By: John Cuddy – July, 2024
The Valley Patriot recently interviewed Methuen Village Assisted Living resident Bob DuPont, who is a 98-year-old World War II veteran. Bob shared with the Valley Patriot a fascinating story of service to our Nation in Europe and the North Atlantic during World War II. Bob was raised with his three brothers in Cambridge Massachusetts.
He was drafted into the US Army during the war, with only an 8th grade education, he served as a medic. His service in the US Army stretched from 1940 to 1944. Bob first was assigned to US Merchant Marine troop transports crossing the North Atlantic, bringing allied troops to North Africa, England, and later mainland Europe. Bob also served in Normandy, after the invasion, and then went on to serve as a US Army medic in both Italy and Africa.
As the only US Army medic assigned to his transport ship, while onboard, Bob lived in a private stateroom normally assigned to commissioned officers. Despite the comforts of a private state room on the ship, this was not a safe rear echelon duty assignment. Many of our U.S. Merchant Ships were either sunk or damaged in World War II.
According to the US Merchant Marine’s War Shipping Administration, our U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans suffered the highest rate of casualties of any service in World War II. Officially, a total of 1,554 ships were sunk due to war conditions, (enemy action) including 733 ships of over 1,000 gross tons. Hundreds of other ships were damaged by torpedoes, shelling, bombs, kamikazes, mines, etc. Foreign flag ships, especially those with US Naval Armed Guard on board, as well as ships belonging to U.S. territories such as the Philippines, are included in this list.
Many other ships and men were lost due to accidents and other non-combat incidents, currently, no official “complete” vessel loss lists are available. The United States Department of Defense, (then called the War Department) sets the total at 1,768 ships sunk, damaged, captured or detained.
Bob sailed the icy cold, North Atlantic on these ships. In the North Atlantic Teater of Operations, 979 of these transport ships were sunk, many by Nazi Germany’s U-Boat Wolf Packs, operating in the European and American theaters of operations. Recreational Scuba divers today can dive wartime wrecks off the coast of Maine, Florida, and nearly all of the other Atlantic and Gulf Coast US States.
The day before Germany surrendered, American warships quickly found Germany’s U-853 and sank her eight miles east of Block Island, Rhode Island, resulting in the loss of her entire crew. Today, U-853 is a popular deep sea diving site. She rests in 121 feet of water. The Valley Patriot asked Bob about a memory of his time on the troop ships, he replied, “the food was excellent!”
Two of Bob’s three brothers also served in the US Army during the war, his third brother was too young. Like many of the men and women who served during the war, Bob left school after completing the 8th grade to work and help support his family. Despite war raging in both Europe and Asia, the United States was still in a deep economic depression, known to historians as the Great Depression.
The men and women who fought and won World War II are now in their mid-90s or older, according to US Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, only 119,550 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II are alive as of 2023.
After serving in the army, he took advantage of the American Legion authored GI Bill. Earning a bachelor’s and master’s in education and becoming a teacher. For the rest of Bob’s life, he worked as a teacher or a social worker. He married his wife Anna, and the couple raised three children. The Valley Patriot had the pleasure of talking with his daughter Yvonne, who told us about Bob and Anna’s four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Bob’s teaching career took him to several public and private schools throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. When asked what her favorite memory of her dad is, Yvonne quickly answered that “her dad built the family home in Pepperell, Massachusetts with his own hands.”
US Army Medic, teacher, carpenter, social worker, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather Bob DuPont is a “Hero in our Midst”! Asked by the Valley Patriot if he had any needs? Bob immediately answered, “I’d like some of our younger Veterans to stop by, have coffee with me and visit for a while.”
Veterans, that is your challenge from the Valley Patriot, call the facility, 978-685-2220, ask for Communications Director Gillian Mahoney, and make an appointment to have “coffee with a member of the Greatest Generation”, Bob DuPont! If you are grateful to be able to read this in English, rather than German, Italian, or Japanese? Bring some homemade cookies too!
The Merrimack Valley American Legion Posts ask all World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Veterans to call (603) 518-5368 and sign up for an Honor Flight to the Memorials in Washington DC! The Valley Patriot staff asks Veterans of all eras, to go to the American Legion’s Web site www.legion.org, and join the American Legion. The American Legion’s mission is working with our Congress, our Nation’s Veterans, and our community, preserving our Veteran’s Benefits for future generations and serving all Veterans and their families.
John Cuddy served in the US Navy’s Construction Battalions (also known as the Seabees) after retiring from the US Navy; he earned a bachelor’s in history and a master’s in economics from the University of Massachusetts on the Lowell Campus. He has been employed in Logistics at FedEx for the last 28 years. If you know a World War II, Korean War, or Vietnam War Veteran who would like their story told, please email him at John.Cuddy@Yahoo.com ◊