By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
Members of the former Maine National Guard 152nd Field Artillery Battalion, gathered in August for their second reunion. Guardsmen and their families met at the Caribou Armory, for an afternoon of reminiscing, story telling and a barbecue lunch, hosted by the 152nd FA Association.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Members of the former National Guard 152nd Field Artillery Battalion met recently for a second reunion hosted at the Caribou Armory. Catching up on things, from left, are: Richard Brown, Lester Ouellette, Harold Thibodeau and Randy Rolfe.
In hopes of retaining the long history of the 152nd FA, the organization, formed several years ago, continues to work towards maintaining documents, group and individual photos handed down over the years to family members of the guardsmen who belong to the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion.
Chuck McFarland, of Ashland, who has served as the first president of the 152nd FA Association, in a summary during the Aug.21 annual meeting stated, “In the year since our last annual meeting the Association has moved forward on several fronts. Our membership has increased, we’ve received several donated items of historical significance, corresponded with families of two WW II battalion commanders and many others and identified people in hundreds of old photographs.”
The Association currently has 106 members, 69 more than the last annual meeting. “This membership demonstrates a commitment to the objectives of the Association and is necessary to establish the credibility of the Association as a repository of memorabilia, among other reasons,” McFarland said.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Retired Maine National Guardsmen who were members of the historic 152nd Field Artillery Battalion, Lloyd Thibodeau and Neal Genz, both of Caribou, stood at attention as Bobby Soucy sang the National Anthem, during the August reunion of 152nd FA.
Items donated to the Association over the past year have included a 1950s vintage color group photo transferred to a canvas, uniforms, insignia and the history of the 43rd Division Artillery in WW II. Several photographs were also loaned to the association to be scanned.
McFarland noted that the group had conducted four picture parties since last year, two in Houlton, one in Caribou (focused on A Battery) and another in Fort Kent. “We were able to put names to the faces in hundreds of photos. We need to do the same for Service and Headquarters batteries, and while B Battery is pretty much done we could stand to do another one for A and C batteries. We just need someone to step up to coordinate the effort,” he said.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
During the second reunion of members of the former Maine National Guard 152nd Field Artillery, one of the priorities, next to seeing old friends and comrades, was of course the food. Making sure the barbecue lunch was done to perfection are, from left: Kirk St. Peter, Caribou and Gerald Soucy, Fort Kent and Clyde Brown of Presque Isle.
At left, Douglas Henderson of Easton peruses through some of the memorabilia the 152nd Field Artillery Association has collected in order to preserve the history of the 152nd FA.
From left, Lloyd Thibodeau of Caribou; Irving Roy, Fort Kent; Dick St. Peter, Caribou and George Picard, of Fort Kent.
Renewing comradeships during the second reunion of former Maine National Guardsmen were, top right photo, from left: Marty Thompson, Fort Fairfield; Edgar Gagnon, Nate Grass and John Cyr, all of Caribou.
