Private First Class Michael Patrick Halpin, of Brookdale
Street, died Jan. 19, 1967, in Tah Ninh, Vietnam "from injuries received
while on combat operations when engaged with hostile forces in a
firefight," the Army said.
Halpin, who would have been 22 on Feb. 28, is the fourth
Nutley man to die in the war.
Born in Newark, Halpin received his early education at St.
Thomas the Apostle grammar school, Bloomfield. He played Little League baseball
for three years. He attended Nutley High School, and was active in the Catholic
Youth Organization.
At Nutley High, Halpin's friends called him
"Murf." He liked mathematics and pop records, was out for the
football squad in senior year and a member of extracurricular clubs.
After graduation, he worked two years at a trucking company
before enlisting in the Army in March 1967. His tour of duty would have been
completed in March 1970. However, his family said that at times he contemplated
making a career of the Army.
He also planned to marry his high school 'steady,' Carol
Lucas of Center Street, Nutley, after his enlistment expired.
Halpin is survived by two brothers, Francis, a teaching Brother
in the Order of the Sacred Heart, and John, of Clifton; and by a sister, Mrs.
Kathleen Wirth of Nutley.
Adapted from The Nutley Sun.
