Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. William Alfred Bujold, who served as navigator with a crew of 11 on a B-17E Flying Fortress with the 64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group, died in combat on May 21, 1943. The plane was shot down during a bombing run on a Japanese air base on Rabaul, New Britain Province. Alfred was the fourth and youngest son of Charles and Annie Bujold. After graduating from Stephens High School in Rumford in the Class of 1936, going off to college and graduating with a degree in accounting, he was inducted into the Army on Jan.16, 1942. On Dec. 12, 1942, Alfred graduated from the Air Force Advanced Flying School at Mather Field, California and immediately left for the war zone. After he was listed as missing in action, his mother had his name engraved on her tombstone, anticipating he'd eventually be found. She died in 1944 of a broken heart, according to family lore, two years before her son was officially declared dead on Jan. 8, 1946. There was a long-delayed salute in Rumford for the soldier who died in World War II. Alfred was killed during a combat mission over New Guinea in 1943. In 2006, his remains were identified by the joint POW-MIA Accounting Task Force and returned to Maine. His parents never gave up the hope that his remains would be found. Family members received the flag that was on Lieutenant Bujold's coffin, as well as an original Purple Heart from World War II. He was given a military funeral at his parents' grave. He also has a grave marker at Saint Johns Cemetery
Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. William Alfred Bujold, who served as navigator with a crew of 11 on a B-17E Flying Fortress with the 64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group, died in combat on May 21, 1943. The plane was shot down during a bombing run on a Japanese air base on Rabaul, New Britain Province. Alfred was the fourth and youngest son of Charles and Annie Bujold. After graduating from Stephens High School in Rumford in the Class of 1936, going off to college and graduating with a degree in accounting, he was inducted into the Army on Jan.16, 1942. On Dec. 12, 1942, Alfred graduated from the Air Force Advanced Flying School at Mather Field, California and immediately left for the war zone. After he was listed as missing in action, his mother had his name engraved on her tombstone, anticipating he'd eventually be found. She died in 1944 of a broken heart, according to family lore, two years before her son was officially declared dead on Jan. 8, 1946. There was a long-delayed salute in Rumford for the soldier who died in World War II. Alfred was killed during a combat mission over New Guinea in 1943. In 2006, his remains were identified by the joint POW-MIA Accounting Task Force and returned to Maine. His parents never gave up the hope that his remains would be found. Family members received the flag that was on Lieutenant Bujold's coffin, as well as an original Purple Heart from World War II. He was given a military funeral at his parents' grave. He also has a grave marker at Saint Johns Cemetery
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