Lakes Region in WWII

[CrawfordCentury]

Just came acrosst this little tid bit.

One of my favorite writers of the time period was columnist Ernie Pyle, whose pieces were read by millions each week. Most of his dispatches were from N.Africa and Europe. But as things came to a close in Europe, he shipped out to the Pacific. He would shortly thereafter be killed by a Japanese sniper.

Pyle joined a company of the First Marine Division, spending time with them without meeting any action. While there, he met Urban Vachon of Laconia.

Pyle wrote:

As our company was moving forward one day and I looked down the line of closely packed Marines I thought for a moment I was back in Italy.

There for sure was Bill MAULDIN’S cartoon character of GI Joe—the solemn, bearded dirty, drooping weary old man of the infantry.

This character was Pfc. Urban VACHON of French-Canadian extraction, who came from Laconia, N. H. He has a brother, William, fighting in Germany.

Urban is such a perfect ringer for [Bill] Mauldin’s soldier that I asked the regimental photographer to take a picture of him and it has been sent back to the States. Maybe you’ve seen it. If you have, you can prove to any dissenters that soldiers do too look like Mauldin makes them look.

Here's a pic. Pyle was dead on!