Ernie O'Malley was a medical student in Dublin when the Easter Rising of 1916 broke out. Indifferent at first, his feelings changed as the struggle progressed, and he rose to the rank of Officer Commanding of the Second Southern Division during the Irish War of Independence. After the war, a disenchanted O'Malley moved to the US where he wrote his memoirs. He died in 1957 and was given a state funeral with full military honors. He is also the author of On Another Man's Wound and Raids and Rallies.