15-150 Garand Picture of the Day - Gerald "hook" Joseph Boutin

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...dboutin1-1.jpghttps://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...dboutin2-1.jpg

95 inf dIV

1,128 killed in action,
4,783 wounded in action,
394 missing in action, and
65 prisoners of war.
The division also suffered 3,834 non-battle casualties, for a total of 10,204 casualties during World War II.
The division in turn took 31,988 German prisoners.[13]
Soldiers of the division were awarded
one Medal of Honor,
18 Distinguished Service Crosses,
14 Legion of Merit Medals,
665 Silver Star Medals,
15 Soldier's Medals,
2,992 Bronze Star Medals, and
162 Air Medals.
The division was awarded one Presidential Unit Citation and four campaign streamers during its time in combat.[13]

World War II Veteran Gerald J. Boutin - 
Master Sergeant, Army | Georgia Oral History

Gerald J. Boutin, born in Maine, enlisted in the Army, partly to serve his country and partly to get out of Maine. Mr. Boutin served in Europe where he saw quite a bit of combat. He discusses watching guard over a civilian in her occupied home, taking part in a number of skirmishes throughout the European countryside, and finding himself ambushed on three sides.

World War II Veteran Gerald J. Boutin - 
Master Sergeant, Army | Georgia Oral History | Social Studies | Video | PBS LearningMedia

Obituary for Master Sergeant Gerald “Ol’Hook” Joseph Boutin:

Quote:

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Birth: May 12, 1926
Waterville
Kennebec County
Maine, USA
Death: May 24, 2015, USA

Master Sergeant Gerald “Ol’Hook” Joseph Boutin, (U.S. Army Retired), age 89, of Buchanan passed away Sunday, May 24, 2015.

Mr. Boutin was born in Waterville, Maine, on May 12, 1926. He was the son of the late Earnest Boutin and the late Isabelle Claire Boutin.

Mr. Boutin was retired from the United States Army with thirty years of service. He served in combat in World War II, Korean War and two tours of duty in Vietnam retiring from the Army in 1974. After his Army retirement he went on to work as a civilian with the Army working on weapons. He was a double inductee in the United States Army Marksmanship Training Unit Hall of Fame and was the subject of a documentary program on PBS and was the subject of an article in “The Christian Index” newspaper. Mr. Boutin was a member of Buchanan First Baptist Church.

Besides his parents he was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia Mattox Boutin; daughter, Sheila McWhorter; sons, Gerald Benton Boutin and Michael Boutin; and brother, Donald Boutin.

Survivors include one son and daughter-in-law; extended family and caregivers; one sister, Pearl Sumner; three grandchildren; and a number of other relatives.

Memorial service plans are pending and will be announced later.

This obituary has been edited for privacy.


Family links:
Parents:
Isabelle Clair Boutin (1903 - 1957)

Children:
Michael G Boutin (1948 - 2001)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Unknown

Created by: Arabelle
Record added: May 25, 2015
Find A Grave Memorial# 146976758

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I guess both our countries WWII vets are slowly marching towards that final hill.

Hook Boutin was one of those who made the M14 into the M21 whilst at the AMU. ( There's a another photo of him in R Blake Steven' book U.S. Rifle M14: From John Garand to the M21.) He built curate M1s and M14 type rifles until very recently.


ETA: Saw Hook Boutin several times loitering about matches at Ft. Benning in the early 2000s and was thrilled to get to speak to him on one occasion. He was one of the old masters at building NRA High Power service rifles.