Lieutenant General Joseph P. Hegarty

HEGARTY, Major General Joseph P. (LTG-MA), 94, of Sarasota, FL, formerly of Duxbury, MA, passed away on January 10, 2019. LTG Hegarty was the former Commander of the 26th (YANKEE) Infantry Division, Massachusetts Army National Guard, where his motto was “Pursuit of Excellence”. General Hegarty first enlisted in the Mass Army National Guard in 1939, at the tender age of 15 years, and became a sergeant and sharpshooter before he was released from duty in 1941 due to age minority. He then went on to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, serving in Marshfield, VT, where he learned to be a bulldozer operator and dynamiter. As the CCC wound down in August, 1941, LTG Hegerty enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went on active duty in the Southwest Pacific in the first offensive operation against the Japanese at Guadalcanal, and subsequent operations in New Guinea, New Britain, and Okinawa. He was released from active duty in November, 1945, returned home where he attended and graduated from Suffolk University and its law school. He retired as Senior Vice President and Counsel, Alliance of American Insurers. In 1962, he rejoined the Massachusetts Army National Guard, rising through the ranks to a Federally recognized Major General. Gen. Hegarty was a member of many military organizations: the First Marine Division Association; National Guard Association of Massachusetts; a life member of the Veterans Association of the First Corps of Cadets; the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Association of Massachusetts; the Association of the U.S. Army, and Military Officers Association of America. He was an alumnus of the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, and of the Command & General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He was a distinguished soldier, a proud member of he VAFCC, and an honorable man who will be sorely missed.