Hometown Heroes
Pvt. Vincent Leo McEvoy (1891-1961), Army Vet of WWI
By Michael Rocchetti
During its time, World War 1 was the deadliest conflict in human history. It was warfare at an industrial scale, where modern weaponry such as machine guns, wireless communications, accurate long range artillery and poison gas produced unprecedented casualties and destruction. This conflict was marked by its static nature - trench warfare, the brunt of which was borne by the soldiers in these trenches.
The U.S. entered this fray in 1917. Amongst those sent into the trenches was Vincent Leo McEvoy, a Putnam resident and now a U.S. Army Private. In fact, he was one of 318 men from Putnam who served during the war. His unit, the 42nd Infantry Division, was deployed to France in December of 1917 where it took up positions along a 20 mile front at the Luneville-Bacaratt sector of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. In one of his earliest battles with the German Army, Private McEvoy was wounded in action - he was stabbed twice with a bayonet. Miraculously, he survived, and after treatment at a field hospital, returned to his unit.
Shortly thereafter, during the spring of 1918, the Germans initiated a major offensive in the Champagne region of France, centered on the city of Chateau-Thierry. The fighting in this area raged for several months. The 42nd Infantry Division was redeployed to Champagne to reinforce the French Army there. During this campaign, in July 1918 Private McEvoy was severely wounded in action. The Germans attacked his sector with mustard gas and chlorine gas. During this attack, Private McEvoy, overcome by the gas, fell into a trench and in the chaos and confusion, he was trampled upon, and received serious orthopedic injuries as well. One of his comrades saved his life by helping him don a gas mask - in so doing, his comrade lost a lung from exposure to the gas.
Private McEvoy was immediately sent to a field hospital with broken bones, skin burns, blindness, and severe respiratory damage. After two weeks he was sent to a U.S. Base Hospital in France, partially blind, and in a plaster cast from his hip to his shoulder. Later he was invalided back to the U.S. Initially he was sent to the Debarkation Hospital #2, Fox Hills (Staten Island) N.Y., then was sent to the Army Hospital at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md. He was finally discharged on June 13, 1919, after spending almost one year in various hospitals. He returned home to Putnam, 50 percent disabled.
Private McEvoy volunteered for raiding and patrol duty in “No Man’s Land” 26 times, and every time returned safely, except for minor scratches. He was cited for bravery and was awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre Medal by the French while in the hospital in France.
Vincent Leo McEvoy was born April 17, 1891, the son of Daniel McEvoy (born in Ireland), and Julienne Sansouci (born in Quebec). The family lived at 136 Church St. in Putnam. Prior to the war, Vincent McEvoy worked on the staff of the Bradley Theater, and then he worked as an “advance-agent” for the Ringling Brothers Circus and La Tena’s Circus. He enlisted in the Army June 6, 1917. He was assigned to Company G, 166th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry “Rainbow” Division. In 1921, he was married to Lydia (Shaw) McEvoy (1901-1975), and they had one son Vincent James McEvoy (1923–2007), a WWII veteran and former Putnam Police Officer. Vincent L McEvoy was very engaged in civic activities in Putnam, as a member of the VFW, and as a volunteer firefighter. He was also a parishioner at Saint Mary’s Church in Putnam. He died Dec 17, 1961, in Newington.
Hometown Heroes books can be purchased online at: https://hometown-heroes-of-the-quiet-corner.myshopify.com/ - all proceeds benefit the local American Legion Post. Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
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