Remembering World War II

Robert James MacLean

Name: Robert James MacLean Rank: Shipfitter Second Class Service Number: Unknown Service: Naval Construction Force (Seabees), US Navy Date of Birth: August 14, 1920 Place of Birth: Truro, Colchester Co., NS Date of Enlistment: 1942 Place of Enlistment: Boston, Massachusetts Height: 5 feet, 11 inches Complexion: Ruddy Eyes: Blue Hair: Brown Date of Death: January 26, 1945 Age: 24 Cemetery: Edgell Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum, Framingham, Massachusetts Robert James MacLean was the son of William Herbert MacLean (1878-1924) and Frances Verge (Wallace) MacLean (1878-1945). He had a brother Wallace H. MacLean (1902-1904), and an older sister Gladys Verna MacLean (1901-). Robert’s father was born in Truro; his mother was born in Halifax. Robert’s father had previously worked as a locomotive engineer and was working as a master mechanic in 1924. He was killed when struck by lightning in Sheet Harbour, NS on July 27, 1924. By 1930, Robert and his sister Gladys were living with their widowed mother at 7 Hartford Street in Framingham, Mass. By the 1940 census, the three are living at 213 Grant Street in Framingham. Robert attended Framingham High School and later the Wentworth Institute. Robert registered for the draft on February 15, 1942. He was working for Florence Stove Co. at 205 Stove Street in Gardner, Worcester Co., Massachusetts at the time, living at 140 Union Ave in Framingham, Mass. […] “MacLean served in the Aleutians for a year and then enrolled in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. He was later stationed at Berea College, Ky.; Columbia University, N.Y.; Indiana State Teachers College; and was later assigned to Kershaw Attack Personnel Center at Portland, Ore. He attended diving technicians’ school at Tiburon, California and served as a Navy ‘Seabee’, with the US Navy’s Naval Construction Force” […]. He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Area Ribbon with one engagement star, the American Area Ribbon, and World War II Victory Medal. Robert James MacLean died January 26, 1945. His cause of death is not known but it was a non-battle death. He was living in Long Beach and died in Los Angeles, California. A service was held at the Grace Congregational Church in his hometown of Framingham, Mass., and he was interred at the Edgell Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum.

Sources: The Gardner News, Worcester Co., Mass. by Mike Richard, (March 29, 2022) WorldWarTwoVeterans.org