I wanted to find a way to honor some of the "lost souls" in our family tree and Memorial Day provides an opportunity to do so for John J. Bentley. This John Bentley is a grandson to our Captain John Bentley. He was a lifelong resident of Gloucester and worked as an attendance supervisor for the school district before he leaped off the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge into the Annisquam River on September afternoon very shortly after school began for the year. This newspaper article tells the story, though I read elsewhere that John was "never right" after he returned from serving during World War I. He was 58.
Not only did John serve during World War I when he was in his early 20s, but he also registered for the World War II draft at the age of 47. Servicemen and women cannot help but be affected by their military experience and John may have been driven to suicide as a result. In light of the recent news coverage about head trauma for current soldiers and their difficulties upon return to society after active duty, I find this story a compelling link in the chain of history repeating itself. Memorial Day serves as a reminder of this.
If you get nothing else out of this blog ever, please remember that Memorial Day is May 30 every year. It's great to celebrate a long weekend but sometimes May 30 gets lost and I find this very sad. Here's a 4 minute tribute featuring another Bentley (so far not related!):
1 comment:
Very interesting article. Good tie in for Memorial Day.
Thank you to all our veterans. We are so lucky to live in this country, to have the freedoms we enjoy everyday. I'll never forget that.
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