 The two attended school and church together and were friends throughout childhood.After Noonan's death in Vietnam, O'Malley remained in contact with the Noonan family and visited Noonan's mother every year on Memorial Day.He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve in Brooklyn, New York on December 26, 1967 and was subsequently discharged to enlist in the Regular Marine Corps on January 31, 1968.