A veteran's untold story...the secret is out!
An Andover Story
On this Memorial Day weekend, when we can’t gather to honor our veterans, we have a special story for you.
Memorial Day 1991 ACHC Collection #1991.09.29
On May 8, we sent an email commemorating the 75th anniversary of VE Day, and the response was overwhelming! We heard from people as far away as Chicago telling us how much the stories we’re sharing mean to them...and they shared their stories with us.
One email came from former Andover Veterans Services director John Doherty, who shared a story about Benjamin Dargoonian. John gave us permission to share this story with you.
The late Benjamin Dargoonian of Andover had an agricultural deferment in 1942 and 1943 because of his family's farm work. But Ben decided he couldn't NOT enlist so he did, even though he had not yet graduated from Punchard High School.
Ben wound up in the Army Corps of Engineers and was assigned to a Combat Engineer Battalion in the European Theater of Operations whose specialty was building bridges. In 1944, Ben's unit was assigned to build a temporary pontoon bridge across the Rhine River into Germany under heavy enemy fire. A mission they accomplished in record time. Ben told me it was his most dangerous and hair raising time in uniform.
While manhandling a section of rubber bridging material prior to placing it in the fast flowing Rhine river, Ben happened to notice a label on the material which read: PRODUCT OF THE TYER RUBBER COMPANY, ANDOVER MASSACHUSETTS.
Tyer Rubber Company, Andover ACHC Collection #1996.763
Not only was that a coincidence, but Ben had worked at Tyer Rubber during his summer vacations while in high school and had worked on similar material.
Ben never did graduate from Punchard High School but thanks to a Commonwealth of Massachusetts special veterans program, I was able to get him his High School Diploma from Andover High School some 50 plus years later.
His special diploma notes two years: 1943 and the year he received it. The High School insisted that Ben have a cap and gown, and that he be the very first student to receive his diploma at graduation. When he marched across the stage and was introduced, he got a thunderous standing ovation which frankly brought tears to almost every eye. His entire family in attendance was thrilled.
Of course then the secret was out...Ben had never told his grandchildren or his children that he had never graduated from high school!
A few days after John shared this story with us, Collections Manager Angela McBrien discovered this newspaper clipping tucked into the pages of a diary kept by Hugh Bullock, president of the Tyer Rubber Company throughout World War II.
To which John responded:
It's EXACTLY the type of bridge that Ben was talking about and since his unit built several of them this could indeed be one of his. In any event it is almost a sure bet that at least the pontoons (floats) were made in Andover by Tyer Rubber Company.
It’s always surprising when the pieces of a story come together across different sources: personal recollections in a diary, a story told to a fellow veteran, newspapers, and more. We’re happy to share Ben Dargoonian’s story with you this Memorial Day weekend.
Thank you to all veterans who have served and are serving our country.