Pvt. Ed Pierce Claimed By Pneumonia During WW2

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

PNEUMONIA CLAIMS LIFE OF WW2 ARMY PRIVATE EDWARD E. PIERCE

By Bob Lessard

Historian Post 64 American Legion

(Periodically, the Gazette will publish sketches of Middleboro’s war casualties. This is intended to remember the sacrifices of all veterans and those who gave their lives for our country. A slogan which truly reflects thoughts about our military states: “ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL.”)

He died in the service of his country.

Word was received in Middleboro from military authorities of the death of World War 2 United States Army Private Edward E. Pierce, 25, from bronchial pneumonia on Wednesday, August 18, 1943, while serving at Camp Davis in North Carolina. He had been ill for two weeks before losing his life, according to officials.

Private Pierce was born on March 15, 1918 in Rochester, the son of Alton R. Pierce, Sr., and Ella Frances (Dexter) Pierce. He was educated in Wareham schools. He lived in West Wareham and East Rochester according to obituaries printed in the New Bedford Standard-Times of August 20 and the Wareham Courier of August 26, 1943.

His military induction card obtained from the Massachusetts military records department revealed that he was sworn into the Army at Middleboro on December 16, 1942 and entered active service the same day. 

 At the time of his swearing in, Edward had been living in Lakeville on Rhode Island Road with his wife, the former Susan A. Nelson. The couple were married in West Wareham on February 10, 1940. They were the parents of a three-year-old son, Samuel Edward Pierce, at the time of his death.

Besides his wife Susan, son Samuel, and father Alton, Edward was survived by seven brothers, Alton, Jr., Arthur of Michigan, Robert, Weldon of Yarmouth, Walter, Private Lawrence stationed in New York and Nelson; and a sister Mrs. Edith Holmes of Marion.

While gathering information several years ago about Edward Pierce, we made contact with this son Samuel, who was living in Maine at the time. He provided information that: “Before joining the service,  my father and his brothers had a radio repair shop.”

A portion of a letter home dated March 12, 1943, from Edward, while stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Davis, was also shared by a family member. At the time, Edward was being trained in the operation of field radios, according to the letter.

“It takes two of us to operate a field radio. We direct gun fire and searchlights,” he wrote home.

 His body was returned home through Headquarters, Office of the Chief Quartermaster Branch of Camp Davis. Funeral services, under the direction of Wareham’s Cornwell Funeral Home, were conducted Tuesday, August 24 at 2 p.m. from the Church of our Savior in Middleboro. The Reverend W. C. Kilpatrick officiated.

Burial was in Nemasket Hill Cemetery on the “right hand side of the main drive” with a grave stone marked “1918-1943…Died in the Service of His Country,” according to church notes.

Edward is remembered by his name engraved on the World War 2 section of the Central Casualty stone in Middleboro’s Veterans Memorial Park. And, his death is recorded on page 545 in Mertie Romaine’s “History of Middleboro, Massachusetts, 1905-1965.” (Published 2/8/18)

Gazette readers are reminded that bricks are still available for placement in Middleboro’s Veterans Memorial Park. They are a nice tribute to remember and honor veterans. Applications may be obtained at the park’s brick locator; in the lobby of the Town Hall bank building; at the Oak Point pool room and at the office of Jason Cox Middleboro’s Veterans Service officer. (Published 2-8-18)