Sgt. Leo Forcier Killed In Germany, While Leading Patrol Squad

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

SGT. LEO FORCIER KILLED IN GERMANY,

 WHILE LEADING A SQUAD ON PATROL

By Bob Lessard, Historian Simeon L.Nickerson

Post 64 American Legion

(Periodically, the Gazette will publish biographical sketches of Middleboro’s war casualties. This is intended to remember the sacrifices of all veterans and especially those who gave their lives to our country. A slogan worth repeating states: “ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL.”)

Residents of Everett Street in Middleboro learned in late March of 1945 that neighbor Sergeant Leo Ovile Forcier, 30, had been Killled In Action during a battle near Uckerath, Germany.

 He had been in the service since being activated on March 9, 1944.He had been stationed stateside for training at Ft. McCullen, Alabama; Fort Meade, Maryland; and later at Camp Myles Standish in Taunton. He shipped overseas in October of 1944.

 United States Army officials had contacted his wife of three years, Anna Gamache Forcier, that her husband had been killed by a shell fragment fired by a German tank on Saturday, March 24, 1945, while he was leading a squad from Company F of the 18th Infantry of the Division under the command of Lieutenant General Courtney Hedges’ First Army.

 According to news reports at the time, Mrs. Forcier, who was living on Everett Street with the couple’s two-year-old daughter Ann, had received a letter from her husband the day before (March 23) of learning of his death.

 His letter home had mentioned the Black Forest, according to the Middleboro Gazette of April 20, 1945, which apparently was an attempt by him to let her know where he was located.

 Sergeant Forcier reportedly had seen action in battles in Aachen in the Hurtgen Forest at Cologne and in the Battle of the Bulge in the area of Bastogne. He was awarded a Silver Star with an Oak Leaf cluster, the Infantryman’s Combat Badge and a Purple Heart.

 He was survived, in addition to his wife and daughter, by his parents Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Forcier. He also left three brothers, Wilfred of Thomas Street, George of Plymouth and Arthur, who was serving in the Merchant Marines, and a sister, Mrs. Helen Fortin of Kingston.

 His remains were returned to Middleboro in January 1946 from the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle in Belgium. His grave is located in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Middleboro.

 On November 8, 1979, the bridge over the railroad tracks on Plymouth Street in North Middleboro was dedicated as the “Sergeant Leo Forcier Memorial Bridge.” Members of the Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 American Legion were among those who had petitioned the state legislature to establish the memorial bridge.

 Attending the 1979 dedication ceremony were State Representative Stanley Barnicoat; representing Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 were Commander Harold E. Tower and John Gilfoy; Manual Combra, Jr., of Middleboro’s Veterans Council, and family members, Mrs. Anna Cote, widow of Sgt. Forcier; daughter, Mrs. Ann Burns and brothers, Arthur and Wilfred Forcier.

 In the summer of 2015, it was discovered that vandals had sprayed the Sgt. Forcier Memorial sign with black paint.

 A concerted campaign to replace the damaged sign was organized by Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 of the American Legion. State officials with the Department of Transportation at the Taunton office quickly had a new memorial sign made for replacement.

 On August 16, 2015, family members and the public attended a re-dedication ceremony at the Plymouth Street site. Members of the Middleboro Veterans Council and the Middleboro Veterans Honor Guard rendered honors.

 Gazette readers of this column are reminded that bricks are still available for placement in the Veterans Memorial Park. Applications may be obtained by calling Paul Kreitzberg at 508-965-9549. Also, forms are located at the brick locator in the park.