Leo A Thibodeau

Pepere was very proud of his Marksman's Medal - 196 out of 200 - he was quite a shot!

Leo A. Thibodeau was my grandfather. The best man I have every known. When the Marines wouldn't take him because of his punctured ear drum, he found a way to serve by joining the SeaBees. He was all over the South Pacific theatre including Munda, Luzon and the Solomon Islands. Most of his stories were of the funny things that happened, like the time in the Solomon's when the cook had bacon to fry and turned around to find a crocodile in the tent with him - guess he liked bacon too. The cook shot him and they all ate him. He told very few of the serious stories, but he always said that if President Truman hadn't dropped the bombs on Japan, he didn't know if we'd all be there since he knew the ship's next orders were for the invasion of Japan. Men like my Pepere aren't made anymore.