Lester Arthur Boulette was born 19 July 1924 in Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine. His father, Arthur Francis, was born in 1892 in New Hampshire and worked as a mechanic. Lester’s mother, Blance née Rancourt, was born in Maine in 1898. He had three siblings; two younger sisters and one younger brother. Waterville, Maine was his hometown where he completed three years of high school before enlisting in the Army.

On 16 June 1943 at Portland, Main he enlisted in the Army. He was given the rank of Pvt. with service #31323302 and was listed as single with no dependents. After completing Basic Training he entered training as a Medic/Aid man and was assigned to the 1st Medical Battalion, Company A, 1st Infantry Division.

The 1st Medical Battalion was officially activated at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in October 1940 as the medical battalion for the 1st Infantry Division. The unit trained at various locations in the United States until 2 August 1942 when it deployed to Scotland. In Scotland their mission was to participate in an intensive training schedule of amphibious landings.

The 1st Medical Battalion accompanied the 1st Infantry Division to the campaigns of North Africa and Sicily before returning to England on 5 November 1943 in preparation for the invasion of Europe.

On 6 June 1944 at 0830 hrs, United States Coast Guard LCI (L) 85 (Landing Craft Infantry Large) was headed towards Omaha Beach with 188 troops aboard. Of those troops, eighty-six enlisted men and four officers of Company A, 1st Medical Battalion , Lester’s unit, were included. When just off shore the craft became entangled with enemy placed beach obstacles and the ship's captain decided to back off and make another attempt at landing. As the LCI came back towards the shore it came under heavy enemy small arms fire and intense shelling. The ship was hit below the water line allowing sea water to rush in, causing it to list severely. In addition a number of men were killed or injured as they crowded forward and were trying to get off the craft. While the medical personnel on the ship gave aid to the wounded, it was decided to again back off from the beach and transfer the uninjured troops to other craft to get them ashore. Other landing craft approached LCI (L) 85 to take off the uninjured troops as the ship’s damage control party manned the sinking craft’s pumps in a vain attempt to keep the vessel afloat. The wounded and dead were transferred to another ship as the craft continued to settle lower into the water. The damage control party was unable to pump the water from the craft and as a result it was abandoned. Soon thereafter it capsized and sank to the ocean floor.

Just shy of his twentieth birthday, Pvt. Lester Boulette was one of the fifteen fatalities of Company A, 1st Medical Battalion aboard LCI(L) 85 on 6 June 1944. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously and is buried at Saint Francis Catholic Cemetery, Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine.

These young soldiers helped change the course of history with their sacrifice - LET US NOT FORGET THEM!

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see: www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

This is a national effort of volunteers to write stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Fold3. **Can you help write these stories? **Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cementery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her history.

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by”.

Sources:

https://www.history.uscg.mil/Our-Collections/Commemorations/World-War-II/D-Day/

https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Water/All/Article/1823046/uss-lcil-85/

https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/search/?name=Lester+A.+_boulette&event=_waterville-kennebec-maine-usa_3775&birth=1924

https://www.med-dept.com/unit-histories/1st-medical-battalion/

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=434574

Lester A Boulette