Bridge to the past

Brockton Enterprise ^ | 29 May 2005 | Jean Porrazzo, Enterprise staff writer

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EAST BRIDGEWATER — For several weeks, resident Marjorie Winsor could not get Gordon M. Craig off her mind.

Neither could American Legion Post 91 Commander Charles Gilbert.

Winsor wanted to revive the memory of the hometown hero who sacrificed his life to save four other soldiers during the Korean War. Gilbert was thinking about him while researching his Memorial Day speech.

Independently, they both contacted the veterans service office for help.

As a result, the town is forming a committee to petition the state to have a bridge near Craig's childhood home named after him.

There are only a few people left in town who knew Craig, and they said they were not surprised by the heroic actions that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.

It was Sept. 10, 1950, the 16th Reconnaissance Company, 1st Calvary Division was fighting near Kasan, South Korea, an ancient walled city that occupied valuable high ground.

A North Korean force held a strategic hill and pinned down American soldiers with intense grenade, mortar and small arms fire.

Cautiously, five American soldiers from a cross-section of the United States moved up the hill to knock out a machine gun nest.

The group included Sgt. William V. Thiem of Louisiana, Cpl. Robert Driver of Virginia, Cpl. Robert D. Perry of Michigan and Cpl. Charles S. Dodge of California.

Also with them was a quiet radio operator, Cpl. Gordon M. Craig, who came from the Elmwood section of East Bridgewater.

The advancing soldiers were making ground until an enemy machine gunner pinpointed the soldiers and hurled a grenade that landed at their feet.

Without hesitation, Craig threw himself on the grenade and smothered its burst with his body. His unselfish act that saved the lives of his comrades inspired them to attack with such ferocity, the enemy machine gun crew was annihilated, enabling the company to continue its attack.

George Herbert Snow of Bennett Lane in East Bridgewater wasn't surprised by the actions of his childhood friend, nicknamed "Buddy".

"I can see him doing just what he did without thinking of himself," Snow said. "He protected his buddies and that the type he was."

Snow and Craig shared a common bond, both of them lost their fathers at an early age. Craig was the son of Gordon and Mildred Craig, and brother of Constance Gowen and Alan Craig, all of whom are deceased.

"He was maybe 8 or 9 and I was 9 when my father died," Snow said.

Snow recalls playing baseball, going fishing and bowling and just hanging out with his friend.

He wasn't a big rugged fellow, he was athletic, agile and quick, he said.

"But, he was a daring type of fellow," Snow said.

Snow said Craig was quiet, "but he came to life when he was around his friends."

Craig's heroism was commemorated in the November 1951 issue of "Heroic Comics." The cover of the comic book is a depiction of Craig throwing himself on the grenade.

Irena Battista Swartz of Halifax graduated with Craig from East Bridgewater High School in 1948.

Swartz was not surprised by Craig's heroism.

"You could see he was very determined," Swartz said. "When I heard, I knew it was something Buddy would do because of his strong character."

The first adjective that comes to most people's mind to describe Craig is quiet, the second is handsome.

"The girls would have liked to have flirted with him, but he was shy," Swartz said.

Craig's cousin, Carol Craig Owen of East Bridgewater, remembers her older cousin as quiet, unassuming and good looking.

"We weren't close because of the six- or seven-year age difference," Owen said. "You never know what's inside someone."

Betty Belknap Stirlings's earliest memories of her older cousin are when his father died and the family came to live on the second floor of her family's home at 778 Bedford St. in the mid-1930s.

Later, the family moved to an apartment on Winter Street. After Craig joined the service, Stirling and her mother would go the Joppa Grill, where Craig's mother and sister worked, to ask about him.

"We would ask what they heard from Buddy, and then there was a time she didn't hear from him," she remembered.

Craig was Aunt Lettie Belknap's favorite, Stirling said.

"She doted on him," Stirling said. "Gordon died on my Aunt Lettie's birthday and she was really crushed."

While everyone agrees he was quiet, there was an impish side of him, especially when he got together with his close friend, the late Kenneth Copeland.

Craig's high school graduation class had a memorial to their classmate installed at the high school.

Over the years, thousands of students have walked by a glass case with his portrait, Medal of Honor and Purple Heart, in the high school lobby.

But it's been many years since anyone walking by the memorial gave it more than a passing glance, and that's the problem.

"We want to do something to be sure he's not forgotten," Winsor said.

The town is looking into ways to revive Craig's memory and also the memory of the town's first Medal of Honor recipient, Civil War soldier William Henry Osborne, who served as a private with Company C, 29th Massachusetts Infantry.

Osborne was wounded July 1, 1862, at Malvern Hill, Va.

His citations reads: "Although wounded and carried to the rear, he secured a rifle and voluntarily returned to the front, where, failing to find his own regiment, he joined another and fought with it until again severely wounded and taken prisoner."

"Having two Medal of Honor recipients from East Bridgewater is a great source of pride for the town," Veterans Agent Peter Spagone Sr. said.

The town is looking into ways to keep the memories of its hometown heroes alive, including incorporating their stories in the curriculum at the elementary school as part of a history lesson.

Gilbert, commander of American Legion Post 91, has incorporated the stories of both Osborne and Craig into his Memorial Day speech.

"I wanted to personalize my speech," Gilbert said. "I'm going to give a little history lesson."

The town is also looking into having the plaque honoring Craig put back in place near the former Joppa Grill that was removed while that section of Route 18 was recently reconfigured, Spagone said.

Gilbert said it was unusual that he and Winsor were thinking about Craig at the same time, but thought it was even more unusual to be standing next to an Osborne descendant last month at the East Bridgewater Public Library.

Gilbert and the Osborne descendent were both researching the Civil War hero.

The Osborne family came out here from Albany, N.Y., to look up their ancestors' history for their genealogy project, Gilbert said.

Another coincidence — the graves of Osborne and Craig at Elmwood Cemetery are within eye shot of each other.

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 Craig's heroism was commemorated in the November 1951 issue of "Heroic Comics." The cover of the comic book is a depiction of Craig throwing himself on the grenade.

 

I searched for this image w/o success which actually is on the front page of today's Enterprise. Perhaps someone could post it here and I could save it on my site. I happen to personally know a lot of persons living in the town of East Bridgewater.