the day after he married Emily Belles in Trinity Episcopal Church on Oct. 2, 1926. He went on to coach football at West Point and the Army's 1st Cavalry football teaml About 11 months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Doyle was killed in North Africa. It was written, Zane found, that Gen. George 'Old Blood and Guts' Patton cried after hearing of Doyle's death. The Schuylkill County Historical Society has organized the 100th anniversary tribute to the Maroons. The society recently unveiled a 'The Pottsville Maroons: 1925 World Champions Exhibit' in its headquarters at 305 N. Centre St., Pottsville. Diana Prosymchak, executive director, will present 'The Pottsville Maroons Story' at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, in the society. The society is sponsoring a Pottsville Maroons 100th Anniversary banquet at 5 p.m. Aug. 16 at Mountain Valley Golf Course. Tickets are available by calling the society at 570-622-7540. The 1925 Pottsville Maroons football team is shown in a program. FILE PHOTO
