1st Lieutenant Louis A. Donahue
U.S. Army • 101st Infantry • 26th “Yankee” Division • World War I
1st Lieutenant Louis A. Donahue in uniform

Louis A. Donahue was a decorated military officer, respected public servant, and devoted family man whose life spanned eras of dramatic change in American history. Born June 2, 1891, in Portland, Maine, he was the son of Thomas F. and Elizabeth (“Bessie”) Donahue. Educated in Portland’s public schools and North Yarmouth Academy, he later graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard University, where he excelled in track and golf.

The Donahues had deep roots in Portland after emigrating from Ireland. Thomas opened a clothing store in Monument Square in 1885, while Bessie worked as a dressmaker—an enterprising duo whose work ethic shaped their children’s lives and ambitions.

Thomas Donahue in front of his Monument Square clothing store
Family business on Monument Square. Thomas Donahue stands at his shop beside “Prince the 5th,” said to be a fifth-generation descendant of the famed Alpine rescue dog Barry—an emblem of the family’s pride and continuity in Portland.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Donahue. A skilled dressmaker and steadying presence at home, Bessie’s talent and resolve helped power the Donahue family’s rise—and shaped Louis’s quiet determination.
Elizabeth 'Bessie' Donahue
Louis with his brother Paul
Brothers in step. Louis with his brother Paul. The Donahue siblings carried forward their parents’ ethic of faith, work, and service to community.

Before America entered the war, Louis reported to the Plattsburgh, New York officers’ training camp. He had served with the Maine National Guard, part of the earliest contingents mobilized for overseas duty—a different kind of trailblazing than his father’s, but in the same spirit.

Officer in the making. Plattsburgh forged a generation of junior leaders for modern war. Donahue joined in 1917 as the Army expanded and professionalized for service abroad.
Louis Donahue during officer training at Plattsburgh, 1917

As a first lieutenant in the 101st Infantry, 26th Division, Donahue sailed to France aboard the U.S.S. Pastores, landing at Saint-Nazaire. Pershing judged the A.E.F. unready for trench warfare; Americans trained intensively with French units through 1917–18 before entering the line.

U.S.S. Pastores transport ship
Across the Atlantic. U.S.S. Pastores carried Donahue and thousands more to France—and later home—linking small American towns to the vast machinery of the Great War.

Donahue’s first actions came in February 1918 near the Chemin des Dames, followed by the Toul sector. A brief respite saw him instructing rifle and grenade tactics with the 32nd Division at Champlitte (Michigan and Wisconsin troops) before returning to combat.

Aisne–Marne’s scarred landscape. Vailly’s shattered cathedral stood as a grim landmark in the sector where Louis would face gas near the Marne—and where the Allies turned the tide in 1918.
War-damaged cathedral at Vailly, Aisne–Marne sector

From mid-June to the Armistice, Donahue served in nearly every major American operation: renewed action at Toul; Champagne-Marne; Aisne-Marne; Saint-Mihiel; and Meuse-Argonne. He was twice wounded—gassed during Aisne-Marne (six weeks hospitalized at Limoges and Bordeaux) and struck by shrapnel at Meuse-Argonne, an injury causing temporary blindness and lasting vision damage.

Telegram to Bessie Donahue notifying her of Louis’s wounds
News from the front. A terse telegram to Bessie announced Louis’s wounds—a familiar dread for families across America as casualty lists lengthened through 1918.

Despite the scars of war, family recollections describe Donahue as steady, fair, and uncomplaining. After returning home, he entered business with James Cummisky and in 1922—at the urging of community leaders—ran for Congress in Maine’s 1st District. He lost to incumbent Carroll L. Beedy, an outcome that may have suited a man averse to political theater.

On the stump, 1922. Newspaper advertising from Donahue’s congressional campaign framed a candidacy built on service, integrity, and the aspirations of Portland’s immigrant communities.
Newspaper advertisement from the 1922 congressional race
Campaign poster for Maine’s 1st Congressional District, 1922
A race shaped by its time. In a decade of nativist headwinds, coalitions of immigrants, Catholics, and labor began to reshape Maine politics—currents larger than any single candidate.

By the early 1930s, the family moved to Augusta, where Donahue joined the Internal Revenue Service, rising to district director—a role well aligned with his methodical temperament. He married Eleanor M. McCarthy of Portland; they raised five children and enjoyed a large extended family.

Augusta years. Paul and Eleanor with a family friend—snapshots of ordinary joy that steadied the Donahue household after extraordinary years.
Paul and Eleanor Donahue with a family friend in Augusta
Louis and Eleanor Donahue in later years
Steadfast together. Louis and his wife, Eleanor, in later years—proof that the same discipline that carried him through war also sustained a life of family, work, and quiet service.

In family memory, Louis’s love was practical and constant: the small courtesies, the easy “bud” to children and friends, and even cracking lobsters so his kids never had to. Picnics at the end of Winthrop Street along the Kennebec—with cream-cheese-and-olive sandwiches and Orange Crush—became the kind of rituals that outlast headlines. Through war and peace, Donahue’s life reflected discipline, humility, and devotion—a model of quiet American character.

Sources and Further Reading