Brockton Enterprise, August 27, 2015 By Maria Papadoulos:-.... MIDDLEBORO – Family members and area veterans turned out to rededicate a Memorial Bridge sign honoring a World War II soldier killed in action that vandals defaced in May.
.........The sign honors Army Sgt. Leo O. Forcier, who was killed in action in Germany during World War II. Vandals had covered the sign, denoting a memorial bridge on Plymouth Street in North Middleboro, in black spray paint earlier this year.
........Forcier’s daughters, Susan Cote and Anne Burns, and his nieces and nephews attended the ceremony, which included a 21-gun salute by the Middleboro Veterans Council Honor Guard firing squad.
.........Bob Lessard, an Air Force veteran, said he discovered the vandalism before Memorial Day while he and members of the American Legion Post 64 were out placing American flags on graves and memorials for the town’s fallen soldiers.
Lessard said that the state Department of Transportation replaced the sign honoring Forcier on the bridge.
.........“It’s something to remember. He’s just one of the many people who gave up their lives for our freedom,” Lessard said.
Forcier was killed in action at age 30 on March 24, 1945, by a shell fired from a German tank in Uckerath, Germany, according to the American Legion website. Forcier had been leading a squad from F Company of the 18th Infantry when he was killed.
Forcier was involved in several battles in the European theater: St. Vith, Aachen, Hurtgen Forest at Cologne and he was at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, according to the website.
.........He was awarded a Purple Heart, the Silver Star with Oak Leaf cluster, and the Infantryman’s Badge.
.........Forcier is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Middleboro.
Maria Papadopoulos may be reached at mpapa@enterprisenews.com or follow on Twitter @MariaP_ENT.
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