Joseph Cyr

See also: Edmund A. Cyr (brother)

Biography

File:Cyr.jpg

Joseph Cyr in 1944 (Source: Family Photo)

Joseph Gerald Cyr was born in Old Town on May 10, 1924 to Albert G. Cyr and Antoinette LaForest and baptized as Gerald Joseph Cyr. He graduated from Old Town High School in 1942. On July 25 of the same year, he enlisted in the Army Air Force under the name of Joseph Gerald Cyr and went by that order of his given names for the rest of his live. In fact, in his early Air Force years he was known as "Little Joe" as he was only 5' 3" tall.

On June 28, 1945 he married Marion Doris Roma (1927-1992), who had just graduated from Old Town High School earlier that year and whose entry in the yearbook even refers to Joseph/Gerald. After the war was over, they remained in Old Town and in 1946 Joseph used his GI-bill to enroll at the University of Maine, from which he graduated in 1949. By then, three children had been born as well. The next year, Joseph re-enlisted and joined the US Air Force as a jet pilot. Initially, Marion and the children (with one more addition) lived on Sixth Street in Old Town, but by 1956 the family lived in Laredo (TX), home of the Laredo Air Force Base--the first of a number of moves from military base to military base. From November 1968 to ** 1969, Joseph and Marion briefly owned a home in Brewer. After Joseph's retirement in 1970, however, he and Marion made their home in the Fort Walton Beach area (home of the Eglin Air Force Base). Joseph died in Fort Walton Beach on October 18, 1996 and is buried in that town's Beal Memorial Cemetery.

Military Service

Joseph enlisted in the US Air Force in Bangor on July 25, 1942 (five days after his brother Edmund did). On August 5, 1943, he graduated from Army Air Forces Bombardier School at Midland Army Air Field in Texas and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. For much of 1944, he appears to have been attached to the 735th Bomb Squadron of the 453rd Bomb Group based at Old Buckenham Airbase in England, flying B-24 bomber missions into Germany as a bombardier. On March 6, Joseph made waves as his plane, the "Lillie Belle", was forced to ditch in the North Sea on return from a mission to Genshagen near Berlin and he was the only one of the crew of ten men to survive. His story was written up by Canadian war reporter and novelist Lionel S. B. Shapiro (1908-1958) and printed in newspapers all over the country. In July of that same year, Joseph was promoted to First Lieutenant. In January 1945, after retraining at Keesler Air Force Base (MS), he is scheduled to be sent to Caspar (WY) as bombardiers instructor. Presumably this was his duty until the end of the war. There does not seem to be a record for his discharge date.

As the Korean War broke out, Joseph re-enlisted and his first tour was as a F-80 Shooting Star fighter pilot. This tour ended in September 1952 and was the last tour in which he saw action, At this point, he had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with Eight Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart. In 1952, he appears to have been transferred to Laredo (TX), where at some point he is promoted to Captain. From 1957 to 1961, Joseph served in Germany. Upon his return, he was promoted to Major and put in charge of the Head Quarters Division of the 13th Air Force in Waco (TX). In 1966 he is a Lieutenant Colonel and based in Forth Walton Beach (FL), although in the same year he is also listed as being based in Korea. From August 1968 until his retirement in 1970, he is on an 18th-month tour in Turkey. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

References

• "Little Joe Cyr of Old Town Top Hero at British Base". The Penobscot Times. Vol. 57, no. 8. 1944-04-28. p. 1.
• "Joseph G. Cyr Now First Lieut.". The Penobscot Times. Vol. 57, no. 18. 1944-07-07. p. 13.
• "Personals". The Penobscot Times. Vol. 57, no. 44. 1945-01-05. p. 13.
• The Sachem (= Old Town High School Yearbook). 1942.
• The Sachem (= Old Town High School Yearbook). 1945.