By: John Cuddy – Jan. 2022 After graduating from Lowell High School with the Class of 1965, Lowell’s Barry Kuntz enlisted in the US Air Force. Asked why? He replied, “I felt the Air Force suited me best.” After completing US Air Force Basic Training in San Antonio, Texas, Barry was assigned to McGuire AFB […]
A neglected chapter of World War II has been recalled in Old Orchard Beach with the donation and prominent display of a flag honoring the memory of a U.S. Merchant Marine from Massachusetts. As a boy growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Old Orchard Beach resident Dave Twomey lived upstairs from his uncle and […]
By: John Cuddy – Nov. 2021 WESTPORT, MA -I met Pam Melanson and her father Rene “Cap” Parent at the Wheelhouse Diner in Quincy, Massachusetts on a beautiful Saturday morning. Pam, who hails from Westport, MA, served our Nation in the US Navy Reserves for over fifteen years. She was called up on active duty […]
By: John Cuddy – Oct. 2o21 Lawrence native Arthur Goulet attended St Anne’s Grammar School and graduated from Lawrence High School with the Class of 1955. Shortly after finishing high school, he joined the US Navy. He completed Military Basic Training at the U.S. Navy Training Center at Port Deposit, Maryland, more commonly known in […]
Sept. 2021 ARMY SPECIALIST DONALD JARVIS Haverhill resident Donald Jarvis was awarded the Purple Heart last month from injuries sustained over nine years ago in Afghanistan. Army Specialist Donald Jarvis was injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) struck his vehicle. As a combat engineer, the mission of his unit was to conduct route clearance in […]
By: John Cuddy – Sept. 2021 US Army Veteran Dave Pelletier is from Salem, New Hampshire, and is now living in Haverhill, Massachusetts. After Dave withdrew from Woodbury High and served a short sentence in a reform school in Manchester, he started working at Superior Shoe. While at Superior, he enlisted in the US Army. […]
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By: John Cuddy – Aug. 2021 Dracut’s Bob and Jeanette (Jenny) Iby, celebrated their 75th Wedding Anniversary on July 4, 2021. Married on July 4, 1946, after Bob finished his tour with the US Army Air Corp, as a Bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress. The couple attended high school together in Burlington, VT, and […]
By: John Cuddy – July, 2021 Just a few weeks ago, I was talking with Bill Bateman at the Merrimack Valley Golf Course, Bill connected me with fellow Central Catholic High School alumni Arthur Moriarty, of the Class of 1958. Bill graduated from Central Catholic in 1961, as did I, graduating in 1979. Bill had […]
By: John Cuddy – June, 2021 NORTH ANDOVER – North Andover’s Louis McAloon served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War, enlisting shortly after graduating from North Andover High School. He completed Basic Training at the Naval Base Great Lakes with Recruit Company 190. After Basic, he was sent to Naval Air Station Memphis, […]
“The Governor “forgot” who he hired (Walsh) and a head had to roll, so he sent the Lawrence kid packing. Our purple Heart veteran Francisco Urena should certainly receive a public apology.” ~ State Senator Diana DiZoglio By: Tom Duggan – June 1, 2021 Massachusetts State Senator Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) is calling for a full […]
By: John Cuddy – May, 2021 Dracut’s Arthur Ducharme Sr. is a US Navy World War II Pacific Theater Veteran. He turned ninety-six on April 1st of this year. Arthur is the older brother of World War II Veteran, Joseph Alfred Ducharme, who served as a Military Police Officer at the Nuremburg trials in Germany […]
By: John Cuddy – April, 2021 Dracut American Legion Executive Board Members US Army Veteran Chris “Scrubs” Coakley and US Air Force Veteran Stephen “Professor” O’Donnell are both also members of a patriotic motorcycle group known as the Nam Knights. During the summer of 1989, a small group of Harley Davidson riders, who were also […]
By: John Cuddy – March, 2021 North Andover’s Jack Garvin graduated from North Andover High, where he played football and captained the track team. He also served on the student council. Later, he attended Northern Essex Community College. After graduating from Northern Essex, he was drafted into the US Army, during the Vietnam War. He completed […]
By: John Cuddy – Feb, 2021 This is our third US Navy Seabee, who after serving in the Navy, became a police officer. Tom Murphy Jr. is a retired Lawrence Police Officer, who later retired from the Merrimack College Police Department as well. He grew up across the street from my father Jim, and my […]