Monument for fallen heroes: Plaques honor two Leeds men killed in WWII, Korea

NORTHAMPTON — The only native of the village of Leeds to give his life in either world war, and whose remains were never recovered after his submarine was torpedoed in the South Pacific during World War II, is being commemorated this Memorial Day with a 4-foot-high granite monument at Leeds Memorial Park.

Dually celebrated on the same monument will be a 19-year-old who was killed by forces of the People’s Republic of China in the early phases of the Korean War, and who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Their names, Donald M. Ducharme of the U.S. Navy, and Donald R. Smith Jr. of the Marine Corps, will be immortalized on bronze plaques affixed to the monument last week in anticipation of weekend Memorial Day celebrations.

Community members gathered on Sunday at the park across from Leeds Elementary School for the unveiling of the monument, which is situated to the right hand side of the veterans memorial, opposite a matching granite monument with the names of Korean War veterans.

The granite slab was donated by Dick Bart, a member of the Veterans Council of Northampton, and the plaques cost the council $1,500. The labor for installation was donated by Gene Tacy of Tacy Excavating.

Ducharme will again be recognized on Monday in Florence during Northampton’s Memorial Day parade when his nephew, Donald Judge, accepts the Medal of Liberty. The medal is awarded by the governor to families of those killed in action.

Of Ducharme’s 15 nieces and nephews, Judge, 77, is one of just six still alive. Ducharme was Judge’s maternal uncle, whom he is named after, though he died before Judge was born. Judge could not be reached for comment.

Ducharme’s story was uncovered by Gordon Tatro last fall. After reading about Ducharme in the Gazette, Steve Connor, director of veterans’ services at Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services, began planning a memorial in his honor. The recognition later expanded to include Smith on the new memorial stone. Both men were from Leeds.

Donald Ducharme

Tatro, who spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, said the idea of serving aboard a submarine deep in the ocean, as Ducharme did, was far more nerve-wracking than being hundreds of thousands of feet in the air.

“Oh wow, a submarine is interesting. I don’t think I could do them,” was his reaction when he first heard about Ducharme while researching old Gazette articles about the Northampton VA Medical Center.

According to a biography provided by the Veterans Council of Northampton, Ducharme, a quartermaster third class, was born Nov. 12, 1918, in Leeds, to Wilfred O. and Marie Greenwood Ducharme.

He worked as a carpenter and steeplejack in his uncle’s business before he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 22.

After completing his training at the Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island, Ducharme was assigned to the submarine USS S-1, operating out of New London, Connecticut, which took him on multiple training cruises to the Caribbean.

Over a year later, in June of 1942, he was transferred to the newly commissioned submarine he would go on to die in — the USS Amberjack (SS-219).

The submarine went missing eight months later, on Feb. 14, 1943, and was never heard from again. It is believed to have been sunk with all hands aboard by Japanese torpedo boat Hiyodori. The exact resting place has never been located, and the remains of the crew were never recovered.

Ducharme was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

In the Gazette article last September, Tatro lobbied for a memorial park across from the Leeds Village Apartments in Ducharme’s honor. He is mildly frustrated that the new memorial to Ducharme doesn’t give more information on his life.

Tatro said he found an article from 82 years ago that outlined how a park was supposed to be dedicated to Ducharme, but that never happened.

“Leeds residents were going to make a park for him a long time ago — 82 years ago. Let them follow through with it … what a story that would be,” Tatro said last week.

For Tatro, naming a park after Ducharme would be a more fitting way to tell his story.

“There are other laminated placards of history throughout town, for instance about the flood that rocked the town in the ‘30s. They could make up one of these laminated plaques about this guy (Ducharme),” said Tatro.

Over the course of his research, Tatro has learned that Ducharme, “had a dog named Luke. He lived on Florence Street, just a little down from where they’re gonna do the memorial plaque.”

These are the kinds of things he wants people to know and appreciate about Ducharme.

Connor said that the park dedication is something that the community of Leeds hasn’t come together on. However, he said it may be more realistic to see a street named after Ducharme.

According to Connor, Smith Street in Northampton was named in honor of Donald Smith, the same Smith sharing the memorial with Ducharme.

Donald Smith

Smith was born in New York on Dec. 14, 1930, before he came to the Pioneer Valley at the age of 3 to live with his stepmother, Helen Smith, after his mother had died.

His parents were Donald Sr. and Elizabeth McCullough Smith.

After 1933, he was raised between Florence and Leeds, and was a member of Northampton High School’s class of 1948.

At Northampton High, he played basketball, football, and competed in gymnastics, in addition rising through the ranks to Eagle Scout with Troop 103.

In May 1948, he joined the 104th Infantry Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard, before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps on Oct. 2, 1948.

Smith trained at Parris Island and Camp Lejeune before deploying to South Korea in September 1950.

Assigned to Company C, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, he participated in combat operations during the United Nations offensive into North Korea.

On Nov. 2, 1950, during early clashes with Chinese forces near Sudong, Smith was killed in action at the age of 19.

Following the war, his remains were returned home, and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

For his service, he was awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with two campaign stars, United Nations Service Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

He also was entitled to the Combat Action Ribbon and Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

According to the Veterans Council, he doesn’t have local family.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.