Joseph Gerald Cyr (1924-1996)
Biography
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.[1] 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.[2] 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 with a degree in *** 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 lived on Sixth Street in Old Town, but by the mid-1950s the family had settled in Fort Walton Beach (FL), home of the Eglin Air Force Base. After his retirement in 1970, Joseph and Marion remained in the Fort Walton Beach area. Joseph died in Fort Walton Beach on October 18, 1996 and is buried in that town's Beal Memorial Cemetery.[3]
Military Service
Joseph enlisted in the US Air Force in Bangor on July 25, 1942 (five days after his brother Edmund did). There does not seem to be a record for his discharge date. 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. It is possible that he came to Midland by way of Fort Devens (MA) and the Ellington Air Force Base (TX). In early 1944 he was stationed in England, flying on B-24 bombers as bombardier. On March 6, Joseph made waves as his plane, the "Lille Belle", was shot down over the North Sea and he was the only one of the crew to survive. His story was written up by the Franco-Jewish Canadian war reporter Lionel S. B. Shapiro and printed in newspapers all over the country. In July of that same year, Joseph is promoted to First Lieutenant, at which point he is stationed at the Eighth Air Force Base.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Sachem 1942, p. 9.
- ↑ Sachem 1945, p. 26.
- ↑ See Find-a-Grave. Memorial for Joseph G. Cyr
- ↑ See PT19440707, OTPL-DA
References
- "Joseph G. Cyr Now First Lieut.". The Penobscot Times. Vol. 57, no. 18. 1944-07-07. p. 13.
- The Sachem (= Old Town High School Yearbook). 1942.
- The Sachem (= Old Town High School Yearbook). 1945.
