By: John Cuddy – December, 2019 Marshall Rogers Sr. was born in 1921 on his family dairy farm in North Andover, MA. He was the second youngest of nine children. He claims to have walked over 3,000 miles as a child while going to school in North Andover making two round trips per day, going […]
By: John Cuddy – November, 2019 Haverhill’s Gerard Boucher joined the US Marine Corp to avoid getting drafted by the US Army. On the wall of his home sits a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, so he certainly picked an unusual way to avoid the draft. Talking to Gerard and his close friend Carolyn […]
By: John Cuddy -Oct.2019 Dracut’s Pat Walor was born on his family’s farm in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1923 – the second youngest of eleven children. His father was a dirt farmer (Pat’s own description of a vegetable farmer). He recalls his weekly trips into Faneuil Hall in Boston to sell their vegetables on commission. A […]
By: John Cuddy – August, 2019 Living throughout the Merrimack Valley, with his family during his adult life, originally from Lynn, Massachusetts, Robert was born on July 17, 1926 and is a graduate of Lynn English High School. He served in the US Army in the European Theater during the Second World War with the […]
By John Cuddy – June, 2019 Lawrence’s Angus MacPherson, better known as Mac, was originally from South Boston with fond memories of growing up there and especially of hanging out with his four brothers and many close friends on the corner of E and 5th streets. Sensing that the war was coming to America, […]
By: John Cuddy – May, 2019 Memorial Day does not belong to the Republicans, the Democrats, or any elected official. It is not intended for honoring the men and women currently serving in the military or our Veterans. Memorial Day belongs to the six American Heroes written about in this article, and all who gave […]
By: John Cuddy – April, 2019 Chelmsford’s Mike Miskell, like many of the men and women who served during World War II, formed a lifelong friendship with another soldier they served with during the war. Mike was with York, Pennsylvania’s George Meanor, a Technical Sargent in his unit, the US Army’s 217th Artillery. The two […]
By: John Cuddy – March, 2019 Lawrence’s Kasper Kfoury was present at two of the most iconic events that took place during the twentieth century in the United States. He, his brother and some friends took a train to New York’s Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, and they were sitting in the stands when […]
By: John Cuddy – Feb. 2019 Haverhill’s Anthony J “Tony” Zukas lived at Haverhill Crossing on Amesbury Road near Northern Essex Community College when I interviewed him. The students at Northern Essex Community College, and all of us really, can learn much from this World War II Veteran. Originally, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, he was the […]
By: John Cuddy – Jan. 2019 Dracut’s Robert Belleau is one of the many US Military Veterans in the Merrimack Valley of French Canadian heritage. He joined the new US Air Force, (formed out of the US Army Air Corps shortly after World War II) partly out of patriotism, and partly, (his words) to avoid […]
By: John Cuddy – Dec. 2018 Somerville’s Peter Fantasia, now living in Reading, Massachusetts at the Artis Senior Living, vividly described to me how he got captured near Rodalbe, France. While serving with Lima Company, of the 3rd Battalion, of the 104th Regiment, of the 26th Infantry Division, the “Yankee Division” as an Army Medic, […]
By: John Cuddy – November, 2018 In honor of Veteran’s day, November 11th, I sought out a Veteran that is still serving our nation; she is Commander Marilisa G. Elrod, Medical Corps (Undersea Medical Officer) United States Navy, the Associate Director for Professional Education at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia. In doing […]
VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By: John Cuddy – September 2018 The Silent Service Middleton’s Douglas Bryant originally hailed from Amesbury, Massachusetts where his father worked in the automotive industry. Prior to World War II, Amesbury had a bustling automobile industry, but manufacturers such as the Walker Body Company did not survive the Great Depression. […]
The Battle of the Atlantic – Defeating the Nazis on the High Seas! By: John Cuddy – Aug. 2018 Haverhill’s John Gallant served in the Atlantic Theater of Operation during World War II on the U.S.S Hammann, DE-131. The story of John Gallant’s World War II naval service and that of his ship’s, are very […]
By: John Cuddy – July, 2018 Lawrence’s Robert Crowley, a graduate of Central Catholic’s Class of 1944, had a unique role during and after World War II. Upon joining the U.S. Army, he was trained in Military Intelligence, with additional training in the Japanese language at Fort Holabird, outside of Baltimore, Maryland. He was then […]