Vonnegut's Bernard V. O'Hare

The trauma of Kurt Vonnegut’s experience as a POW in World War II is well-documented and won’t be rehashed here. In author Charles Shields’ biography And so it Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life we find a number of Vonnegut’s army buddies mentioned. These men were often portrayed in Vonnegut’s later books.

Soon after Vonnegut enlisted, and during a training exercise, he was according to Shields, “paired up with a sardonic Irish-Catholic from Pennsylvania named Bernard V. O’Hare.” Readers of Slaughterhouse Five will recall the name.

Fast forward to the Battle of the Bulge when their regiment, including Vonnegut and O’Hare, were taken captive by the Germans.

After several months in a number of POW camps, mostly in Dresden, they were liberated by the Russians in the summer of 1945 after the bombing of that city.

“During the trip home,” Shields wrote, “Vonnegut and O’Hare had time to talk. In Le Havre, O’Hare said he had heard Mass and received communion for the first time in five months. But it didn’t take, he told Kurt.

“O’Hare had lost his faith.

“‘I didn’t like that’, Vonnegut wrote later, ‘I thought that was too much to lose.’”

Vonnegut’s empathy struck me, especially considering his complex and often confusing views on religion. Like him, I felt for O’Hare and his loss of faith—it was too much to lose. Hence, as we do here, I set out to find the post-war story.

O’Hare attended St. Francis College run by the Franciscans T.O.R. in Loretto, PA and Dickinson Law School. He earned his law degree and spent many years in private practice and as the District Attorney in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

O’Hare died on June 8, 1990, at age 67. He was eulogized by his law partner:

Attorney George Heitczman said of his partner, O'Hare, “None of us here can fill Bernie's shoes, but we would all do well to follow in his footsteps.” His enthusiasm touched everything he did, especially the representation of his clients, Heitczman said. When he worked on a case with other lawyers, they automatically looked to O'Hare for leadership. When O'Hare opened or closed a case, the courtroom was generally packed with lawyers watching a master at work. Despite his reputation, O'Hare never took himself or the legal system too seriously, Heitczman said. He was fond of saying that a courthouse is a building “erected at public expense, to provide the citizens a convenient place to gather and tell lies.”¹

So, Bernie O’Hara became a successful, respected lawyer with a genuine sense of humor. He and Vonnegut enjoyed an enduring friendship over the years.

And, as I hoped to discover, Bernie regained his faith. His published obituary noted he was a member of St. Teresa Catholic Church in Hellertown (PA) where his Requiem Mass was celebrated on June 12, 1990. And, yes, Vonnegut attended his friend’s funeral.

Rest in peace, Bernard V. O’Hare.

1. Allentown (PA) Morning Call