Ceremony honoring U.S. Army Cpl. William S. Pullen is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 8
KENDUSKEAG – By the time Kenduskeag native William S. Pullen enlisted in the U.S. Army, the nation had been embroiled in World War II for more than a year. He was working at a job at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut, which exempted him from military service since he worked at a defense plant. Yet that didn’t stop him from returning to Maine and enlisting in the military with his three brothers in March 1943.
He would soon become one of the 40 men and women from the rural Penobscot County town who served in the armed forces during WW II. Unfortunately, he was the only one who never came back.
After training, his first engagement as a private in the 157th Infantry Regiment’s Company E of the 45th Division was in the European Theatre in Italy. The 157th would later gain notability as the regiment that liberated the Dachau concentration camp outside Munich in April 1945, an event he never got to witness.
When they arrived at the beachhead in Italy, his regiment engaged German forces in the Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle of Rome where Allied forces sought to advance toward and liberate Rome. The campaign lasted for four months as Allied troops fought a series of battles against Germans who were entrenched in what was called the Gustav Line.
After months of trench-like warfare along German lines in Salerno, Venafro, Anzio, Arnio and Aprilia, the 45th Division eventually broke through and entered Rome in June 1944, just weeks after Pullen had turned 21. The campaign was a successful turning point; but it was costly. Despite outnumbering German forces by about 100,000, the mostly U.S. and British troops suffered 55,000 casualties compared to the 20,000 lost by Germany before their retreat north of Rome.
That soon led to Pullen’s unit being sent to Southern France. Their mission under Operation Dragoon was to engage the German Army reeling from their defeat in Normandy, the major Allied D-Day invasion known as Operation Overlord.
A corporal by then, Pullen’s company landed in St. Maxime and headed north with little resistance until they reached the small village of Grammont, France, on Sept. 12, 1944. After Pullen’s advance squad attacked a German unit, they were soon cut off from the rest of E Company by heavy machine gun fire. By the time reinforcements arrived, he was gone.
Officially listed as missing in action until his remains were recovered in April 1948, Pullen would become Kenduskeag’s only casualty during World War II. He was eventually buried in the Military Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
In honor of his ultimate sacrifice, Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Penobscot, submitted LD 1848 to rename the Route 15 bridge in Kenduskeag the William S. Pullen Bridge, which was signed by Gov. Janet Mills on June 23. Guerin will lead a dedication ceremony that will be held at the bridge at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 8.
All are invited to join the Pullen family for the ceremony, which will feature a flyover by three Maine Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a memorial service that will be held at the Kenduskeag Union Church at 11:30 a.m.
