(Additional photographs below.)
U.S. Navy Ensign Robert E. McLaughlin, who was killed 79 years ago this month protecting residents in the very Haverhill neighborhood where his family lived, was formally honored Wednesday for his sacrifice.
McLaughlin, then 22 years old, made a “farewell salute” to his mother and father as he was flying over his family’s Lafayette Square home en route to a training mission on Nov. 4, 1944. Haverhill Veterans Services Director Jeffrey C. Hollett detailed how McLaughlin’s F4U-1D Corsair suddenly became crippled and how the pilot stayed with the plane to avoid hitting homes and children. McLaughlin’s 90-year-old cousin, Cecile “Minna” (Comeau) Rajotte, was among those who took part in Wednesday’s ceremony.
“I was 11 years old, coming back from the Paramount Theater, and then down Lafayette Square is where I saw all of the hustle and bustle, starting asking questions and that’s when I found out that it was Bobby,” she recalled.
Rajotte still resides in Haverhill and not far from the crash site and memorial.
Hollett, who presided over the solemn ceremony, explained the significance of the occasion.
“This is about remembering him and his sacrifice. This is about your family. This is about your heritage and this is about our heritage as a community. Thank you so much,” he said.
He displayed a recovered part from the crashed airplane, news clippings and photographs of the site of Cashman sandlot, up the street near Kathy Drive and a short distance from the new memorial at Cashman Park. The part, believed to be an oil line, was saved by Joseph Seymour, a later U.S. Navy veteran himself, who witnessed the crash at the age of 12. Hollett thanked those who helped piece together the history and noted all of the material will be turned over to the Haverhill Historical Society for safekeeping.
Some of those documents came from Mayor James J. Fiorentini, who played a pivotal role in making sure McLaughlin would be remembered.
“I heard about this when I was a kid and I forgot all about it. A couple of years ago, I was up in Meredith, N.H. A woman who had been born in Haverhill had died and her family knew I was coming, so they had a group of old newspaper clippings for me. There was a newspaper clipping about when Ensign McLaughlin had this crash. For the first time, I heard what had happened,” the mayor said.
Hollett pointed out the 13 flags, representing the original U.S. colonies, around the new memorial, and invited Rajotte and her son Steve to place a wreath at the memorial. A recording of a bugler playing “Taps” concluded the ceremony.
