Passamaquoddy heroes honored at training site for WWI bravery

Maine has no shortage of celebrated war heroes. This week, two Passamaquoddy soldiers are being permanently honored for their bravery in World War I.

“We get to go to the site and see it whenever we want,” Pearl Pulk, a Perry resident, said.

More than a century after his heroic acts, Pulk’s grandfather, Samuel J. Dana, is being recognized.

“It was an emotional experience,” Pulk said.

The site is formerly known as the Woodville Training Area and is now named the PFC Charles Lola and PFC Samuel J. Dana Training Area. It was named after Pulk’s grandfather and Lola, another Passamaquoddy World War I veteran.

“We’re honored to be able to name this after them and their heroic actions,” Alexander Clifford, the state command sergeant major for the Maine Army National Guard, said.

They are acts of heroism that members of the Maine Army National Guard can learn from when training here. In 1918, Dana and Lola remained at their post in France on the Western Front during a fierce German attack, despite orders to fall back.

“They were able to pivotally push back and delay the Germans, which allowed other allied forces to gather and start to turn the tide of the war,” Clifford said.

Lola was killed in the attack, and Dana’s leg was wounded, but that act of heroism ultimately led to a victory.

“There’s hundreds and thousands of our soldiers that have gone above and beyond to do great things in battle, and we like to hold ourselves to the history,” Clifford said.

→ Read the entire article on via the WCSH-TV website.
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