Pvt. Harland J. Hennessey

Boonville- U.S. Army Private Harland J. Hennessey, was born on September 1, 1918 to Howard and Dorothy Gydesen Hennessey, and died on November 1, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, in the Pacific Theater of WWII. He was 24 years old. Harland grew up at 155 Ford St. Boonville, N.Y., he attended Boonville High School and participated on the track and field team, played Soccer and appeared in school musicals and plays. While attending high school, Harland was employed for Stanley Ohm Oil Co., Boonville and later he was employed at Sears Gas Station in Rome, before he was drafted into the U.S. Army, in May, 1941.

Pvt. Hennessey’s father, Howard, was born, on November 2, 1891, a son of John W. and Anna Davis Hennessey, on his family farm on the Hennessey Farm, on what is now named the Hennessey Road, just off from Potato Hill Road, in the Town of Boonville. Howard married Dorothy Gydesen, on January 25, 1917, at the Boonville Baptist Church. Dorothy was born in the Town of Lyonsdale, on December 9, 1896, a daughter of Peter and Ingebord Nickalisen Gydesen. After their marriage the couple operated the family farm on Potato Hill, before moving to their residence, on Ford Street, in the village of Boonville, where Harland and his brother, Donald, grew up.

Harland was a PVT. In the U.S. Army 803 Engineer Battalion (Aviation), and trained at Fort Jay and Fort Belvoir, in Virginia. By December, 1941, Pvt. Hennessey landed at Fort Stotsenburg, Philippines. On December 8, 1941, one day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japs bombed Clark Airfield and on that day, World War Two began for the United States. The American and allied troops fought until they were forced to surrender by the Japanese Army, on April 9, 1942. Soon afterwards, Pvt. Hennessey was a part of the infamous Bataan Death March, with 12,000 U.S. and 63,000 Pilipino Troops, who were marched by the Japanese Army for 65 torturous miles, finally arriving at Cabanatuan Prison Camp, just north of Luzon. This prison camp contained 8,000 captured Allied Soldiers and over time 2,500 prisons of war died within Cabanatuan Prison Camp. Private Hennessey died on November 1, 1942, from wet Beri Beri.

Private Hennessey’s remains were interred in grave 704, along with 9 other Pow’s, which the U.S. Army later moved to Manila Cemetery. In 2018, his remains were send to the DPAA Lab, in Honolulu, HI, and sometime later, Pvt. Hennessey’s remains were identified using forensic DNA testing and dental records. The DNA from his nephews, John Hennessey and from cousins from the state of Michigan, established a positive identification of Pvt. Hennessey, and on September 23, 2024, he U.S. Army called to tell the welcome news that Pvt. Harland Hennessey would finally be coming home to Boonville, NY.

Pvt. Hennessey was a brother to Donald Hennessey, who served his country in the U.S. Army Air Force, during WW II, in construction of communication lines, in Alaska. He and his wife, the former Jean Broniszewski, had three children, Harland, who was named after Pvt. Harland Hennessey, passed away in 2001. Pvt. Harland Hennessey’s surviving family is a nephew, John (Sue) Hennessey, Boonville and a niece, Patricia “Pat” Hennessey, Boonville, and also surviving are several great nieces, and great nephews and great great great nieces and nephews. Pvt. Hennessey’s brother, Donald, passed away in 1998 and his wife, Jean, passed away in 1988. His parents; father, Howard, passed away on June 23, 1970, and his mother; Dorothy passed away on February 23, 1985.

The return of Private Harland Hennessey’s remains to his beloved village of Boonville and the North Country, will begin in Hawaii, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, before arrival in New York state on Thursday, August 21, 2025, arriving at 4:40 P.M., at the Rochester, NY International Airport, where his final transport to Boonville, NY, will continue via the NYS Thruway to Exit 31, at Utica, where the Patriot Guard Motor Cycle Veterans and other groups will escort the procession on to Boonville, via State Rt. 12, north. It is expected that Pvt. Hennessey’s remains and procession will arrive in Boonville, between 8:00 P.M. and 8:30 P.M., on Thursday, August 21, 2025, with the Procession exiting Rt. 12, at Main St., Boonville and continuing up Main St. to Schuyler St. to Trainor Funeral Home, Inc. 143 Schuyler St. Citizens of Boonville and surrounding communities are cordially invited and welcomed to assemble in downtown on the streets of Boonville to give our North Country WWII, Hero, Pvt. Hennessey a fitting homecoming.

On Friday, August 22, 2025, all are welcome to visitation hours from 5-8 P.M. at Trainor Funeral Home, Inc. 143 Schuyler St. Boonville, where members of Harland J. Hennessey Post V.F.W., Charles J. Love Post American Legion and The Tun Tavern Marine Corps League will meet at for a visitation at 6:15 P.M, with Military Rites commencing at 6:30 P.M.

A procession to Boonville Cemetery, will form at Trainor Funeral Home, Inc. on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. and will be followed by Military Rites, conferred by Harland J. Hennessey V.F.W. Post # 5538, which was named in honor of Pvt. Hennessey, and Charles J. Love Post American Legion, Post # 406 and the Tun Tavern Marine Corps League, all of Boonville, and by Detachment 8 of the New York Army National Guard, Funeral Honors Detail, and Very Rev. Sean P. O’Brien, VF CAPT, CHC, USN(Ret.), at 10:00 A.M. at the top of the hill in Boonville Cemetery, next to the Veteran’s Memorial. Prayers and a private interment for family members only, will follow the Military Rites, in a plot next to his parents, Howard and Dorothy, also in Boonville Cemetery.

Following the Military Rites and Interment Services for Pvt. Hennessey, all are invited to attend a Celebration of his life beginning at 12:00 Noon, also on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the Harland J. Hennessey Post V.F.W., Park Avenue, Boonville, which will feature a meal, public speakers and WW II era music.

Messages to family may be made to www.trainorfuneralhome.com