SALEM (WBZNewsRadio) - The city of Salem will honor Lt. Philip Arthur McCarthy on Veterans day, a 31-year-old police patrolman who traded his blue uniform for green fatigues and enlisted in World War II.
It was 1942, Pearl Harbor has occurred just weeks before, and the call to arms for young Americans had never been stronger. Lt. McCarthy never returned to Salem, he was killed in action, leaving behind his friends, family, and life in the Witch City.
Robert Mulligan, assistance to police Chief Lucas Miller says because he was killed while in active duty in the military and not active service with the police, he was never memorialized on the fallen officers memorial.
Now Lt. McCarthy is getting a square dedicated to his life and service on Friday, November 11th. The ceremony dedicating the square starts at 11 a.m., the customary 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that marked the end of World War II.
It's been 78 years since Lt. McCarthy's death and officials in Salem are working hard to find anyone who may have known the young man who fought and died for our country.
"I'm assuming some of his relatives are still in the Salem area." Mulligan said.
McCarthy joined the Salem police as a reserve officer in 1938. He first served in the Army in January of 1941 but was released. He later reenlisted, becoming a permanent patrolman in 1942, in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Throughout his years of service, he rose to the rank of first lieutenant. His last assignment was with the 774th Tank Battalion.
McCarthy was killed on Dec. 11, 1944, in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in Germany.
WBZ's Brooke McCarthy (@BrookeWBZ) reports
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