William J. or Bill, as he was known, was the only son of William J. and Elizabeth Agnes (Dunn) McLaughlin who married 01 Oct 1916 in Medfield, Norfolk, MA. His siblings were Rita Elaine and Doris Elizabeth McLaughlin. He also had a half-sister, May Louise (Sullivan) Shields.
Bill grew up in Dorchester, MA, a suburb of Boston. He and some of the area boys belonged to a local baseball team. One of his teammates and friend was William Gary Walsh, who was a recipient (posthumously) of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima.
Bill was a child of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce so to help supplement family income, he enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard's 110th Cavalry, A troop (would later become the 180th Field Artillery (FA)) in January 1937 at age 16. He was told by a neighbor friend who was already a member of that "exclusive" group to say he was 19. No one will ask for birth certificates Bill was told. They didn't.
Later that year he graduated from the Dorchester High School For Boys having turned 17 in June. After graduation, Bill's father, William J., fell ill and was bedridden. His pay from the New Haven Railroad stopped. For the six months before he died in Jan 1938, Bill's two older sister's, May and Rita, provided the income teaching school as substitutes, and working nights as waitresses in a restaurant.
Bill worked at anything he could find; climbing trees for a day or two with a landscaper, shoveling snow, and laboring around the National Guard armory. Not until January 1940 did Bill find something resembling a steady job. His uncle, Jim McLaughlin, who worked on the New Haven Railroad as a train dispatcher with Bill's father, found him a spot as a Yard Clerk in the freight yards at South Boston checking inbound and outbound freight trains. At the same time, Bill got a job stocking shelves in one of the first local supermarkets. It paid $13.00 a week. At one point, he worked three jobs in a row and went without sleep for 50 or so hours. During that stretch, he drilled one night with the cavalry. It is somewhat ironic that he noticed many of the freight trains were getting longer and longer loaded with scrap iron and headed for ships in the harbor with names ending in "Maru." He noted that he and his fellow workers joked about the iron coming back at them one day, but not really believing it . . . then! He wrote, "Those days were a nightmare and better forgotten."
When war was declared in Dec 1941, Bill's unit was activated. It was loaded and sailed from Brooklyn, NY on 23 January 1942 on board the S.S. Argentina, arriving 37 days later on 23 February 1942 in Melbourne, Australia to a raucous welcome by the Aussies. Over the course of the next three plus years, he was involved in frequent combat operations in the Southwest Pacific on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, New Caledonia and the Philippines. My grandmother remembered how stressful it was for the family during the war while her son was overseas. When telegrams would come to the neighbors, she remembered the cries of anguish from the bereaved family. She said you never knew where Bill was or when one of those horrible telegrams was coming to her house.
During operations on Leyte, Philippines in Feb 1945 SSgt McLaughlin was assigned to the 21 Cavalry Recon Troop, Americal Division. He was point man on a patrol when they came under heavy automatic weapon and small arms fire. Their radio operator was wounded and in an open area exposed to enemy fire. Bill left his position and crossed the open area in an attempt to retrieve his wounded comrade. Bill was unable to move the wounded man quickly enough because of the extra weight of the radio equipment that his unit badly needed. So his platoon leader, 1st Lt Gordon E Burt, quickly advanced across the open field and both men were able to retrieve their wounded comrade. SSGT McLaughlin received the Silver Star Medal for his bravery that day in Feb 1945. Several days later on 14 Feb 1945 Lt Burt was killed in action. The Lt died in Bill's arms. It was learned many years later (2016) that Lt Burt had also been awarded (posthumously) the Silver Star for his heroism that day.
While in the Philippines Sgt McLaughlin and his unit were called upon to provided a protective unit for General MacArthur while he conducted an inspection tour on Cebu. After the Philippines were secured Army units began preparations for the invasion of Japan. In July 1945, Bill and his unit learned that they were being rotated home. He had survived the war, and with his unit, embarked on the Liberty Ship, S.S. James H. Kincaid. The trip was agonizingly slow. It was while the ship was approaching Hawaii that word of the Japanese surrender was received. After a short visit at Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived at San Francisco after a 33 day trip in Sept 1945. He and his comrades then boarded a troop train traveling across the country to New England and home. The train arrived at Fort Devens where Bill was honorably discharged from active service. He had been overseas for more than 3 and one-half years with only a week of R&R in Australia in early 1942. His total service time, National Guard and WWII, was just a few months short of nine years.
Bill was awarded the Army Silver Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Medal with three stars and the Philippine Independence Medal. Also issued the Cavalry Branch Crossed Sabres and the Artillery Branch Insignias.
Not long after returning from the war, Bill entered Harvard University using the new G.I. Bill. During his Sophomore year, he married Patricia F. "Pat" O'Meara on 31 May 1947 in Boston. They quickly became the parents of two daughters, and Bill attended class during the day and worked at night for the railroad to support his growing family. Over time, the McLaughlin family would grow to seven daughters and one son. An eighth daughter, Mary, was stillborn.
After college, Bill and his family moved from Boston to Portland, Maine where they called home for a number of years. In the later 1950s, Bill and his ever growing family moved back to the Boston area. He was a salesman for most of his working career.
Bill was the family historian, as well as, the historian for his WWII army unit. He wrote numerous articles over the years published in the unit's news letter and local papers chronicling the events that he and his comrades-in-arms had experienced while at war. He wrote a book, The Americal Generation, published in 1999, recounting his days as a Recon Scout. Because of his efforts to record the events of his unit, Bill helped to preserve a valuable legacy that is quickly being lost to time.
As I got close to the end of his book, Bill made a statement that I'd not heard any WWII veteran make. He said, "Although I had come through the war apparently intact there had been a price paid that showed up as time went on." He articulates many symptoms that we today know is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He describes flinching when a car back fires or even ducking when it happens on the road. He describes being quick to anger, fits of melancholy and despair, and becoming unusually agitated in crowds or in close quarters like restaurants. He found it difficult to remain indoors for any length of time. He sought pastoral care but it wasn't of much help. He said, "The transition to civilian life was hard."
I can only wonder how many of the veterans of the wars before PTSD was identified and treated had to suffer in silence and misery with that affliction. I don't get the feeling that Bill was making a complaint but rather he was making an observation about himself and how things had changed for him when he returned from the war. The war cost him one other thing; his hearing.
After he retired in 1985, Bill and Pat moved to Marstons Mills on Cape Cod where he remained until his death in 2002. He is buried with Pat in the national cemetery in Bourne, Mass in section 32, grave 193. A true hero of the Greatest Generation.
------------
William J. McLaughlin
Obituary
Of Marstons Mills, formerly of Milton, July 12, after a long illness. Beloved husband of 55 years to Patricia F. (O'Meara) McLaughlin. Loving father of seven daughters and one son. Brother of Rita McCabe of Quincy and the late Mary Shields and Doris Lawton. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Burial Massachusetts National Cemetery.
[Original obituary edited for content and privacy.]
Source: Published Boston Globe 14 July 2002.
[bio #108 compiled by his nephew CDR Gerry Lawton, USN (ret.) - G47]
Military Hall of Honor ID:318236
Primary Sources:
1) McLaughlin, Bill. The Americal Generation. Cape Elizabeth Press, Peaks Island, Maine, 1999.
2) Newspaper articles
3) Ancestry.com census records
4) Our family
Bill grew up in Dorchester, MA, a suburb of Boston. He and some of the area boys belonged to a local baseball team. One of his teammates and friend was William Gary Walsh, who was a recipient (posthumously) of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima.
Bill was a child of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce so to help supplement family income, he enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard's 110th Cavalry, A troop (would later become the 180th Field Artillery (FA)) in January 1937 at age 16. He was told by a neighbor friend who was already a member of that "exclusive" group to say he was 19. No one will ask for birth certificates Bill was told. They didn't.
Later that year he graduated from the Dorchester High School For Boys having turned 17 in June. After graduation, Bill's father, William J., fell ill and was bedridden. His pay from the New Haven Railroad stopped. For the six months before he died in Jan 1938, Bill's two older sister's, May and Rita, provided the income teaching school as substitutes, and working nights as waitresses in a restaurant.
Bill worked at anything he could find; climbing trees for a day or two with a landscaper, shoveling snow, and laboring around the National Guard armory. Not until January 1940 did Bill find something resembling a steady job. His uncle, Jim McLaughlin, who worked on the New Haven Railroad as a train dispatcher with Bill's father, found him a spot as a Yard Clerk in the freight yards at South Boston checking inbound and outbound freight trains. At the same time, Bill got a job stocking shelves in one of the first local supermarkets. It paid $13.00 a week. At one point, he worked three jobs in a row and went without sleep for 50 or so hours. During that stretch, he drilled one night with the cavalry. It is somewhat ironic that he noticed many of the freight trains were getting longer and longer loaded with scrap iron and headed for ships in the harbor with names ending in "Maru." He noted that he and his fellow workers joked about the iron coming back at them one day, but not really believing it . . . then! He wrote, "Those days were a nightmare and better forgotten."
When war was declared in Dec 1941, Bill's unit was activated. It was loaded and sailed from Brooklyn, NY on 23 January 1942 on board the S.S. Argentina, arriving 37 days later on 23 February 1942 in Melbourne, Australia to a raucous welcome by the Aussies. Over the course of the next three plus years, he was involved in frequent combat operations in the Southwest Pacific on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, New Caledonia and the Philippines. My grandmother remembered how stressful it was for the family during the war while her son was overseas. When telegrams would come to the neighbors, she remembered the cries of anguish from the bereaved family. She said you never knew where Bill was or when one of those horrible telegrams was coming to her house.
During operations on Leyte, Philippines in Feb 1945 SSgt McLaughlin was assigned to the 21 Cavalry Recon Troop, Americal Division. He was point man on a patrol when they came under heavy automatic weapon and small arms fire. Their radio operator was wounded and in an open area exposed to enemy fire. Bill left his position and crossed the open area in an attempt to retrieve his wounded comrade. Bill was unable to move the wounded man quickly enough because of the extra weight of the radio equipment that his unit badly needed. So his platoon leader, 1st Lt Gordon E Burt, quickly advanced across the open field and both men were able to retrieve their wounded comrade. SSGT McLaughlin received the Silver Star Medal for his bravery that day in Feb 1945. Several days later on 14 Feb 1945 Lt Burt was killed in action. The Lt died in Bill's arms. It was learned many years later (2016) that Lt Burt had also been awarded (posthumously) the Silver Star for his heroism that day.
While in the Philippines Sgt McLaughlin and his unit were called upon to provided a protective unit for General MacArthur while he conducted an inspection tour on Cebu. After the Philippines were secured Army units began preparations for the invasion of Japan. In July 1945, Bill and his unit learned that they were being rotated home. He had survived the war, and with his unit, embarked on the Liberty Ship, S.S. James H. Kincaid. The trip was agonizingly slow. It was while the ship was approaching Hawaii that word of the Japanese surrender was received. After a short visit at Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived at San Francisco after a 33 day trip in Sept 1945. He and his comrades then boarded a troop train traveling across the country to New England and home. The train arrived at Fort Devens where Bill was honorably discharged from active service. He had been overseas for more than 3 and one-half years with only a week of R&R in Australia in early 1942. His total service time, National Guard and WWII, was just a few months short of nine years.
Bill was awarded the Army Silver Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Medal with three stars and the Philippine Independence Medal. Also issued the Cavalry Branch Crossed Sabres and the Artillery Branch Insignias.
Not long after returning from the war, Bill entered Harvard University using the new G.I. Bill. During his Sophomore year, he married Patricia F. "Pat" O'Meara on 31 May 1947 in Boston. They quickly became the parents of two daughters, and Bill attended class during the day and worked at night for the railroad to support his growing family. Over time, the McLaughlin family would grow to seven daughters and one son. An eighth daughter, Mary, was stillborn.
After college, Bill and his family moved from Boston to Portland, Maine where they called home for a number of years. In the later 1950s, Bill and his ever growing family moved back to the Boston area. He was a salesman for most of his working career.
Bill was the family historian, as well as, the historian for his WWII army unit. He wrote numerous articles over the years published in the unit's news letter and local papers chronicling the events that he and his comrades-in-arms had experienced while at war. He wrote a book, The Americal Generation, published in 1999, recounting his days as a Recon Scout. Because of his efforts to record the events of his unit, Bill helped to preserve a valuable legacy that is quickly being lost to time.
As I got close to the end of his book, Bill made a statement that I'd not heard any WWII veteran make. He said, "Although I had come through the war apparently intact there had been a price paid that showed up as time went on." He articulates many symptoms that we today know is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He describes flinching when a car back fires or even ducking when it happens on the road. He describes being quick to anger, fits of melancholy and despair, and becoming unusually agitated in crowds or in close quarters like restaurants. He found it difficult to remain indoors for any length of time. He sought pastoral care but it wasn't of much help. He said, "The transition to civilian life was hard."
I can only wonder how many of the veterans of the wars before PTSD was identified and treated had to suffer in silence and misery with that affliction. I don't get the feeling that Bill was making a complaint but rather he was making an observation about himself and how things had changed for him when he returned from the war. The war cost him one other thing; his hearing.
After he retired in 1985, Bill and Pat moved to Marstons Mills on Cape Cod where he remained until his death in 2002. He is buried with Pat in the national cemetery in Bourne, Mass in section 32, grave 193. A true hero of the Greatest Generation.
------------
William J. McLaughlin
Obituary
Of Marstons Mills, formerly of Milton, July 12, after a long illness. Beloved husband of 55 years to Patricia F. (O'Meara) McLaughlin. Loving father of seven daughters and one son. Brother of Rita McCabe of Quincy and the late Mary Shields and Doris Lawton. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Burial Massachusetts National Cemetery.
[Original obituary edited for content and privacy.]
Source: Published Boston Globe 14 July 2002.
[bio #108 compiled by his nephew CDR Gerry Lawton, USN (ret.) - G47]
Military Hall of Honor ID:318236
Primary Sources:
1) McLaughlin, Bill. The Americal Generation. Cape Elizabeth Press, Peaks Island, Maine, 1999.
2) Newspaper articles
3) Ancestry.com census records
4) Our family
William J. or Bill, as he was known, was the only son of William J. and Elizabeth Agnes (Dunn) McLaughlin who married 01 Oct 1916 in Medfield, Norfolk, MA. His siblings were Rita Elaine and Doris Elizabeth McLaughlin. He also had a half-sister, May Louise (Sullivan) Shields.
Bill grew up in Dorchester, MA, a suburb of Boston. He and some of the area boys belonged to a local baseball team. One of his teammates and friend was William Gary Walsh, who was a recipient (posthumously) of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima.
Bill was a child of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce so to help supplement family income, he enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard's 110th Cavalry, A troop (would later become the 180th Field Artillery (FA)) in January 1937 at age 16. He was told by a neighbor friend who was already a member of that "exclusive" group to say he was 19. No one will ask for birth certificates Bill was told. They didn't.
Later that year he graduated from the Dorchester High School For Boys having turned 17 in June. After graduation, Bill's father, William J., fell ill and was bedridden. His pay from the New Haven Railroad stopped. For the six months before he died in Jan 1938, Bill's two older sister's, May and Rita, provided the income teaching school as substitutes, and working nights as waitresses in a restaurant.
Bill worked at anything he could find; climbing trees for a day or two with a landscaper, shoveling snow, and laboring around the National Guard armory. Not until January 1940 did Bill find something resembling a steady job. His uncle, Jim McLaughlin, who worked on the New Haven Railroad as a train dispatcher with Bill's father, found him a spot as a Yard Clerk in the freight yards at South Boston checking inbound and outbound freight trains. At the same time, Bill got a job stocking shelves in one of the first local supermarkets. It paid $13.00 a week. At one point, he worked three jobs in a row and went without sleep for 50 or so hours. During that stretch, he drilled one night with the cavalry. It is somewhat ironic that he noticed many of the freight trains were getting longer and longer loaded with scrap iron and headed for ships in the harbor with names ending in "Maru." He noted that he and his fellow workers joked about the iron coming back at them one day, but not really believing it . . . then! He wrote, "Those days were a nightmare and better forgotten."
When war was declared in Dec 1941, Bill's unit was activated. It was loaded and sailed from Brooklyn, NY on 23 January 1942 on board the S.S. Argentina, arriving 37 days later on 23 February 1942 in Melbourne, Australia to a raucous welcome by the Aussies. Over the course of the next three plus years, he was involved in frequent combat operations in the Southwest Pacific on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, New Caledonia and the Philippines. My grandmother remembered how stressful it was for the family during the war while her son was overseas. When telegrams would come to the neighbors, she remembered the cries of anguish from the bereaved family. She said you never knew where Bill was or when one of those horrible telegrams was coming to her house.
During operations on Leyte, Philippines in Feb 1945 SSgt McLaughlin was assigned to the 21 Cavalry Recon Troop, Americal Division. He was point man on a patrol when they came under heavy automatic weapon and small arms fire. Their radio operator was wounded and in an open area exposed to enemy fire. Bill left his position and crossed the open area in an attempt to retrieve his wounded comrade. Bill was unable to move the wounded man quickly enough because of the extra weight of the radio equipment that his unit badly needed. So his platoon leader, 1st Lt Gordon E Burt, quickly advanced across the open field and both men were able to retrieve their wounded comrade. SSGT McLaughlin received the Silver Star Medal for his bravery that day in Feb 1945. Several days later on 14 Feb 1945 Lt Burt was killed in action. The Lt died in Bill's arms. It was learned many years later (2016) that Lt Burt had also been awarded (posthumously) the Silver Star for his heroism that day.
While in the Philippines Sgt McLaughlin and his unit were called upon to provided a protective unit for General MacArthur while he conducted an inspection tour on Cebu. After the Philippines were secured Army units began preparations for the invasion of Japan. In July 1945, Bill and his unit learned that they were being rotated home. He had survived the war, and with his unit, embarked on the Liberty Ship, S.S. James H. Kincaid. The trip was agonizingly slow. It was while the ship was approaching Hawaii that word of the Japanese surrender was received. After a short visit at Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived at San Francisco after a 33 day trip in Sept 1945. He and his comrades then boarded a troop train traveling across the country to New England and home. The train arrived at Fort Devens where Bill was honorably discharged from active service. He had been overseas for more than 3 and one-half years with only a week of R&R in Australia in early 1942. His total service time, National Guard and WWII, was just a few months short of nine years.
Bill was awarded the Army Silver Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Medal with three stars and the Philippine Independence Medal. Also issued the Cavalry Branch Crossed Sabres and the Artillery Branch Insignias.
Not long after returning from the war, Bill entered Harvard University using the new G.I. Bill. During his Sophomore year, he married Patricia F. "Pat" O'Meara on 31 May 1947 in Boston. They quickly became the parents of two daughters, and Bill attended class during the day and worked at night for the railroad to support his growing family. Over time, the McLaughlin family would grow to seven daughters and one son. An eighth daughter, Mary, was stillborn.
After college, Bill and his family moved from Boston to Portland, Maine where they called home for a number of years. In the later 1950s, Bill and his ever growing family moved back to the Boston area. He was a salesman for most of his working career.
Bill was the family historian, as well as, the historian for his WWII army unit. He wrote numerous articles over the years published in the unit's news letter and local papers chronicling the events that he and his comrades-in-arms had experienced while at war. He wrote a book, The Americal Generation, published in 1999, recounting his days as a Recon Scout. Because of his efforts to record the events of his unit, Bill helped to preserve a valuable legacy that is quickly being lost to time.
As I got close to the end of his book, Bill made a statement that I'd not heard any WWII veteran make. He said, "Although I had come through the war apparently intact there had been a price paid that showed up as time went on." He articulates many symptoms that we today know is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He describes flinching when a car back fires or even ducking when it happens on the road. He describes being quick to anger, fits of melancholy and despair, and becoming unusually agitated in crowds or in close quarters like restaurants. He found it difficult to remain indoors for any length of time. He sought pastoral care but it wasn't of much help. He said, "The transition to civilian life was hard."
I can only wonder how many of the veterans of the wars before PTSD was identified and treated had to suffer in silence and misery with that affliction. I don't get the feeling that Bill was making a complaint but rather he was making an observation about himself and how things had changed for him when he returned from the war. The war cost him one other thing; his hearing.
After he retired in 1985, Bill and Pat moved to Marstons Mills on Cape Cod where he remained until his death in 2002. He is buried with Pat in the national cemetery in Bourne, Mass in section 32, grave 193. A true hero of the Greatest Generation.
------------
William J. McLaughlin
Obituary
Of Marstons Mills, formerly of Milton, July 12, after a long illness. Beloved husband of 55 years to Patricia F. (O'Meara) McLaughlin. Loving father of seven daughters and one son. Brother of Rita McCabe of Quincy and the late Mary Shields and Doris Lawton. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Burial Massachusetts National Cemetery.
[Original obituary edited for content and privacy.]
Source: Published Boston Globe 14 July 2002.
[bio #108 compiled by his nephew CDR Gerry Lawton, USN (ret.) - G47]
Military Hall of Honor ID:318236
Primary Sources:
1) McLaughlin, Bill. The Americal Generation. Cape Elizabeth Press, Peaks Island, Maine, 1999.
2) Newspaper articles
3) Ancestry.com census records
4) Our family
Bill grew up in Dorchester, MA, a suburb of Boston. He and some of the area boys belonged to a local baseball team. One of his teammates and friend was William Gary Walsh, who was a recipient (posthumously) of the Congressional Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima.
Bill was a child of the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce so to help supplement family income, he enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard's 110th Cavalry, A troop (would later become the 180th Field Artillery (FA)) in January 1937 at age 16. He was told by a neighbor friend who was already a member of that "exclusive" group to say he was 19. No one will ask for birth certificates Bill was told. They didn't.
Later that year he graduated from the Dorchester High School For Boys having turned 17 in June. After graduation, Bill's father, William J., fell ill and was bedridden. His pay from the New Haven Railroad stopped. For the six months before he died in Jan 1938, Bill's two older sister's, May and Rita, provided the income teaching school as substitutes, and working nights as waitresses in a restaurant.
Bill worked at anything he could find; climbing trees for a day or two with a landscaper, shoveling snow, and laboring around the National Guard armory. Not until January 1940 did Bill find something resembling a steady job. His uncle, Jim McLaughlin, who worked on the New Haven Railroad as a train dispatcher with Bill's father, found him a spot as a Yard Clerk in the freight yards at South Boston checking inbound and outbound freight trains. At the same time, Bill got a job stocking shelves in one of the first local supermarkets. It paid $13.00 a week. At one point, he worked three jobs in a row and went without sleep for 50 or so hours. During that stretch, he drilled one night with the cavalry. It is somewhat ironic that he noticed many of the freight trains were getting longer and longer loaded with scrap iron and headed for ships in the harbor with names ending in "Maru." He noted that he and his fellow workers joked about the iron coming back at them one day, but not really believing it . . . then! He wrote, "Those days were a nightmare and better forgotten."
When war was declared in Dec 1941, Bill's unit was activated. It was loaded and sailed from Brooklyn, NY on 23 January 1942 on board the S.S. Argentina, arriving 37 days later on 23 February 1942 in Melbourne, Australia to a raucous welcome by the Aussies. Over the course of the next three plus years, he was involved in frequent combat operations in the Southwest Pacific on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, New Caledonia and the Philippines. My grandmother remembered how stressful it was for the family during the war while her son was overseas. When telegrams would come to the neighbors, she remembered the cries of anguish from the bereaved family. She said you never knew where Bill was or when one of those horrible telegrams was coming to her house.
During operations on Leyte, Philippines in Feb 1945 SSgt McLaughlin was assigned to the 21 Cavalry Recon Troop, Americal Division. He was point man on a patrol when they came under heavy automatic weapon and small arms fire. Their radio operator was wounded and in an open area exposed to enemy fire. Bill left his position and crossed the open area in an attempt to retrieve his wounded comrade. Bill was unable to move the wounded man quickly enough because of the extra weight of the radio equipment that his unit badly needed. So his platoon leader, 1st Lt Gordon E Burt, quickly advanced across the open field and both men were able to retrieve their wounded comrade. SSGT McLaughlin received the Silver Star Medal for his bravery that day in Feb 1945. Several days later on 14 Feb 1945 Lt Burt was killed in action. The Lt died in Bill's arms. It was learned many years later (2016) that Lt Burt had also been awarded (posthumously) the Silver Star for his heroism that day.
While in the Philippines Sgt McLaughlin and his unit were called upon to provided a protective unit for General MacArthur while he conducted an inspection tour on Cebu. After the Philippines were secured Army units began preparations for the invasion of Japan. In July 1945, Bill and his unit learned that they were being rotated home. He had survived the war, and with his unit, embarked on the Liberty Ship, S.S. James H. Kincaid. The trip was agonizingly slow. It was while the ship was approaching Hawaii that word of the Japanese surrender was received. After a short visit at Pearl Harbor, the ship arrived at San Francisco after a 33 day trip in Sept 1945. He and his comrades then boarded a troop train traveling across the country to New England and home. The train arrived at Fort Devens where Bill was honorably discharged from active service. He had been overseas for more than 3 and one-half years with only a week of R&R in Australia in early 1942. His total service time, National Guard and WWII, was just a few months short of nine years.
Bill was awarded the Army Silver Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Medal with three stars and the Philippine Independence Medal. Also issued the Cavalry Branch Crossed Sabres and the Artillery Branch Insignias.
Not long after returning from the war, Bill entered Harvard University using the new G.I. Bill. During his Sophomore year, he married Patricia F. "Pat" O'Meara on 31 May 1947 in Boston. They quickly became the parents of two daughters, and Bill attended class during the day and worked at night for the railroad to support his growing family. Over time, the McLaughlin family would grow to seven daughters and one son. An eighth daughter, Mary, was stillborn.
After college, Bill and his family moved from Boston to Portland, Maine where they called home for a number of years. In the later 1950s, Bill and his ever growing family moved back to the Boston area. He was a salesman for most of his working career.
Bill was the family historian, as well as, the historian for his WWII army unit. He wrote numerous articles over the years published in the unit's news letter and local papers chronicling the events that he and his comrades-in-arms had experienced while at war. He wrote a book, The Americal Generation, published in 1999, recounting his days as a Recon Scout. Because of his efforts to record the events of his unit, Bill helped to preserve a valuable legacy that is quickly being lost to time.
As I got close to the end of his book, Bill made a statement that I'd not heard any WWII veteran make. He said, "Although I had come through the war apparently intact there had been a price paid that showed up as time went on." He articulates many symptoms that we today know is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He describes flinching when a car back fires or even ducking when it happens on the road. He describes being quick to anger, fits of melancholy and despair, and becoming unusually agitated in crowds or in close quarters like restaurants. He found it difficult to remain indoors for any length of time. He sought pastoral care but it wasn't of much help. He said, "The transition to civilian life was hard."
I can only wonder how many of the veterans of the wars before PTSD was identified and treated had to suffer in silence and misery with that affliction. I don't get the feeling that Bill was making a complaint but rather he was making an observation about himself and how things had changed for him when he returned from the war. The war cost him one other thing; his hearing.
After he retired in 1985, Bill and Pat moved to Marstons Mills on Cape Cod where he remained until his death in 2002. He is buried with Pat in the national cemetery in Bourne, Mass in section 32, grave 193. A true hero of the Greatest Generation.
------------
William J. McLaughlin
Obituary
Of Marstons Mills, formerly of Milton, July 12, after a long illness. Beloved husband of 55 years to Patricia F. (O'Meara) McLaughlin. Loving father of seven daughters and one son. Brother of Rita McCabe of Quincy and the late Mary Shields and Doris Lawton. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Burial Massachusetts National Cemetery.
[Original obituary edited for content and privacy.]
Source: Published Boston Globe 14 July 2002.
[bio #108 compiled by his nephew CDR Gerry Lawton, USN (ret.) - G47]
Military Hall of Honor ID:318236
Primary Sources:
1) McLaughlin, Bill. The Americal Generation. Cape Elizabeth Press, Peaks Island, Maine, 1999.
2) Newspaper articles
3) Ancestry.com census records
4) Our family
Inscription
SSGT US Army WWII SS (Silver Star)
We will walk again together
