Honoring Troy’s veterans
Every Sunday through Veteran’s Day, The Record will publish brief profiles of the brave men and women honored by their family and friends with banners hung around Troy through the work of the Troy Military Banner Committee. To honor a veteran, contact the committee by email at troybanners@gmail. com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com or through its website at www.troymilitarybanners.com.
WAVE Joan Houlihan
Houlihan was born Joan Legnard on Dec. 24, 1923, to Frank and Katherine (Denny) Legnard of 6 Hamilton St., Green Island. She attended St. Joseph’s School and graduated from Catholic Central High School with the Class of 1941. Joan’s father was a proud U.S. Marine who served in the European theater in World War I and was a member of a Gold Star family after losing his brother, John Bernard Legnard, in that war. With four of her brothers answering the call to duty during World War II, Joan Legnard also felt compelled to serve. Having to wait until she reached the age of 20, the minimum for enlistment as a U.S. Navy WAVE, Legnard enlisted in 1943, right after her 20th birthday. She and other personnel at a training center in Bainbridge, Maryland, maintained the service records of some 20,000recruits. She was discharged Aug. 8, 1946, and went on to marry Victor Houlihan in 1948. The couple had four children, and Joan Houlihan retired in 1990from the state Department of Tax and Finance. Her banner hangs at 895River St.
Staff Sgt. Victor Houlihan
Houlihan was born in Troy on Dec. 23, 1922, son of Thomas E. and Lena (Clermont) Houlihan of 323 First St. in South Troy. He graduated from Catholic Central High School with the Class of 1941and joined the U.S. Army Air Force on Sept. 7, 1942. Houlihan serveding from 1942-1945. He served as a radioman aboard a B-24bomber with the 762nd Bomb Squadron, 8th Army Air Force in Europe and North Africa. He received a Distinguished Unit Badge, European Africa Middle eastern Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal and was honorably discharged Sept. 19, 1945. He returned to Troy after his service years and married the former Joan B. Legnard of Green Island. They lived in Troy and
had four children. Houlihan was the owner of Vic’s TV Service for many years and
retired from GE Silicones in Waterford. He was a member of Noble-Callahan American Legion Post 237 in Troy and a communicant of St. Peter’s Church in Troy. His banner hangs at 895 River St.