Thomas Haugh, WWII Hero Who Earned Medals For Bravery, 87

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On March 10, 2005, Thomas Haugh, a resident of Andover, Massachusetts,
died at Winchester Hospital, at the age of 87.

Called by the screams of injured soldiers, Thomas J. Haugh tore across
the French combat zone as enemy fire pelted the battlefield and pulled
his colleagues to safety. As an Army medic in the 101st Infantry's 26th
Division during World War II, Mr. Haugh earned numerous medals for this
and other acts of bravery.

About 25 years later, he faced another battle, this time on the home
front, when a gas explosion destroyed his Stoneham house, critically
injuring him and leaving his family with only one possession: an
off-white Irish Belleek china bowl.

Although he rarely spoke of his horrific wartime experiences, Mr.
Haugh's family learned of his daring attempts to save the lives of
gravely wounded soldiers during the filming three years ago of an
hourlong documentary detailing the experiences of nine Andover
residents.

"War shows you things you hope you never see again," he told the Globe
at the time. "No one ever asked, and we never talked about it."

In interviews for the documentary "Answering the Call," Mr. Haugh
described hours upon hours of "taking cover and stopping the bleeding,"
and of the powerlessness he felt while treating one patient who was
struck by a hand grenade -- a feeling that made him feel "hopeless."

Then there was the time when he spent six hours combing the battlefield
for wounded soldiers and directing groups that would dodge shellfire to
bring casualties to an aid station.

Although Mr. Haugh's efforts were enough to earn a Silver Star and
Bronze Star with a V for his valor on the battlefields of Germany and
France, his family recalled that he turned down two Purple Hearts,
saying his injuries were not as bad as those suffered by others.

Mr. Haugh, an East Boston, Massachusetts, native, grew up in Winthrop,
Massachusetts, and worked as an auto mechanic. He also pitched at
batting practice for the Boston Braves.

Not long after he was discharged in 1945, he married Mary Louise
Collins and moved to Stoneham, Massachusetts, to start his family,
working as an electrician at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

In December 1969, Mr. Haugh went to his cellar and turned off his oil
burner because he smelled gas. When he lit a match, the explosion
occurred, leaving him with severe burns and without a home.

"Talk about a guy who has nine lives," said his son Jim of Andover.

The Stoneham community rallied to the family's cause, building them a
temporary home on land where the town planned to build a library and
donating furniture. Classmates of his four children donated $153 before
they left for winter vacation.

"You can just imagine -- in 20 years of marriage you accumulate so
much. We finished redoing the kitchen just before the fire, and it was
exactly the way I wanted it to look," his wife told the Globe at the
time.

A jury later awarded Mr. Haugh $410,000 in damages from a local gas
company after fire officials found that a gas leak in the main line
leading to his home was part of what caused the explosion.

The family later moved to Andover.

Starting in the early 1990s, he helped the Andover High School baseball
team, working with their pitchers. When they gave him a team uniform to
wear, his son said, "he was walking on water after that."

"He was the type of person who was always thinking about other people,"
his son said.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Haugh leaves two other sons,
Robert C. of Andover and John C. of Groveland; and eight grandchildren.

Boston Globe