Harry Byrne and James Callaghan in the Iona Yearbook for 1938

"He was called 'Bud' Callaghan." Harry J Byrne, the President of the class of 1938 recalled. "We were good friends. He was soft-spoken, gentle and friendly."

Bud's classmate Harry went on to become the Reverend Monsignor Harry J. Byrne, a parish priest who eventually served as the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York. He is now retired, but serves as the Chaplain to the Respect For Law Alliance.

Monsignor Byrne in 2006

"I remember going with Bud down to Janssen's Delicatessen for lunch. We would stop at the 'Brothers' Chapel' on the way back to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Those were pleasant days..."

"I also remember him playing football. I was the manager, and I can remember him in his uniform." Bud Callaghan was on the varsity football team. "In those days, there wasn't one team of players for the offense and another for the defense. You played the entire game..."

James Callaghan and Harry Byrne were both members of the Dramatic Society, football and swimming.

Harry Byrne and Tom Fitzharris

"He had a horse when he was at Iona Prep. I used to go horseback riding with him." Monsignor Byrne explained that the horse was kept at a stable near the end of Pinebrook Drive in New Rochelle. "It was up by the Hutchinson River Parkway."

"Before graduation, I spent a week with Bud and his family at their place in Wainscott, Long Island. I went swimming with his sister ... she got caught in the undertoe and I pulled her out ... I felt very proud of that!"

Tom Fitzharris was another classmate at Iona Prep. Although he was not a close friend with Bud Callaghan at the time, he recalls hearing of the crash of the Dixie Darlin'.

In June and July 1944, the United States secured Saipan as a base for B-29 attacks on Japan, and Bud Callaghan's crew was among the first to begin flights to Japan Fall 1944. However, the 3,000-mile round trip from Saipan to Japan and back stretched the limits of the new B-29 bombers. Casualties were high due to mechanical failures.

Bud Callaghan's classmate, Tom Fitzharris explains "I was with the Marines 4th Division when we took Iwo Jima. Right after it was secured, bombers landed there. But Callaghan's plane went down before we secured it."

Monica Reilly, Bud's niece, explained later that the location where Callaghan's B-29 went down was about 100 miles west of Iwo Jima.

Fitsharris observes "Once we took Iwo ... many planes like Bud's were able to land."