Personal Accounts and Tributes to Maine CCC Members

  • Tribute to my Father, Francis B. Henderson
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • Logging and snow removal based at the Alfred camp were the major activities. Stories told included tales of the close quarters in the log camps, how good the food seemed after a long day's work, and weekend trips to the nearby Grange hall for the occasional dance.

  • Submitted by: James Henderson, Harpswell, ME
  • Tribute to my Father, Emerson Seth Brown
  • Maine Camp: Far East
  • He joined the CCC in 1937. He wrote: ?During my stay in the CCC I worked at several jobs. That first summer I helped operate a bulldozer, clearing trees and stumps to make woods roads, not only to keep us busy but to give access to any forest fires that threatened during the dry season. After the right-of-way was cleared it was covered with gravel, which our trucks hauled from a pit on the banks of Tomah Stream, near Waite. When it was very dry and hot, we were available to fight fires and one third of our company was required to stay in camp each weekend with nothing to do unless a fire erupted somewhere. My favorite job, in my second summer, was manning the Grand Lake Stream fire tower. The District Fire Warden needed a CCC member to keep the fire tower open during a bad fire season and I got the job after I presented my resume. One, I lived in GLS so they didn?t have to worry about transporting anyone and, two, they didn?t have to feed me either! Until the fire season was over, I lived happily at home, hiking up to the tower with my thermos and peanut butter sandwich, and sweeping all around the horizon with the binoculars." He stayed in the CCC's another winter and in the spring of 1939 he was discharged.

  • Submitted by: Jeffrey Brown, Winthrop
  • Tribute to my father-in-law, James Edgar McCannell
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • Worked in the Maine woods

  • Submitted by: Susan Hall McCannell, Burke, VA
  • Tribute to my , James Edgar McCannell
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • Served at Eagle Lake Camp from April 12, 1939 - October 7, 1940. Held position of Company Clerk and then Leader. The following is an excerpt from the camp newspaper, the "Acadian" November, 1940 edition: "Last month one of the most popular fellows ever to be a member of this company left Bar Harbor for Washington, D.C. to accept a position as Senior Typist in the Munitions Building there. Certainly, Mac's example of ambition, courage and determination should be an inspiration for the rest of us... I think we can point to "Mac" with justifiable pride and while we glory in his success we can at the same time attempt to acquire some of the fine qualities which made that success possible. He was, above everything else, a gentleman, fine, clean-spirited, a typical example of courageous American youth. Considerate in his feelings for others, faithful in his duties, and aware of his responsibilities, "Mac" could be nothing else but successful. We are sure Washington, too, will recognize the fineness and appreciate the friendliness which prompted everyone that knew him here to refer to him as just -- "a swell fellow."

  • Submitted by: James H. McCannell, Fernandina Beach, FL
  • Tribute to my father-in-law, James E. McCannell
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • Dates of service ~1939/1940 trails for forest fires, etc. Served as the company clerk and leader. Commanding officer was N.A. Pevay, Lt. Comm. USN.

  • Submitted by: Robert McCannell, Burke, VA 22015
  • Tribute to my Father, Carroll L. Linnell
  • Maine Camp: Jefferson
  • He was in from 1937-1939. He worked in the forest in Jefferson, Maine.

  • Submitted by: Anne L. Small, Waterville
  • Tribute to my nephew, Robert Lawrence Ham
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • He served at a Bar Harbor Camp 1935 - 1937 or 38. He served with enthusiasm and worked well. It was a good experience for him. He was a farm-raised boy, and was comfortable in the outdoors.

  • Submitted by: Mildred Goss Jones, West Bath
  • Tribute to my great-uncle, Willie "Bill" Gray
  • Maine Camp: Cold River
  • Uncle Bill (1914-1984)worked on the Evans Notch Road. He said he welcomed the chance to work, make friends and have a full stomach as there wasn't much for a farm boy to do during the Depression. Bill was always a great outdoorsman and avid storyteller. He maintained a love for the Chatham/Stow area all his life and his favorite place to be was fishing at Basin Pond, where we scattered his ashes after he died.

  • Submitted by: Jeanne Martin Chown, Romford, Essex, England
  • Tribute to my Father, Joseph N. Chaloult
  • Maine Camp: Princeton
  • My Dad was in the CCC - he was Joseph N. Chaloult, he was from Caribou and graduated from Caribou High School in 1938. I do not know his years of service- but do know he was in Princeton. He later joined the Navy and served in the Seabees on Guam. My dad passed away in 1985. I remember him talking about the CCC when we were growing up.

  • Submitted by: Sandra Dunlap, Poland, Maine 04274
  • Tribute to my father, Malcolm Earl Williams
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • A Tale of Memory?s Adventure

    As kids growing up in Maine, we spent many pleasant, fun hours picnicking at Camden State Park. There were neat wooden bridges, covered picnic areas and various outbuildings to explore which our dad told us had been constructed by young boys serving in the CCC?s many years before our time. We three spent endless summers roaming those woods in freedom, exploring the nooks and crannies, climbing trees and playing on the rocks, looking for shells and treasure. In our childhood, the Civilian Conservation Corps held little real meaning for us, except for the fact that our uncle Frank had helped to build what we played on and ate under at this park. As years passed and real maturity set in for us kids, the stories of these boys? adventures took on a new importance, as our father had also participated in this effort in another area of Maine, far more remote than Camden. This is his tale of living for three years as one of those young men, really just boys, who spent those years working hard in the CCC?s, training for life at these northern camps:

    Our father, Malcolm Earl Williams, was born in 1918 in Waterville, a small central Maine town, the eldest of four children. His father, George, worked a lifetime for Maine Central Railroad between bouts of tuberculosis. His mother, Iona, remained at home caring for their children and as the oldest, Mac always felt a responsibility for his younger siblings. The family was quite poor and always lived near the tracks, closeby to work for his father. From his early teens on, Mac was the man of the family while his father recuperated at the sanatorium, hoping for a cure this time. Ultimately, that did occur, but not until after a part of his lung had been removed. We remember walking from our home to visit our grandfather at the railroad signal shack on Main Street, where he would wave his lantern to let folks know that a train was coming. There were no cars in either family for a long, long time yet to come.

    As the thirties came on, the depression set in, settling hard and fast upon the entire country. Life became far more perilous for poor families in the northeast. Food was already hard to come by, heat even harder to provide during the cold Maine winters. There was often nothing to eat but bacon fat on bread or biscuits as the main meal in the evening, or supper, as it was called in Waterville. Children went to bed hungry, and to school hungry. It was hard to stay healthy on so little food, whether child or adult. At 14, Mac drove cattle daily from his neighborhood to upper Main Street before school in the mornings just to earn a little money to help his family out. Later, with his father sick and in the sanatorium, his mother relied on welfare to keep her family going while Mac set pins at a local bowling lane and gave his income to his mother. Perseverance reigned in this younger generation, yet for many, school remained the only positive daily activity in their lives. As high school approached, an entire generation was unsure of what the future held for them, for their friends. While many left to work to help their families, Mac remained in school. The depression deepened and the country struggled, sorely deprived of hope. Roosevelt had promised to revitalize the forests and improve rural areas by using the vast energy of an entire generation of young men to accomplish this miracle. He would see to it that some of the money earned by this group would go directly to the families of these youngsters. Not only would these boys have worthwhile work and training for the future, they would help put food on the tables for their sisters and brothers. With the support of like-minded individuals in the house and senate, and with the agreement of a country in dire need, Roosevelt, once elected, initiated a program to provide thousands of young men with a real reason to live, and the Civilian Conservation Corps came into existence. In 1933, shortly after his inauguration, the first camps were opened. Every state in the union had camps to provide work for their own young men. Boys from New York, New Jersey and other highly-populated urban states left home for the west and midwest, to provide the manpower to improve the vast, rural areas in these less-populated states.

    Hope began its journey into the future.

    After his graduation from Waterville High School in 1936, Mac was inducted into the CCC?s in Portland and then began a three-year period in which he participated in this popular and successful program which kept a generation of good kids off the streets and give them a sense of real purpose. All over the country, young men like Mac were accomplishing this difficult and tedious work of rural improvement, much of which can still be seen and enjoyed today in the some of the remotest areas of this United States.

    And Maine?s camps and accomplishments were no exception:

    On October 16, 1936, Mac was assigned to the 159th Company at Fort Williams, Maine and into Hay Lake Camp, about twenty miles north & west of the town of Patten. Very remote and rugged, these wooded, mountainous forests were where work began on building the road south towards Mount Katahdin, a project which was to ultimately intersect with the Greenville Camp?s roadwork. In Patten, Mac progressed from doing hardrock drilling, making holes for the dynamite in the solid rockface, to dynamite engineer as they blasted through the Horse Mountain rockface enroute to Baxter State Park. But first, they had to cut down the huge trees along the route, 25 feet along either side of the center and 20 feet beyond, clearing the underbrush. It was arduous work. Weeks turned into months. Then an acquaintance from his home town, Charlie Rogers, the mess steward, asked Mac if he wanted to be a cook?it was inside work and warm in the cold winters. He accepted this offer and cooked until he left for Greenville. When Hay Lake Camp closed in 1937, he was reassigned to the 160th, the Greenville Junction Camp. There he cooked for just a short time before he left for a weekend off. Because he returned late, delayed by a severe winter storm, he was taken off kitchen duty, considered to be a plum job, and returned to forestry work. He became a forestry tool clerk in charge of issuing tools, working in conjunction with the blacksmith shop. Many stories are told?

    One day Mac was driving a pickup truck carrying a large tank filled with fuel oil up to Moosehead. At a downhill portion of the road, he threw the truck?s transmission into neutral, hoping to gain some speed as a governor held the engine down to 35 mph. Coming round a corner with too much momentum, he stepped on the brakes, lost control and the truck rolled over three times, flattening the roof more each time. No one was hurt, and he climbed out the window to run up the road to warn others that the truck was blocking the road. In five minutes about ten men were there and helped to right the truck. Then he drove it back to camp, the tank still full, with the windshield gone and roof flattened! When asked to surrender his permit to drive after his arrival, he stated frankly that he had no permit, and had actually been allowed to drive many different vehicles for six months! He lost his forestry job because of this incident! It was then that he was offered the job of hospital orderly. As there was only one orderly, that made him the head of the infirmary, which hailed a very prophetic destiny! The 160th Company moved from Greenville Junction to N. Chatham, New Hampshire, and from October 1, 1938 to February 1, 1939 Mac remained in that position at the New Hampshire camp. But on February 2, 1939 he became a patient at his own infirmary, suffering from scarlet fever which he ?caught? from his patient and friend, fellow CCC camp member Joe Verra, L. L. Verra, of Portland, Maine! Shortly after his own recovery, on March 11, 1939, he fulfilled his enrollment and left the CCC?s . Returning to Waterville, he entered nursing school. Thus his future was decided by his service in the CCC?s. Although becoming a doctor was his heart?s desire, admission to McGill University in Canada required a three year wait, so he decided to train for nursing while waiting. Meanwhile, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and World War II began. Mac went off to war along with most of his fellow CCC mates. As surgical tech in the operating room of the base hospital at Bradley Field in Connecticut, he went on to teach surgical technique to others?but this is yet another story!

    By the time the war ended, he had married a nurse he?d met attending the Sister?s Hospital School of Nursing and was already a father. Fate had further intervened. College and dreams of a medical career were not to be. Having seen some horrific injuries while in the military, Mac, a soft-hearted man, decided on a less stressful career than medicine and ultimately went to work for the telephone company in Waterville. He raised his family of three children there and retired in 1980. Often he spoke of his days in the CCC?s and told his children of his experiences and adventures both there and in the Air Corps. The years passed, the present became history and life moved on as it always does, inevitably, inexorably.

    Fast forward to 2004: In October, at my brother Mike?s suggestion, he and I and our father took a trip to the old CCC territory up north. It was a beautiful fall day, with a bit of a chill in the air, and as we rode along, dad recalled the different places he remembered. He spoke of the trucks they went north in, of being transported in the enclosed backs of those trucks, unable to see where they were. On this trip, up the same back roads he had traveled as a new inductee, he noted various points of interest as the miles passed and regaled us with tales. Our first official stop was to photograph beautiful Mount Katahdin, just the top of the mountain was visible on this cloudy day, and we were off again, heading towards Patten.

    It seemed like an endless trip, but soon the exit off 95 hailed the route to Patten, and the final leg of our drive began. Miles of woods, bog, mountains and cliffs, and the route changed from good pavement to country roads.

    The town of Patten appeared, with many hunting camps replete with deer hanging from the rafters, recent kills of hunters who travel miles just to walk the woods in search of this trophy. But our purpose was to find that bridge, the one dad remembered so well as taking up so much time and energy to construct. He was unsure as to how easy it would be to locate. After miles of riding, it seemed, we easily found the bridge built by his group nearly seventy years before, over the East Branch of the Penobscot River at Grand Lake, Mattagamon Township 6, Range 8. We drove right over it, turned around and went back over it! Then we parked and got out. In a moment, he was down the bank, checking out the underpinnings of the bridge! All the original work still stood, and dad was very proud and pleased that it was still standing and in such good shape. All of the supports were the original cement work and although a new road surface had replaced the old, that was the only visible sign of change. We took photos there, and dad spoke to several residents who were familiar with the CCC?s and their programs. They told him that their relatives who participated in the program were now gone. We began to understand that we were truly blessed to have our father still hale and hearty at 86, and right there with us.

    We turned right just after the bridge and drove up the road he had helped to build, winding along the rocky riverbed towards Baxter State Park. As we passed Horse Mountain we expressed amazement at the sheer steepness and difficulty of the terrain. We wondered aloud how a crew of young kids could have been so successful in blasting and moving all the heavy rock away to make that long road, many miles in to the park. It was a difficult enough job for mature men, let alone teenagers. In those years he and the others grew to be men the hard way.

    A bit further up this road, Dad discovered the small camp beside the river where he and another fellow spent weekends caring for the workhorses used to haul rock away. We took his picture sitting on the front porch of the cottage where, 70 years before, he had lived and worked. Obviously lived in now, there was no one at home, but signs of caring were there, making this particular stop meaningful for him. The little camp still stood, freshly painted. Where there had been a stable, there was now an outhouse. No signs remained of the huge animals who were sheltered in that area those days long ago. Again, only birds and the sound of water accompanied the silence as we bridged the years?

    At Baxter, there was again no signs life, the lake was calm, the forests quiet. The birds kept us company as we walked around, sharing the views today just as they were in the thirties. Except for Baxter State Park and the buildings added since the CCC boys left the territory, by all appearances the lake itself remained unchanged.

    I picked up some driftwood and a couple of large rocks to place on my rockwall as a reminder of this special day and the three long years that my father spent there as a young man, away from his family for the first time. Each of us had mixed feelings, for individual reasons. We were now a part of the elder generation, nearly at retirement age, and our father looked about, seeing the results of the work of his youthful years from the eyes of an 86-year old man.

    It was a quiet reminiscence.

    Later, heading along the road back into town, the search was on to find the old CCC campgrounds at Patten. Although it was difficult to locate the camp, as there were few definitive visible signs, when we passed a small white cabin on our left, dad noticed that it resembled the buildings from the original camp. We drove in onto the road and got out, and while walking into the surrounding wooded area, discovered old chimneys still left standing here and there. Piles of rubble identified where buildings had once stood, rusted pipes coming up out of the grassy ground. Covered with years of accumulated leaves and debris, we were unable to clearly make out where a building had once been except for the chimneys standing like sentinels as reminders of the camps where life had busied hundreds of young men. In a short time, though, dad had found the old chimney still standing that was in the officer?s quarters where his picture had been taken leaning against the mantle?now we took his picture once again, this time standing in front of the ruins of this chimney. No walls remained, no mantle was left to lean against, but the sense of d?j? vu was strong and everpresent.

    An hour or more was spent here, walking here and there through these old grounds, rooting through 50-year-old heaps of garbage filled with rusty cans, looking for meaningful mementos, while dad identified the standing chimneys of several different buildings, including the one at the barracks he had slept in, still standing vigil. On this day, one building remained standing on its original foundation, obviously kept up for some type of official use. In the days of the CCC?s, it had housed the generators, but now it was much smaller than the original and used for an entirely different purpose. It was as if an entire town had been obliterated, with only slightly recognizable reminders here and there of the bustling activity that had once existed. It was a lonely reminder of times long past?of a village now simply erased from view?gone forever. It had to have been very difficult for dad, but he remained silent, answering our questions only when asked.

    Dusk was just beginning to set in when we left, appropriately from Hay Lake itself. Dad stood on the banks once more, quietly gazing at this beautiful lake surrounded by the same sturdy pines as were there when he first arrived?but now it was silent and lonely, no longer filled with activity, or even a familiar voice from the past.

    It was, nonetheless, an appropriate ending to a day filled with memories for our father, and an unforgettable experience which we, his children minus the youngest, will always be grateful to have been able to share with him, in this, his 86th year. His younger brother, Frank, mentioned earlier, in the CCC?s also, was assigned to 1130 Company in Camden Hills. He, too, served his country?in the Philippines during WWII.

    We had dinner later at a Patten restaurant, complete with locals, with paintings by area artists hanging on the walls and items handcrafted by residents for sale on the counters. So ?Maine.? We got lost heading home in the dark , but still wound our way safely through the piney mountains of northern Maine...a day to remember for us, so fortunate to have been able to share this with him in our together lifetimes. Memories for our lifetime, nearly seventy years after his days with the CCC?s, an adventure to be treasured always.

    We want to go back to Patten once more time?in the warmth of another summer yet to come. Soon dad will begin physical therapy to help in his recovery from serious leg surgery this past spring. In a couple more months, summer will be upon us, and if time allows, we will head out once again to visit the ghosts of Patten.

    He is 87 now.

  • Submitted by: Elizabeth Williams Martin, Canaan, Maine 04924
  • Tribute to my Husband, Frederick J. McNally
  • Maine Camp: Bridgton
  • My husband, Frederick J McNally was a member of the CCC Camp. He served for 3 yrs, 5 mos and 18 days--many times I have heard him tell this. He died Nov.29,1991. He was in a camp in N.H. first for a brief time but served most of those years at the 1124th Co.in Bridgton, Maine where I met him. I am not positive of the exact years but it was around 1935 or 1936 till 1938 or 39. He was a pastry cook at the camp as well as working with the others combating the Gypsy Moths in that area.

  • Submitted by: Rachel E McNally,
  • Tribute to my father, Lloyd Goodspeed
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Submitted by: Janet Sloan, Groveland , Ca 95321
  • Tribute to my uncle, Earl Clifford
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Submitted by: Janet Sloan, Groveland , Ca 95321
  • Tribute to my Husband, Stacey, Norman
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • Princeton & Wesley, Me. June 1939 - June 1940 ? Pay Roll Clerk

  • Submitted by: Stacey, Theo, Jackson, Me. 04921
  • Tribute to my Uncle, Van E. Hodsdon
  • Maine Camp: Cold River
  • My Uncle Van E. Hodsdon, CC1-31797, A member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. At the age of 18, he enrolled May 19, 1933 at Fort Williams, Me. The project at that time was building the Evans Notch Road, he was employed as a laborer. He was discharged from the Civilian Conservation Corps September 1, 1933 at Cold River, Me. E. L. Mullaly, Captain U.S.M.C. Commanding. Van E. Hodsdon died December 27, 1982, North Fryeburg, Me.

  • Submitted by: Paul C. Hodsdon, Norway, Me. 04268
  • Tribute to my Father, Philip E. Hodsdon
  • Maine Camp: Cold River
  • Philip E. Hodsdon was my father. His number was CC1-31796 a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He enrolled May 19, 1933 at Fort Williams, Me. He was employed as a truck driver. The project that they were working on at Cold River was building the Evans Notch Road. Philip and his brother, Van enrolled at the same time. Philip was discharged January 31, 1934 at Cold River, Me. E. L. Mullaly, Captain U.S.M.C., Commanding. Philip E. Hodsdon married Edna Shirley Smith of Stow, Me. in 1939. They had two sons Paul and Erwin. Philip died May 24, 1982 in Bridgton. His wife Edna died August 6, 2004 in Norway. They are buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Fryeburg, Me. He was a wonderful man and a great friend to all his neighbors. I have the Certificate of Discharge from Civilian Conservation Corps for both my father Philip E. Hodsdon and my Uncle Van E. Hodsdon.

  • Submitted by: Paul C. Hodsdon, Norway, Me. 04268
  • Tribute to my Brother, Theodore "Teddy" Charles Ricker
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Sadly, I know very little about my brother's time in the CCC except that I know he was in. He died in Sacramento in 1993 and my two surviving sisters know as little as I do. Perhaps he will be mentioned in someone else's recollection so I will check in periodically to see.

  • Submitted by: Roland Ricker, Hedgesville WV
  • Tribute to my Father, Frederick F. Light
  • Maine Camp: Cold River
  • My father was a member of the 152nd Company,Camp Cold River #2112 in Stow, Maine and in North Chatham, N.H. during the period 1933-1936. He spoke often of the corps and its good works, especially the project of building the part of the Evan Notch road connecting N. Chatham N.H. and Gilead, Maine.

    My father spent his working years with the A&P Tea Company as a manager of the Conway, NH store. Along with my mother, Flora G. Lane of Brownfield, Maine, he raised two children, Ronald A. Light, of Fryeburg, Maine, and myself, currently residing in St. Marys, GA. He passed away in June of 1994.

    He was a good man and a good father.

  • Submitted by: Colleen L. Mette, St. Marys,, GA 31558
  • Tribute to my Brother, Amos G. Gagnon
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • I am not aware of the my brothers dates of service in the CCC's. I do know that it was several years prior to his enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corp.,in which he served from Sept of '42 to March of '45. He was a member of the 4th Marine Division and was in all four of the Division battles, he was wounded in action and killed in action of Iwo Jima on March 7, 1945.

  • Submitted by: Richard J. Gagnon, Watertown, NY 13601
  • Tribute to my Brother, Peter Gagnon
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • I am not aware of his dates of service. I do know that he spoke to me about how his time in the CCC's was helpful for his U.S.Army service in WWII. He was a medic in the European Theatre.

  • Submitted by: Richard J. Gagnon, Watertown, NY 13601
  • Tribute to my Brother, Phillip Gagnon
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • I am not aware of his dates of service, I do know that he told me that he was a "cookie" in the mess hall. He even recalled several of the recipes, among them "slumgullin".

  • Submitted by: Richard J. Gagnon, Watertown, NY 13601
  • Tribute to my Father, Denzil Arthur Bryant
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • I am not sure of years of service at the camp but it was prior to his going into the Army in 1939. During WWII he ended up at Camp Breckenridge as a Mess Sargent. I just recently learned of which camp he was at in the CCC and hope maybe someone else at that camp may remember him. I know he did a lot of work in the woods which is what he did in his everyday life as a kid. He left school after the 8th grade to help support his family and worked as a woodsman and a farm hand. During the war he met and married my mother in Indiana and was moved out to Washington State by the Boeing Company to finish is apprenticeship as a machinist. Dad has since passed in 1992 but used to talk of his days in the woods of Maine.

  • Submitted by: Bobbie McCullah, Renton, WA 98056
  • Tribute to my father, Lionel H. Shaw
  • Maine Camp: Jefferson
  • Job Classification: Dynamite Expert Engineer Date of Enlistment: 1936 Date of leaving Service: 1945

  • Submitted by: Lester C. Shaw, Palmyra,Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Adrien J. Cyr
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • My father, Adrien J. Cyr born May 23, 1910 served in the CCC from 4/29/1936 to 6/2/1937. His record of Service in the Civilian Conservation Corps from his discharge paper is:

    From 4/29/1936 to 5/12/1936 under War Dept. at Ft. Williams, ME - Type of work: Conditioning - Performance: Satisfactory From 5/13/1936 to 9/20/1936 under War Dept. at Greenville, ME - Type of work: Laborer - Performance: Excellent 10/1/1936 to 3/31/1937 under War Dept. at Greenville, ME -Type of work: Laborer - Performance: Excellent 4/1/1937 to 6/2/1937 under Labor Dept. at Greenville, ME - Type of work: Truck Driver - Performance: Excellent

    He also received a Diploma and Certificate of Proficiency for "First Cook" on 12/4/1936 at the School for Bakers and Cooks, C.C.C. from United States Infantry Post of Portland Harbor - Certificate signed by Wilson B. Burtt, Colonel, 5th Inf. Commanding and Instructor H.D. Ayres, Captain, 5th Infantry

    He was Honorably Discharged: on 6/2/1937 at 160th Company CCC: Greenville, ME Transportation furnished from Greenville, ME to Frenchville, ME Signed by F.C. Johnson, 1st Lt. FA-Res; Comdg. 160th Co. CCC The reason for his discharge was to accept employment.

    Upon his discharged he received a Letter of Recommendation from ECW Cam P-57 Greenville, Maine dated June 2, 1937, which was under the Maine Forest Service stating: To Whom It May Concern: This is to certify that, Adrien Cyr has been in this CCC Camp for one year. He has been a Cook and a Truck Driver. He is a good worker and has good habits and is dependable. Signed by Emmons Stacy, Supt.

    After his discharged, my father went to work as a truck driver for a private contractor. A short while later, he went to work for the Maine Department of Transportation and retired from MDOT in the 1970s. He passed away at age 73 on March 10, 1984.

  • Submitted by: Joe "Don" Cyr, Hamlin, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father in law, Willis Bither
  • Maine Camp: Camden
  • Moved to Camden and stayed there.

  • Submitted by: Bill McKeen, Whitefield, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father-in-Law, Joseph Charette
  • Maine Camp: Great Pond
  • Joseph Charette was born on April 10, 1918 at Fort Kent, Maine. According to his Certificate of Discharge from the Civilian Conservation Corps, he enrolled on November 1, 1935 at Fort Williams, Maine at the age of 17 and served with the 158th Company at Southwest Harbor, Maine. His record of service is as follows: a. From 11/1/1935 to 11/2/1935 under the War Dept. at Ft. Williams, ME - type of work: Conditioning b. From 11/2/1935 to 3/31/1936 under the War Dept. at 158th Company - type of work: Woodsman - Performance: Satisfactory In the remarks section are the following notations: he was in good physical condition and was best fitted for: Woodsman. He was honorably discharge on 3/31/1936 at 158th Company, Southwest Harbor, ME. Transportation furnished from Ellsworth, Maine to Fort Kent, Maine. His discharged paper was signed by: Alec M. Wescott, Capt. Inf-Res., Commanding 158th Company, CCC. During his stay in the CCC, he cut wood to clear land to build roads.

    After returning to Fort Kent, he continued working in the woods for a while, worked for potato farmers and owned and operated the Joe Charette and Sons Garage and Junk Yard in Fort Kent. During this time, he married Eva Laferriere and had 5 children. He died at age 84 on January 29, 2003 at Fort Kent.

  • Submitted by: Joe "Don" Cyr, Hamlin, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Otis A. Brown
  • Maine Camp: Baxter Park, Avalanche Brook
  • As a young man living in Caribou, my father said that they advertised in the local paper for men to work building roads. It was during the Depression and jobs were scarce, the government was paying $1.00 a day plus his room and board and he was furnished with work clothes. Dad was assigned to Company #1123 at Mt. Katahdin, building roads to Baxter State Park. In the summer the crew lived in tents, and in the winter they stayed in barracks. During our childhood, Dad occasionally brought out his withered felt banner, Company #1123,which he held on to for 70 years.

    Otis A. Brown was born Sept. 13, 1915 in Caribou, son to Ethel and Gideon Brown. He later moved to Southern Maine and settled in Harpswell, Maine with his wife Avis Wardwell Brown. They raised a large family of nine children and Otis worked for Bath Iron Works for a few years as a welder and then went on to work for Goodwin Chevrolet as a bodyman and then a car salesman for over 30 years. Otis died on Dec.21, 2004.

  • Submitted by: Suzanne Brown Moreau, Mapleton, Maine 04757
  • Tribute to my uncle, James Bernard Poole
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • When I interviewed my uncle Jim in May, 2001, he told me that in his younger days, he was a member of the CCC's in Princeton, Maine. He stated that he was stationed in Bar Harbor. As he indicated to me, Jim was from a poor family, so being a member of the CCC's was an opportunity for him.

    When he was 17 years old, he joined the Army in 1941. Jim eventually married (to my Aunt Marion), and they spent most of their lives in Bristol, CT. They had one daughter, Marion. Jim Poole passed away in August, 2001 after a long battle with diabetes.

  • Submitted by: Patsy Lawler Husson, Hampden, ME 04444
  • Tribute to my Father, Maynard E. Lombard
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • Dad was a cook in the camp although he did have a degree in forestry from UMO. He served sometime before 1939. He died at age 54; we don't know much about his life before he was our father. His sister said he enjoyed the experience very much. And he was a great Sunday cook.

  • Submitted by: Wendy Lombard Bossie, Caribou ME 04736
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, John Wm. Yates
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • My grandfather John William Yates, came to the U.S. in early 1900 with his family including his brothers and their families. He was born in England in 1876 which I suppose entitled him to wear sergeants strips as I recall. This camp in Alfred was just off Rt. #4. I can remember seeing the men carrying buckets of creosote to apply to gypsy moth clusters in trees with a long handled brush. We would go over and talk with Grampa as he seemed like a "big shot" there. Gramps died in 1949. After the CCC"s left it became an Army M.P. Battalion during WW2. My mother had two spare bedroom that she rented to soldiers wives. One was the commanding officer of the battalion. The facility closed shortly after WW2 ended and by then I was in the So.Pacific in the U.S. Navy

  • Submitted by: Sumner L. Thompson, Scarborough, ME 04074
  • Tribute to my Uncle, Gilbert B. Thompson
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • My uncle Gilbert Bradford Thompson was born in Waterboro, Maine in 1910 on a farm. Most of the state was rural at that time. History tells us that the Great Depression began in 1929 and continued through the 1930's, a time when there were few jobs. Uncle Gib as we called him joined the CCC's in order to eat and make a few dollars. He was first assigned to Alfred but I do not know much about what he did or if he served elsewhere. He did tell us a few of his tales when in camp but that was about it. My grandmother, Uncle Gib's mother was grateful for the program that saved a lot of Maine's young men. After leaving the CCC's Uncle Gib returned to the family farm in Waterboro and eventually with the State Of Maine on the highway department. He passed away in 1965.

  • Submitted by: Sumner L. Thompson, Scarborough, ME 04074
  • Tribute to my father, Laurent L Dutil
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My father served the CCC camp in North Catham NH helping to build roads throughout that area, I was told the wood that was cut to make a path for our roads of today were given to poor people who needed the wood to heat their homes abt 19 (I have his photo album w/many photos of co workers in the pictures on piles of wood/trees cut to make our new roads. Anyone interested in contacting her regarding these photos can email jeffrey.brown@maine.gov and I will forward your email to her and she can contact you.)

  • Submitted by: mary morin, augusta me 04330
  • Tribute to my Husband, Abel Joseph Duplessis
  • Maine Camp: Bridgton
  • My husband, Abel Duplessis, of Van Buren, Maine was a part of Camp #`1124 in Bridgton Maine from 1936 to 1941. His job was that of first cook while there. The time that he was in the CCC was a valuable time in his life. Abel always said that they went in as boys but they came out as men. He was proud to say that he was in the CCC. He appreciated the opportunities the CCC gave him, the discipline and work ethics it taught him and the friends that he made while there, which continued lifelong. He met his future wife while he was in the CCC and they went on to have five wonderful children. He was proud to take his wife and oldest daughter to the first CCC Reunion, because he thought so highly of the time he was in the CCC. It would be with great pride that he would talk of that time in his life. And had he lived it would be with great pride that he would have shown others the statue in front of the State Archives building in Augusta commemorating the CCC men.

  • Submitted by: Irene Duplessis, Madison Maine
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Edmund Lowe
  • Maine Camp: Cold River
  • Building road through Evans notch, at Cold River

    A Road Retraveled, Again

    I am sure when my grandfather and ?the boys? Laid this sacred road they had no idea what was to come of it My grampy knew not of the countless rides that were to come for his family driving, walking, hiking, camping Through Evan Notch down to Cold River To sit, to ponder, to love, to grieve To be washed anew, a natural baptism in the river that guided the road

    How I wish for one moment I could go back in time And see ?the boys? at camp dirty, tired, grateful to have work I imagine him playing his harmonica While sitting at the fire to relax I imagine the heavy hearts they held in their chest because of the times The Depression, The Recovery of our Nation

    I walk along the river bank, balancing carefully and feel him there I sit at the monument left to honor them, To honor ?the boys? and I feel silent I soak it all in, rejuvenate and leave gratitude in the sacred place Following the path my grandfather laid ? many, many years ago I bring home with me quiet, peace and his love.

    -Melissa

  • Submitted by: Melissa Majkut, Standish, ME
  • Tribute to my uncle, Mallet "Andy" Anderson
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • Uncle andy came to pittsburg, nh to CCC camp near 1st Conn. lake -- my mom -- his sis Hazel followed him here to pittsburg and met my dad -- Clark Brunelle -- then 5 kids -- me - the baby - lawrence - now 53 yrs old - I hope uncle Andy knows that this little "NOTE" tells the world what an extraordinary life he is responisble for & doesn't really know !!!!!!! What a great "OLD COOT" age 90

  • Submitted by: lawrence brunelle, pittsburg,nh 03592
  • Tribute to my father, Herbert A. Clayter
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • My father, Herbert A. Clayter (1913-1974) was enrolled in the CCC camp in Patten, 1935.

  • Submitted by: jim clayter, vinalhaven
  • Tribute to my Father, Kenneth R Wiley
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My father was in the camp at the big field on Mt Desert Island. He constructed the rock works on the roads up Mt. Cadillac. I have a picture of him in his late 70s pointing out his handiwork to my daughter.

  • Submitted by: Diane Harman-Hoog, Mukilteo WA 98275
  • Tribute to my father, Camille Joseph Beaulieu
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • He painted trees at Togus to protect them from Gypsy moths. He helped make some of the trails at Baxter State Park. He also worked in southern Maine on various work details. It was around 1935 as he was 18 years old.

  • Submitted by: Marsha Lagasse, Buffalo, NY 14201
  • Tribute to my Father, William P. Kick
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • According to an old autograph book I found after my father passed away, he was a member of the 130th CCC. There are several references to Gorham Maine. The autograph book was signed by many, many CCC workers. Some names include Bob Carpenter (Sanford), Omar Easler, Ray Berry, Joseph Bouley (Brunswick), Romeo Ouellette (Chisholm), Charles Rowand and George Doyon (Waterville). There were lots of members from Waltham Massachusettes. Lots of the men wrote poems in my fathers autograph book. Several also mention the CCC Sidecamp. Not sure what that was but I bet it was fun!

  • Submitted by: cathy langlais, winslow me 04901
  • Tribute to my Father, James W. McCurdy
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • A Tribue to my father, Jim McCurdy who served with the CCC's in Patten, Maine

  • Submitted by: jackie davis, yarmouth, Maine
  • Tribute to my Grand Father, Ernest E Findley
  • Maine Camp: Wild River
  • I have found in my family boxes a picture of my grand father and a few other men in the 156th company as well as the menue for thanksgiving of 1935 I beleave that my grand father was one of the cooks.

  • Submitted by: Robert N Gilman, Raleigh NC 27603
  • Tribute to my Uncle, Paul Emile Ouellette
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My uncle Paul was stationed in Stowe Vermont and Princeton Maine. He served during 1938 and 1939.

  • Submitted by: Al Marin, Cocoa, Fl 32926
  • Tribute to my father, Phillip Michaud
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • He served at Patten Hay Lake

  • Submitted by: Robert Michaud, Fort Kent, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Willard Laferriere
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • A Tribute to my Dad My dad was a member of the CCC. He enrolled June 22, 1935 at Fort Kent, Maine. When he enrolled he was 19 years old. He served from 6-22-35 to 8-18-36, under 159th C..CCC dept. at Camp Patten Maine. His type of work was Foresty, he worked in the woods, his manner or performance was Excellent. He was discharged on Aug. 18, 1936.

  • Submitted by: Tina Laferriere Krull, Daughter, Bristol, Ct.
  • Tribute to my Father, Maurice Mills Murphy
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • We are not sure what camp he was assigned to, but found some old photos of him in uniform, with notation that he was a Telephone Operator, 1933. Others in the photo are Sgt. Arthur Bragdon, Pvt. Johnny Laurence, Paul Morang, St. Garwood Carr & Corp Modes. (Sorry if any misspellings, as writing is very small.)

  • Submitted by: Sherry Murphy Trout, Chesapeake, VA 23320
  • Tribute to my Father, Robert E Sylvester
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • was at Fort Willimas 1935

  • Submitted by: Donald Sylvester, Madbury, NH
  • Tribute to my Father, Walter F. Tefft
  • Maine Camp: Far East
  • 1933-1939. My father was a surveyor and engineer and worked in the Ellsworth area. I was born August 1934 and we lived in Ellsworth for two years.

  • Submitted by: Marianne Tefft Jackson, Daleville, Alabama
  • Tribute to my Father, Joseph E W Lessard
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • He was born in Skowhegan Mom had a picture of him that I remember.He must have been there between 1934-1942 he was born in 1913.I am trying to find info for our genealogy,also a list of names of those he served with Have a great day Bob Lessard

  • Submitted by: Robert (Bob) Lessard, Avinger ,TX 75630-2829
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Raymond McDougal, Sr.
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • Unsure of exact dates of service although we think it was the late 1930's. I Have pictures of him in his CCC uniform taken at Eagle Lake. My late Grandmother is the one who told me he served in the Eagle Lake area.

  • Submitted by: Kevin J. Michaud, Fairfield
  • Tribute to my father, Howard Thomas Noble
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • My father was commander of the camp at patten in the fall of 1933, after 6 months moving to Beddington, then to Gorham, NH. In c. 1936, we were living in Fryeburg and I think he was inspector of camps in that area, in 1937 to Norridgewock and he had camps in the southeastern part of the state. In 1937 we went to Pueblo, CO for the dustbowl erosion where he was at Brunt Mills (I think that was the name of the camp south of Pueblo, then back to Maine when the camps went civilian. In 1941 he was recalled to active duty, retiring a few years later as a Major.

  • Submitted by: Lucille Noble Greer, Norridgewock 04957
  • Tribute to my Father, William H. Mitchell
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • Service was about 1933.

  • Submitted by: Dorothy Mitchell Simmons, Bangor, ME
  • Tribute to my Uncle, James Edward Mitchell
  • Maine Camp: Camden
  • 1939

  • Submitted by: Dorothy Mitchell Simmons, Bangor
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Melvin R. Lawrence
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My grandfather told stories about the "CCC" camps; however, I can't remember where he was located. He talked about sending money home to his parents...

  • Submitted by: Shannon R. Garland, Waterville, ME. 04901
  • Tribute to my Uncle, Leon J Voisine
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • late 30's early 40's worked on Mt. Desert Island building carriage trails

  • Submitted by: Ronald Murray, Etna, Me. 04434
  • Tribute to my Father, Goodine Frank G.
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My dad served with the 133rd Co.CCC.at Warren N.H.1/15/1940-6/28/1940. Then again with 154th Co. in Bar Harbor,Me. 1/9/1941-9/15/1941 He was also a WWII Paratrooper serving in the European Theator. He was so proud of serving his country.

  • Submitted by: Gloria Goodine Thompson, Woodland, Me.04736
  • Tribute to my FATHER, GILBERT JOSEPH LEBEL
  • Maine Camp: Camden
  • My father was enrolled on July 27, 1935 at Fort Preble, Maine, at the age of 18. From July 27, 1935 to August 10, 1935 he was at Fort Preble for ?Conditioning?. From August 10, 1935 to August 24, 1936 his work was ?Woodsman? at 1130Co. CCC, Camden Maine. From August 24, 1936 to October 16, 1936 his work was ?Forestry? at 159Co. CCC Patten, Maine. From October 16, 1936 to February 8, 1937 his work was ?Forestry? at 1130Co. CCC, Camden Maine. From February 8, 1937 to March 17, 1937 his work was ?Patient/Forestry? at 1130Co. CCC, Camden Maine. March 17 1937 received an ?Honorable Discharge? as his ?presence required elsewhere?. Signed by M.D. MacLaughlin Capt.Inf-Res. He was paid $3 on his final statement and was furnished with transportation from Rockland, Maine to Hartford, Connecticut.

    In addition to his discharge record, I have his ?Report of Ratings? where his rating was 76. Also listed on this is the ?Company number?? 1130th and the ?Camp number? 11002 and Camden , Maine. All of this and also his WWII records were found in his C.C.C. Foot-locker that was kept in the attic.

    My father passed on July 2, 2007, eleven days short of his 90th birthday!

  • Submitted by: THOMAS LEBEL, NAUGATUCK CT 06770
  • Tribute to my Father, James W. Green
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • About 1936 and 1937. I know Dad was mustered in at Fort Williams, but assigned to a NH CCC organization and he never knew why. He built roads (including Route 3 in Northern NH) and ski trails. He enjoyed his service in the CCC's enormously.

  • Submitted by: Bill Green, Cumberland, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father-in-law, Galen R. Porter Sr.
  • Maine Camp: Great Pond
  • Galen was very young when he served in the CCC's from 1939-1941. "Barely seventeen", he says with a wink and a smile. He remembers handling dynamite and blasting rock into stones later placed as guard rails along the road up Mt. Cadillac. He was located at Southwest Harbor at the Great Pond camp. He and his wife Helena make their home in Island Falls, Maine.

  • Submitted by: Joleen Porter, Island Falls, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Willis Blake Saunders
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • 7/21/34-7/23/34-Ft. Williams ME-7/24/34-9/31/34-Greenville,ME-10/1/34-9/31/35-Greenville,ME-10/1/35-3/31/36-Greenville,ME-4/1/36-1/16/37-Greenville,ME- Honorable dicharge on Jan 16, 1937 at the 160th Co.CCC Moosehead camp#2104 Greenville,ME

  • Submitted by: Mary Saunders Callnan, Houlton,Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Simeon Bilodeau
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • I saw pictures of the units my father was in but they have been lost.

  • Submitted by: Gerard Bilodeau, Belfast Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Winston A. Boutaugh
  • Maine Camp: Millinocket
  • 1934-

  • Submitted by: Robert S. Boutaugh, East, Millinocket, Maine 04430
  • Tribute to my Dad, Donald J. Hines ( duke)
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • I am unsure of the year but he went to ww2 after. I am just proud of the services he did for this country and will forever be honored that i am his child.

  • Submitted by: roxie mathieu, skowhegan maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Vinal Tainter
  • Maine Camp: Millinocket
  • Vinal worked in the blacksmith shop. Met his wife in Millinocket. They had 3 children.

  • Submitted by: Vinal Tainter jr., Ellsworth, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Kenneth R Wiley
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • In 1990, Kenneth's granddaughter Melissa Harman, daughter Diane Wiley Harman-Hoog and his wife Leonore Dorr Wiley drove up Mt Cadillac with Ken and he showed us the rock walls he erected there when he was with the CCC. In 1935, he had an opportunity to work on board the racing yacht Azara which was owned by Hugh M Matheson. Ken's mother, Mildred Holyt Caswell was able to purchase his release from the CCC at that time. Ken and his children were always very proud of the work that he did at Eagle Lake with the CCC.

  • Submitted by: Diane Harman-Hoog, Redmond WA
  • Tribute to my father, Albert T Hartley
  • Maine Camp: Far East
  • My Dad always had high praise for the CCC camp in Princeton where he worked. He told me it gave him constructive work to do - and kept him "out of trouble". He was born in 1913, and worked there in the early years of the camp.

  • Submitted by: Saskia Hartley Pardo, San Francisco, CA
  • Tribute to my Father, Thompson, Loren o.
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • 130th reg. Alfred MAINE 1936-1939

  • Submitted by: Thompson , Richard I., Erwin , N.C. 28339
  • Tribute to my brother, Philip F. Wagner
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • not known

  • Submitted by: doug wagner, norridgewock me.
  • Tribute to my Father, Charles R Mitchell
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • I have a his Certificate of Discharge He was Enrolled at Portland Maine April 14 1936 Discharged on June 23 1936 at camp Patten Maine signed by Carrol E Clark 1st lt 303 inf comdg / Discharged to accept employment he is listed as a woodsman

  • Submitted by: Norman K Mitchell, East Dixfield Maine 04226
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Woodrow R. York
  • Maine Camp: Jefferson
  • Dates of Service 4-1-36 to 5-9-36 under war Dept Camp Jefferson Forestry work I have the discharge papers

  • Submitted by: Shirley M Mitton, Portland Maine 04102
  • Tribute to my Uncle, Richard Sawin Holt
  • Maine Camp: Great Pond
  • Richard Sawin Holt was born 11 March 1912 in the village of Locke Mills, Greenwood, Maine, the son of Hiram F. and Annie Sawin Holt. He grew up in Norway and attended Norway High School for a couple years, then lived with his aunt and uncle in Bethel, where he attended Gould Academy, graduating in 1932. To earn money for college, he joined the CCC on May 25, 1933. He was stationed at Great Pond Camp #2110, 158th Company CCC, at Southwest Harbor, Maine. Undoubtedly he did physical work initially, but he was more attuned to mental work, and before long he was 1st Sergeant and chief clerk of the company. On a military form asking about employment history, he wrote, ?In this position I was responsible to my superior officer for the management, quartering, clothing, and feeding of a company of two hundred men.? His supervisor wrote an ?unsolicited recommendation? in which he praised Richard for his executive, administrative and clerical ability. ?He is a willing, tireless and loyal worker with a personality which commands the respect of both his superiors and subordinates.? He left the CCC on June 30, 1934. His discharge paper says ?Type of work best fitted for: administration.?

    After leaving the CCC he attended Bowdoin College and graduated in 1938. He attended one year of medical school at Columbia University before dropping out. He didn?t find a job for awhile, but finally in February 1940 he got a job as a traveling representative in the Medical Public Heath Department of Macmillan Publishing Company. He sold medical textbooks and helped find professors who wanted to write medical textbooks. He held this job until he enlisted in the US Navy, where he was first a Pharmacist?s Mate, then received a commission and served on PT 129 in New Guinea and a refrigerated cargo ship (YP-283) in the South Pacific. He later worked for several years in the merchant marine as a deck officer sailing for United Fruit Company, and later still as a librarian the National Dairy Research Labs and National Dairy Products Corporation. He died back home in Norway, Maine in 1984.

  • Submitted by: Edward A. Holt, Harpswell, ME
  • Tribute to my Father, Fred Edward Holt
  • Maine Camp: Great Pond
  • Fred Edward Holt was born 30 September 1915 in Waterford, Maine. His 15 months in the CCC has a significant impact on the remainder of his life. Immediately after graduating from Norway High School in 1934, he went to Southwest Harbor to join the CCC. His brother Richard had been in CCC at Southwest Harbor for the previous year, and this probably influenced his choice. He arrived at just about the time his brother was leaving, entering in July 1934 as a ?Local Experienced Man.? Yes, that was the title of the position, although how someone straight from high school could be called experienced is a mystery. He worked on trails, and, at least part time, operated the canteen.

    He left the CCC in September 1935, and returned to Norway High School for a year of post graduate study. His CCC supervisors had encouraged him to go to college, but in high school he had taken what was called the ?commercial course,? which did not include much college preparatory work. His CCC work also had another important influence on his life in that it gave him an interest in forestry as a profession. After his year of post-graduate study, he enrolled at the University of Maine and graduated in 1940 with a degree in Forestry.

    He served in the Pacific as a Lieutenant in the US Navy during World War II, after which he had a career with the Maine Forestry Department, first as supervisor of Fire Control in the Organized Towns from 1949-1957, Deputy Forest Commissioner from 1958-1972, and Forestry Commissioner (Director of the Bureau of Forestry when the Forestry Department was reorganized as part of the Department of Conservation) 1973-1976. After retirement, he and his wife returned to Norway, where he died in 1990.

  • Submitted by: Edward A. Holt, Harpswell, ME
  • Tribute to my father, Loren O. Thompson Jr.
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • My father past in 1999. In his life, being in the C.C.C.'s ,was pride,Brotherhood, and self esteam ,in getting the job done. Camp 130 P-52 Alfred

  • Submitted by: Richard Thompson, Erwin, N.C. 28339
  • Tribute to my Father, Ralph J. Mosher, Jr.
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Believe my father was at the Fort Williams facilities,[am unsure how true this information was tho]

  • Submitted by: Marie Mosher, Tyngsboro, MA
  • Tribute to my grandfather, Ralph Hartley, Jr.
  • Maine Camp: Baxter Park, Avalanche Brook and Foster Field
  • roads in northern maine

  • Submitted by: ryan hartley, maine
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Velman E. Parsons
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • 1936-1938 Velman worked on roads,bridges and building fire towers.

  • Submitted by: Troyce Parsons, Auburn,Me
  • Tribute to my Farther, Cecil J Ricker
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • Served in the Alfred Camp, Company 130. 1933-? Drove trucks and worked at controlling tree disease and gypsy moths. Also delivered meals to the crews.

  • Submitted by: Sandra Ricker Caron, Lyman, ME 04002
  • Tribute to my Father, Melzard, Robert W.
  • Maine Camp: Alfred
  • I believe this person listed as R. Melzard of Roxbury Mass. Who was at CCC Camp Alford-Company 130-District 1 in 1937..Approx Age 20 yrs Was my Father: Robert W. Melzard DOB: 16 June 1917. Orginally from Salem Mass. Died: 3 July 2003. Abington Mass. My Dad or family never talked to much about past family history etc.. So I was excited to find out that he might have served with the CCC in the Great State Of Maine..Even though he came from Massachusetts at the time.. I also learned that he served in the US Army Honorably as a SGT during WW2.. He received the Bronze Star and other medals..Which I am vey proud to say I just received recently from the Dept of the Army... I was wondering if you have photos of the members of the CCC Camp Alford during this period of his life or any other info that you can share..Thank you and Best wishes...J.F. Melzard

  • Submitted by: James F. Melzard, Gardner Massachusetts 01440
  • Tribute to my Father, John Harvey Joyce
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Dad was Junior Officer in the 160th Company at Wesley. I have a large photograph showing a group picture of the Company and various camp scenes dated March, 1940. Dad was a 2nd Lt. of Cavalry at this time. As part of his Army duty, he was assignd to CCC duty in the Maine woods. He loved it. I grew up hearing many entertaining stories of his time there. Dad served the war years training infantry troops at posts in Washington, California, and Texas. He was very proud of his service to our county.

  • Submitted by: Jonathan Joyce, Sherwood, AR
  • Tribute to my Father, Claude R. Levasseur
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • I do not know the dates but I know he told me he worked on the roads on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park during his time in the CCC. The CCC was stationed for 9 years in Acadia and they completed hundreds of projects. NOTE: A good site to read on this is http://www.nps.gov/acad/historyculture/ccc.htm

  • Submitted by: Patricia (Levasseur) Dube, Hollis Center, Maine 04042
  • Tribute to my father, Joseph Edmund Lumsden
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • member of the 160/th Co. Greenville, Maine

  • Submitted by: Lucille Lee Brooks, Wells
  • Tribute to my FATHER, FREDERICK WILLIAM WHITE
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • N/A DEACEASED

  • Submitted by: NELLIE DAVIS, SACO
  • Tribute to my UNCLE, HAROLD WHITE
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • LATTER ENLISTED IN THE SEA BEES

  • Submitted by: NELLIE DAVIS, SACO,MAINE 04072
  • Tribute to my Father, Warren M Howell
  • Maine Camp: Wild River
  • Served at the Wild River Camp in the late 1930's

  • Submitted by: Warren B Howell, Camden,SC
  • Tribute to my father, James H. Green
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Sworn in at Fort Williams on 10/13/1936; discharged for occupations as a Laborer on 6/6/1937 at Camp Kilkenny #2117, papers signed by Clayton M. Ela Capt.CA-Res.

    My father often talked, with pride, of his days in the CCC Camp at Stow. They worked in the area of Evans Notch.

  • Submitted by: Deborah Green, Portland, Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, Claude Jerome Daigle
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • My dad was with the C.C.C 's at the Eagle Lake Camp and Beddington Camp in the mid 30's. He talked about work building the steps to Thunder Hole and how he got paid a dollar a day and each month sent $25 home . He mentioned an Indian fellow he worked with that constantly chewed and spit tobacco , a hard worker . And that he would bring a loaf of bread and a can of cream corn to eat out in the woods . He said there were three holes in the wall of the camp at your bunk , and depending on how bad the smell of the men was you could unplug them for fresh air ! He was Barrack Leader at Beddington .

  • Submitted by: Craig Daigle, Newington NH
  • Tribute to my Brother, Adrien Charette
  • Maine Camp: Patten
  • My brother Adrien served in the late 30's in Patten or Bridgeton. I cannot find his name on your list

  • Submitted by: Norman Charette, Wilton NH
  • Tribute to my father, Carroll Wellman French Sr
  • Maine Camp: Jefferson
  • I only know that he worked in Augusta, I believe working around or on the state house. Not sure where else he was sent, but he did serve and was based in Jefferson.

  • Submitted by: Susan French Murray, South China ME
  • Tribute to my My Father, Donald J.Webber
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My father's service in the CCC was at Fort Williams; I did not see that listed in the 'camps'. He may have also worked at Camden Hills.

  • Submitted by: Linda Webber Soares, Belfast, ME 04915
  • Tribute to my Father, Ernest Blair Newman
  • Maine Camp: Far East
  • My dad served starting in January 1935 when he was 19 years old. He would hitch rides back home to Eastport every weekend and then turn around and hitch back before Monday morning. While he was serving he received some kind of shot which promptly made him sick and he was in the hospital for 3 days thru the weekend. All I know about his work is that he worked in the 'forest'; possibly clearing land.

  • Submitted by: Donna Newman, Euless, TX
  • Tribute to my Father, Arthur R. O'Connor
  • Maine Camp: Camden
  • served in the 1130th from October, 1938 to September, 1939

  • Submitted by: Ruth Berft, Mesa, Arizona
  • Tribute to my Father, Nelson O. Lessard
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • My father was enrolled at Fort Preble in South Portland on July 22, 1935. He served in the CCC as a clerk at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth until being honorably discharged at the completion of his enrollment on March 31, 1936. However little he was being paid, I found it amazing that he sent home a monthly allotment of $25.00. I remember him telling me that he was able to type 90 words per minute when he was 19. Now I understand what made it possible. I recently acquired a copy of my dad's records to confirm the stories he told me when I was a child. His record Number is CC1-64871 if you need to verify my statement.

  • Submitted by: Paul Lessard, Belgrade, ME 04917
  • Tribute to my father, Richard l. Hazel
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Richard was a member of company D, 5th infantry regiment stationed at Fort Williams and Preble from 1930-1936. at some point during that time he was assigned to the CCC. The army cut his pay by $10 a month to help fund the program.

  • Submitted by: George Hazel, bonita springs fl
  • Tribute to my Father, Ralph L. Maione
  • Maine Camp: Rangeley
  • My father worked in Rangeley Lakes from 1935 - 1937. He worked on the Appalachian Trial surveying, shoveling and making fire lanes. One of the camps was 9 miles outside of Rangeley and 3 miles from the Canadian border. His supervisor was Gordon Hunt. From Rangeley, he went to Moosehead Lake and worked on the trails for six months. He was injured (he accidently cut his toe with an axe) and had to walk 10 miles from camp to get a ride back to the main camp. When he got to camp, he put alcohol on it, sewed it up with no Novocain (3 stitches on top and 3 stitches on the bottom). He worked three weeks in the kitchen peeling potatoes until it healed.

  • Submitted by: Joyce Maione-Pezzulli, N Scituate, RI 02857
  • Tribute to my Grandfather, Otis Napolian LaBree
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • Otis spoke of his time in the CCC's he recalled the hard work and playing football for a team made up of fellow CCC workers (I have a picture). He would have worked in 1934 or 1935 possibly on Mt. Desert Island.

  • Submitted by: Michele LaBree Daniels, Brewer
  • Tribute to my Father, Clarence R. "Red" Rowe
  • Maine Camp: Wild River
  • My father, Clarence R. ?Red? Rowe was born in Rochester, NH, was raised on the family farm in Center Strafford, NH where he also received his education, and had just turned 21 years of age one month before enlisting/signing up for the Civilian Conservation Corps, reporting initially to U.S. Army authorities at Manchester, New Hampshire effective April 30, 1934 and from there, assigned to Fort Williams, Maine. My father's ?General Information? ?Individual Record? indicated that he was ?unemployed? since 1934 and that his occupation was that of a ?truck driver? for his father, Wallace J. Rowe of Center Strafford and that he had never previously been a member of the CCC.

    Between April 30, 1934 and May 1, 1934 he was assigned to ?conditioning? under ?WD?, Department of Fort Williams, Maine. He underwent an entry-level physical examination that he passed without any negative declarations. At an early age, he experienced ?rheumatic fever? and due to such, he was excluded from military service, however, he was found physically able to serve in the CCC.

    Between May 1, 1934 and September 30, 1934, he was assigned to the 156th Department at Gilard, Maine. His duties were ?road construction? and his performance rating for this period was ?excellent?. Based upon my conversations with my father, he was working on the Evans Notch Road, which was being built to connect North Chatham, NH and Gilard, Maine. His unit was at Wild River and he spoke of building or installing ?cribbing? on the banks of the road to prevent land or stone slides. Although the work was considered ?hard labor?, he thoroughly enjoyed working in the wilderness, being a hunter, and trapper in his early life.

    Between September 30, 1934 and March 30, 1935, his assignment changed to that of ?kitchen help?. He remained with the 156th at Gilard for this six month assignment and also received a performance rating of ?excellent?. In later life, my father would take many of the skills he learned during this period and applied them to a diner that he ran in Revere, Massachusetts and a roadside clam stand that he operated in Rochester, New Hampshire.

    Between March 30, 1935 and August 4, 1935, his assignment changed to that of ?truck driver?. He remained with the 156th at Gilard until his discharge on August 4th when he was offered a civilian opportunity for gainful employment in the private sector in Rochester, NH. His performance rating for this period was ?excellent?. He was furnished government transportation from Gilard, Maine to Manchester, NH via train.

    Not unlike all CCC members, my father was paid thirty dollars ($30.00) a month wages, of which twenty five ($25.00) was automatically sent home to his parents for support. This monthly contribution to his family enabled them to live during the declining years of America's Great Depression.

  • Submitted by: James W. Rowe, Sr., Pelham, NH
  • Tribute to my FATHER, Euclide Ouellette
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • 1940 CAMP COOK LEADER THEY SPELLED HIS NAME EUCLYDE ON THE LIST. THERE IS A VERY GOOD PICTURE OF HIM WITH THE CAMPS COOKS ON THE MAINE MEMORY WEBSITE. WOULD APPRECIATE ANY PERSON WITH SOME STORIES

  • Submitted by: RONALD OUELLETTE, VAN BUREN
  • Tribute to my Uncle, John H. Blair
  • Maine Camp: Far East Princeton
  • First resident from Gardiner, ME to join the CCC's. Stationed in Far East Princeton camp(192nd Company) from Oct. 1934 for 17 months. With several friends on a weekend pass in the Summer of 1935 Met F.D.R. at the Campobello Ferry Dock.

  • Submitted by: James G. Blair, Barkhamsted, CT
  • Tribute to my Father, Joseph Alcide Boucher
  • Maine Camp: Beddington
  • Joseph Alcide Boucher was born in 1910 in Biddeford. He served at Deer Lake Camp, Beddington, from November 1935 to August 1936. He died in 1971. I have photos of his buddies and 3 great 9x12 monthly newsletter booklets and an autograph book with names and addresses of some of the young men who served at Deer Lake Camp, with him in Beddington. If you are interested in copies, you can contact me at gntilton@myfairpoint.net.

  • Submitted by: Gabrielle Boucher Tilton, Freeport
  • Tribute to my Father, Charles P. Colbath
  • Maine Camp: Moosehorn
  • Enlisted 4/8/1941 - 9/15/1942. Elisted Wesley and discharged Winthrop Armory. During his service he was in the Motor Pool in Ayers Junction Maine, He Also served in Boyd Oklahoma where he worked in the motor pool, moved snow fence, shovels, generators, planted trees and made water retention ponds.

  • Submitted by: Mary T Lee, Pembroke
  • Tribute to my uncle, Edward Thomas Pelletier
  • Maine Camp: Moosehead
  • He served in 1934 and he was 17 years old when he went into the CCC's. He worked on building the roads in Greenville Maine.

  • Submitted by: Leighsa Theriault, Portland Maine
  • Tribute to my Father, John R King
  • Maine Camp: Eagle Lake
  • Carriage roads and bridges. Thunder hole?

  • Submitted by: James T King, Old Orchard Beach
  • Tribute to my FATHER, James A Kearns
  • Maine Camp: Unknown
  • fort williams me 1131st co jan 15 1937 18 yrs old discharged mar 31 1939 forestry 1163RD CO 6-30-1937 TO 3-3-1938

  • Submitted by: barbara decarolis, carmichael
  • Tribute to my Father, Leslie Ambrose Craine
  • Maine Camp: Select a Camp
  • my father would often refer to the CCC camps as difficult but rewarding...

  • Submitted by: Patrick V Craine, Tallahassee