Widow would like to know about Saucier's buddies
Eric Saucier died July 2, 2004. He was in the 84th Division and then the 99th. He was in the basic engineering course at Baylor University. Six weeks before graduating he was put in the infantry at Paris TX.
He left me and our newborn girl in the hospital. It was the convenience of government. With the help of the chaplain at the hospital he received an emergency furlough.
On returning to Paris TX, he was transferred to the 924th Headquarters Battery. That was the unit he eventually fought with in Belgium and the Ardennes.
He was in the Battle of the Bulge as a forward observer and jeep driver for his battery. I think 105mm howitzers. He was on the front when the Germans started bombing some little town. He didn't remember the name.
They were forced to retreat in snow and muddy roads. He regretted not being able to put any more infantrymen on his jeep. One was a student with him at Baylor.
He did not talk about the Battle of the Bulge too much. He was surprised when he and someone named Cornell, I believe, were driving along and a new German plane strafed them. They barely managed to jump in a ditch to escape. His windshield was shattered where he was sitting. He talked about his foxhole and how he and his buddy ran a line from the officers' camp under the snow so they had light until they were found out.
I have some photos of him and some of his buddies. They are not very good. I think they found a camera and made film for it. Something they learned at Baylor, perhaps.
I would like to send the photos to the Checkerboard and find out who his buddies were and if they would tell me more about their time together.
He escaped injury in the war. On returning home he became a resident engineer for a firm in Baton Rouge LA, and worked there 30 years.
Mary Saucier
400 E. Hickory St.
Ponchatoula LA 70454
