Brockton Enterprise Reporter Interviews Russ Pittsley, 95, Oldest member of Middleboro's Veterans Honor Guard

September 27, 2015

……….Brockton Enterprise Reporter Interviews WW2 Veteran Russ Pittsley, 95, oldest member of
Middleboro Veterans Honor Guard:-..By Maria Papadopoulos, Enterprise staff writer

..........At 95, Russ Pittsley doesn’t shy away from firing off a gun—specifically, an M1

Garand.

..........Pittsley, a World War 2 veteran, is the oldest member of the Middleboro Veterans

Honor Guard firing squad. His fellow veterans believe he is the oldest member of a firing squad

in the United States.

..........Pittsley said he enjoys giving military funeral honors for veterans. He regularly

attends wakes and funerals with the honor guard’s firing squad.

.........“I’m honored to be on the honor guard. We’re just paying tribute to the guys who died

before us,” said Pittsley, a longtime Middleboro resident and a member of what is often

referred to as this nation’s “Greatest Generation.”

.........Wearing a beige jacket an ivory colored sweater Wednesday at Middleboro’s Simeon L.

Nickerson American Legion Post 64, Pittsley recalled his wartime experience. He considers

himself lucky not to have witnessed combat or casualties during the war.

.........Pittsley was just 20 when he enlisted in the National Guard in March 1940, joining the

anti-aircraft coast artillery unit.

.........After the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, he was sent to California, where he

spent three years defending the shoreline during the war.

.........In 1945, he was sent to the Philippines, where he set up camp on the island of Luzon

as a member of the 158th Infantry Regiment. There, he saw several soldiers become ill with

malaria.

.........He also recalled rounding up young Japanese soldiers who were hiding in caves.

“Nothing but kids, teenagers, 14, 15 years old,” he said. “We’d them back to camp as

prisoners.”

.........Pittsley was in the Philippines when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on

Aug. 6, 1945, a move that ended the war.

.........He then shipped out to Japan, and went to a town north of Tokyo, where an airplane

factory had been destroyed. He and other soldiers were tasked with rounding up any weapons they

could find.

.........In November 1945, Pittsley boarded a ship and sailed back to the United States,

returning home in January.

.........After the war, he met and married his wife of 57 years, Evelyn, who died in 2005. He

still wears his gold wedding band. Tears brimmed in his eyes when he spoke about his late wife.

Together, they have three children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

.........Pittsley worked for years as a pressman for various companies after the war.

.........Veterans praised Pittsley for his service and his energy in paying tribute to other

veterans.

.........“It’s an honor to have Russ with us. He’s amazing,” said Billy Franks, 72, of

Middleboro, a naval and Army Reserves veteran who serves as armorer for the firing squad.

.........Air Force veteran Bob Lessard, 73, of Middleboro said Pittsley loves being part of the

firing squad and paying tribute to local veterans.

........“The guys are doing it out of love for their veteran buddies, and he’s one of them.

Russ is an unbelievable character,” said Lessard, historian for the Simeon L. Nickerson

American Legion Post 64.

........ Pittsley said he’ll keep honoring soldiers, both past and present, for as long as he can.

........“I don’t mind doing it,” he said. It’s something to do and I enjoy it.”

.........(Readers of this website may look at an online article dated 1 August,2013 about Pittsley when we was 93. Posted by Bob Lessard, Post 64 historian 2015)