About
Bernard Thomas Molampy, the son of James and Margaret (Foley) Molampy, was born on September 26, 1892, in Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York. In 1905, he and his family relocated to Schenectady. Bernard went to St. John's School and also served as an altar boy at St. John's Church. Before joining the service, he worked as an elevator repairman in New Haven, Connecticut.
On October 1, 1917, Bernard enlisted in the United States Army. He was trained at Camp Devens in Massachusetts, with additional training at Peoria, Illinois. On July 16, 1918, he was deployed overseas aboard the USS Lincoln. He was a Private (Wagoner) in Battery F, Light Field Artillery, 76th Infantry Division. During his time in France, he wrote his mother numerous interesting letters in which he informed her of his journeys through empty villages and, in one, reported that he heard mass conducted in a church where nothing but the four walls remained. He also stated that they were occupying an abandoned German trench and had discovered a huge piano there, which the guys were putting to good use. Bernard died of pneumonia on February 4, 1919, while waiting to be returned to the United States at a debarkation camp. He is buried in St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Schenectady, New York.
Sources: The Schenectady Gazette, Find A Grave, Ancestry