Small Town America in World War II: War Stories from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania

Chapter 7: Staff Sgt. Mervin “Bo” Haugh

Chapter 7 Staff Sgt. Mervin “Bo” Haugh B Co., 1st Btn., 66th Armored Reg., 2nd Armored Div. Born on 28 June 1917, on a farm just outside Wrightsville, Mervin “Bo” Haugh initially participated in the North African and Italian Theaters and later saw action in the Northwestern European Theater. After Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act in September 1940, all males between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five were required to register for the draft, which was initiated in October of the same year with men being selected by lottery. “Bo” was the first person from Wrightsville to be selected, receiving his notice 7 January 1941. For “Bo” what was supposed to be a one-year military obligation with duty restricted to the continental United States turned into a five-year stint mostly overseas in combat. As one of the initial draftees, “Bo” rapidly rose through the enlisted ranks and was part of the training cadre for other incoming draftees at the time the country entered World War II. “Bo” saw very little action during his time in Italy and Sicily, but the experience there proved valuable after his division was pulled from Sicily and sent to England for eventual service in Northwestern Europe. In Northwestern Europe he participated in extensive combat, was wounded, and later sent back into the fray with his old unit. After the 118 SMALL TOWN AMERICA IN WORLD WAR II war, “Bo” returned to Wrightsville, performed factory work, retired, and was farming part-time for his son when he died on 8 November 2003.1 “Bo’s” early years on the Haugh farm mirror those of his twin sister, “Sis,” whose interview appears earlier in this book: “I was born on a farm in Hellam Township, right outside Wrightsville. It had fifty-seven acres, and we raised specialty crops, and, of course, with cattle we had hay and corn and other things like barley. On a specialty farm, we grew a variety of crops. Then we had about ten acres of apple and peach orchards. The people of Wrightsville liked potatoes and things, so we’d take them into town, and they would buy them from us. We sold almost everything locally, but we did haul the apples into Baltimore. We’d package them in bushel containers, and we’d take a hundred bushels down there. I think we also raised ten acres of tomatoes for Heinz, and we hauled them to Millersville, which was their receiving station. Dad worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and took the tolls at the railroad bridge, which was the only one across the Susquehanna River at that time. I think they charged three cents apiece if you walked the bridge. “There were five brothers and a sister in the family, but my brother James died from appendicitis when he was very young. As we got older, we all became farm laborers. In other words, the farm ended up with a lot of help. As you know, [Pauline ] ‘Sis’ and I are twins, and she was the one who gave me my nickname. When she learned to talk, she tried to say ‘Brother,’ but ‘Bo’ was all she could get out. So, that was how I got my nickname. “I graduated from Wrightsville High School in 1934, and then I went back to work on the farm. Later, two of my brothers, Tom and Ed, and I got jobs with the Pennsylvania Railroad when they were converting from steam power to electric power. My job was hauling engineers to these different substations. I’d go from Columbia clean down into the Baltimore area or else up into the Harrisburg area—wherever the substa- Staff Sgt. Mervin “Bo” Haugh 119 tion was located. I think there were ten substations that distributed electricity to the overhead catenary lines. With the initiation of hostilities in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia, it was clear that the United States could not avoid war. Although American policy clearly left the decision for war in the hands of Germany and Japan, Congress with President Roosevelt’s support passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, the first peacetime conscription in US history. The act required all men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five to register with local draft boards. The government then selected draftees through a lottery system. The legislation also limited service to one year...