They gave their lives for their country, so we in Manchester honor them with bronze plaques in squares that bear their names. But even as we approach Veterans Day — when the tablets erected in their memory are bedecked with flags — these monuments can be easily overlooked. Nearly 80 years ago, that was the name bestowed upon the busy West Side crossroads in honor of Army Pvt.
Herman F. But who was Herman Little? He was just an average Joe, supporting his widowed mother by working as a wool sorter with Amoskeag Manufacturing.
Then, in , he enlisted, trading the tranquil streets of Manchester for the trenches of Europe. In no time, he found himself on a boatload of doughboys bound for a French village on the Western front. Little was with the Sheridan Guards attached to the rd Infantry. Their task? Prevent the Germans from crossing the Marne and reaching Paris. They did it well. Then, on July 18, under the leadership of Marshall Foch, Little took part in a ferocious counteroffensive that drove the Germans back into Belgium.
On Aug. Little, Infantry, was wounded in action July Degree undetermined. Department has no further information. Not very old. In fact, Pvt. Little was already dead at the age of 22 when his mother read his letter. Even if they had the time, the plaque has only the barest of facts. Seaman Lally died with his shipmates when the escort carrier Liscombe Bay was torpedoed off the Gilbert Islands on Nov. It says nothing of his days at West High or at St. Nor does it record the selflessness that earned him headlines a year before his death.
While off the coast of Guadalcanal, his ship came upon the carnage that was once an American destroyer. Three days earlier, a squadron of Japanese planes — 32 in all — had sunk the ship and returned three times to strafe the survivors. The sharks took their share as well. One of the men they pulled from the water was another West Sider named Bob Phillips, who soon felt the hand of a friend.
