CLARENCE FOSTER GALLEY

Private First Class, United States Army

Service # 31450213

Clarence Galley was born on 12 Dec 1925 in the Bernard section of the town of Tremont, Hancock County, Maine. He was the eldest child of Vivian Ellie Bennett (1904-1975) and Shirley Halsey Galley (1893-1976), both of whom were from the County. Shirley was a fisherman by trade. In 1918 when he registered for the WWI draft he was employed by the Addison Packing Company. He served in the war for over a year, being honorably discharged on 17 Apr 1919. He and Vivian married on 2 Nov 1923 in Tremont and settled there to start their family. In 1930 Shirley listed his occupation as lobster fisherman. By 1940 Shirley considered himself a fish salesman and they had three children: Clarence, Arlene Ann, and Clyde. Shirley Jane was born in 1941.

Clarence attended local schools near Tremont and had at least one year of high school. In Mar 1940 he was a member of Troop 81 Boy Scouts of America when it was formed as the twentieth troop in the Hancock area. On 30 Jun 1943 Clarence married Helen M. Kelley, also from Tremont, with whom he had a daughter, Nancy Jane.

On 20 Jan 1944, Clarence F. Galley enlisted in the US Army at Brewer, ME. He was classed with semi-skilled chauffeurs and drivers of buses, taxis and the like. In February he reported to Ft. Devens, MA for military training. It is unclear with which unit Clarence served other than he was part of “Patch’s Seventh Army.” Lieutenant-general Alexander Patch, was praised as “a man of outstanding integrity, a courageous and competent leader, and an unselfish comrade-in-arms.” In March 1944 Patch was given command of the US 7th Army for the invasion of Southern-France code-named, “Operation Dragoon.” The invasion was a success and 7th Army advanced up the Rhone valley, chasing the retreating German forces. Within one month they had covered over 400 miles and liberated towns such as Marseilles, Lyon and Toulon. By October 1944 Clarence was overseas with them and received hospital help for wound infection to the leg and foot before being returned to duty.

During the winter of 1944-1945 the 7th Army fought German forces in the Vosges mountains and bore the brunt of Operation Nordwind: one of the last German offensives in the West. After halting the German advance Patch and the 7th Army again went on the offensive recapturing the ground lost during Nordwind and in February 1945 they eliminated the Colmar Pocket. After capturing the city of Strasbourg, they went into the Saar, assaulted the Siegfried Line, and reached the River Rhine during the first week of March. It was that week that the local paper printed a long letter that Clarence had written to his family from the front. He spoke of his unit reclaiming land lost earlier to the enemy. “A lot of my buddies were killed, wounded and lost. . . .I’ve been very lucky so far. Shrapnel has hit me on the arm several times, but has never gone through my overcoat. . . .The Germans have shelled us every day we’ve been here, and it’s no fun. I’ve had my fingers frostbitten so many times, I haven’t got a bit of feeling in them.”

It was just over a month later, on 9 Apr 1945, that Pfc Clarence Foster Galley’s luck ran out. He was killed in action, a victim of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. He was 19. His sacrifice earned him a Purple Heart. At home a memorial service was held in the Congregational Church, conducted by the same officiant who had married him two years earlier. Pfc Galley was buried initially in the St. Avold Cemetery, Metz, France, then in July of 1948 his remains were brought home aboard USAT Oglethorpe Victory. That same month, Tremont Square was dedicated to the six young men who had lost their lives in WWI and WWII, including Clarence Galley. He was re-interred in late August 1948 in the Mount Height Cemetery, Southwest Harbor, ME with full military honors provided by the VFW of Ellsworth. Clarence was survived by his parents; by his wife, Helen and their daughter, Nancy Jane; by his brother, Clyde and by two sisters, Arlene and Shirley.

“This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project – see www.storiesbehindthestars.org – a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Together we Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of the WWII fallen.”

SOURCES

1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1940 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Fri, Mar 2, 1945 - Page 11 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Thu, Jul 8, 1948 - Page 6 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Mon, Jul 12, 1948 - Page 14 – Newspapers.com

Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME) - Wed, Mar 27, 1940 - Page 10 – Newspapers.com

Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME) - Wed, Jan 10, 1944 - Page 4 – Newspapers.com

Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME) - Wed, May 16, 1945 - Page 1 – Newspapers.com

https://www.findagrave.com/

Maine, U.S., Marriage Index, 1892-1996 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Veterans’ Cemetery Records, 1676-1918 – Ancestry.com

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME) - Sun, Aug 29, 1948 - Page 13 – Newspapers.com

U.S., Rosters of World War II Dead, 1936-1945 – Fold3.com

U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 – Fold3.com

U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 – Ancestry.com

U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 – Fold3.com

SBTS/Maine/Hancock

Record	Events	Title	Source Website	Type	Created
PFC Clarence Foster Galley	Birth, Burial, Death		Find a Grave	Fgv Document
Galley, Clarence F	Casualty, Military Service, Other, People	US, WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List, 1946	Forces War Records	Child Record	23 Oct 2013
Clarence Galley - US Army			Forces War Records	Image	20 Nov 2022
Galley, Clarence F		US, WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954	Forces War Records	Index Record	11 Jun 2020

Clarence F Galley

Source Documents