Francis E. Hudson Jr.

Harwich, Mass., died at Cape Cod Hospital August 8 after a fall.

During the war he was a radio operator for the Marine Corps at Saipan,

Tinian and Iwo Jima, and after the war an installer, office supervisor

and instructor for New England Telephone Co. In retirement, he was a

woodworker and president of the Chase Library in Harwich, Mass.

He was born March 3, 1924 in Cambridge, and graduated from Lexington

High School in 1941. After working at Western Electric and studying

radio at Wentworth, he enlisted in the Marine Corps on Jan. 22, 1943

as a private. He was shipped out to the Pacific as a radio operator in

a tank battalion. Throughout, he kept a journal of the war, scribbled

on spare scraps of paper and hidden in his kit. He also took photos of

the war – and at one point set up a darkroom on an island base.

Together, his journals, photos and letters home form a powerful

Marine’s-eye view of some critical battles of the war – at Saipan,

Tinian and Iwo Jima. Here, he describes the tense moments before the

Saipan invasion, aboard ship waiting to launch the tanks toward the

beach.

--0400. This is D-Day. Everyone topside watching the Navy shell the

island. Pitch dark out but can see the tracers and big shells and the

explosions. Breakfast of ham and eggs and an orange – save the orange.

Getting light now, can see the battleships firing. In pretty close.

Planes strafing when ships let up.

--0530. “All 2d Armored men, man your tanks.” Lt. coming around

shaking hands with everybody. “Good luck, hope you make it OK, same to

you, etc.” Bow doors open and ramp goes down about 0600. Pretty rough.

Wave broke over tank as we went down ramp. Felt like she’d never get

her nose back up. Soaked already. Moving up to line of departure. “

--0708. Flag goes down on the command ship and here we go.

His tank was in the first wave of the assault. Before even hitting the

beach, it was struck by a 77mm shell that blasted him against the

hatch and knocked him out. Two other crew members were badly wounded.

When he came to, he found himself alone in the tank “with blood and

ammo all around.” He heard his crewmates outside in the water, under

enemy machine gun fire. He tossed out weapons and a first aid kit to

them, and then escaped to fight on. But the injury from the shell

plagued him the rest of his life.

After the war, he married Ruth Anne Leahy of Cambridge, daughter of

Daniel P. and Mary Leahy. He joined the telephone company – as an

installer, repairman and then a foreman and supervisor in the central

offices in Malden, Bedford, Lexington and Cambridge. Throughout, he

was constantly retraining on the evolving technology – and eventually

became an instructor in Framingham for the phone company, on the

then-new digital switching systems. Thus his communications career

began with 75-pound field radios that he carried on his back or in a

tank during the war, and concluded with microchips in large city

telephone offices. He ended his career as manager of the Cape and

Islands offices, and retired to Harwich, in a house his father had

owned.

Throughout, he had many interests. After the war, he continued his

photography, in a basement darkroom – a skill he passed on to his

sons. He was an avid sportsman, playing baseball, hockey, football and

golf; and he was president of the Lexington Little League. He was a

skilled woodworker, building toys for his grandchildren, furniture for

his house – and refinishing a summer cottage in New Hampshire by hand.

In retirement on the Cape, he was president of the Chase Library

Association in Harwich, and in many capacities supported that historic

building on Rte. 28 and its vibrant community of local volunteers.

He leaves his wife, Ruth; he died just a week short of their 66th

wedding anniversary. He also leaves two sons, Francis Edward III and

Richard Lawrence; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He

was a man of even disposition and wry humor. Semper Fi, Frank. Fair

winds and following seas.

A memorial will be held Saturday, Aug. 17, at Doane, Beal & Ames

Funeral Home, 260 West Main Street, Harwich. Friends are welcome from

10am, followed by a memorial service at 11. In lieu of flowers, please

send donations to the Chase Library Association, 7 Route 28, West

Harwich, Mass., 02671.