Soldier's World War II sacrifice recognized 66 years later

Jim Sullivan
CNHI News Service

May 13, 2009 04:32 pm

— HAVERHILL, Mass. — John Gale was delivering supplies to a U.S. Army post on the Port of Algiers when German airplanes attacked.

"Bombs were dropping," he said. "Ships were exploding in the harbor."

One explosion was close enough to deafen the sergeant. He was the lucky one. Two men 100 feet away lay bleeding to death from shrapnel. Gale grabbed a 50-caliber gun and sprayed anti-aircraft fire until the planes were gone.

Now, 66 years after the World War II attack, Gale is still partially deaf in his left ear. The Army has recognized his injury and given him the Purple Heart.

"I earned it, so I might as well get it," said Gale, 93, who lives in an assisted-living complex.

Gale said he realized something was wrong after the attack. He was deaf for a week or so, though his hearing gradually returned.

"I did not realize that it was not all back," he said. "I kept it to myself.''

He hid his partial deafness through the rest of his 20-year enlisted career. He did not mention it when he "changed hats" in 1961 to become an administrative, non-commissioned officer at an Army complex in Maryland, where he remained there for 20 more years.

"I had no complaints. They were very good to me," he said of the Army.

"I went to Europe with a rifle and a barracks bag," said the New York City native. "I returned with a wife, a child and a truckload of furniture."

After the Army, Gale and his wife, Jacqueline, and daughter, Patricia, settled into Aberdeen, Maryland. He took up golf, five days a week.

In 2003, after 55 years of marriage, Jacqueline died. Gale's daughter encouraged him to live with her in Plaistow, N.H., just north of Haverhill. A short time later, he started thinking about the Purple Heart.

"I don't know what made me do it,'' he said. "I thought about it and said, 'I want it.'" So began a three-year process of "a lot of paperwork and procedures,'' he said.

Social worker Kerry Slattery helped him make the case. "He was injured for his country. He should have it," Slattery said. "It's a big honor, and I'm glad that he went through with it."

The award has brought Gale attention. A local country club have him a year's worth of free golf. He said his grandson, who is named for him, and two great-grandsons are fascinated by the medal.

"They think I'm a big soldier," he said.

Jim Sullivan writes for The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass.

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