text: Adelard D. Ivon
  Biography: Adelard Donat Ivon was born on January 4, 1912, in Derry, Hew Hampshire. He was the son of Leonce Ivon and Ernestine Henrietta Caouette and attended local schools through the grammar level.
  His enlistment record indicates that he worked in the manufacture of shoes and boots prior to the war. The town of Derry was known for its shoe manufacturing industry in the Broadway section of town. The last of the Broadway shoe factories was destroyed by fire in 1960.
  Service Time: Adelard entered the service on March 18, 1942, at Manchester, NH. After his basic training, he was assigned to B Company of the 813th Tank Destroyer Battalion. It is not clear if he had previous training in food preparation, or received special training, but he was assigned to kitchen duties which gained him the nickname, “Cook”.
  The 813th had been activated on December 15, 1941, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They completed all of their training at that location and then shipped out from the New York port on August 5, 1942. They arrived in England on the 17th and four months later were again on board, traveling to North Africa. They arrived there on December 14th and participated in the Tunisia Campaign, working with British and French forces as well as the U.S. 34th Infantry Division. Part of the battalion went to Sicily, Italy, with the 3rd Infantry Division and the 13th Field Artillery Brigade. In the summer of 1943, a portion of the battalion participated in the invasion of Italy.
  In November of that same year, the entire battalion set sail for England and began training for the invasion of France. They boarded transports and landed in Normandy, at Utah Beach, on June 27, 1944, where they were attached to the 79th Infantry Division. The 813th joined the drive to Le Mans and then moved north to Alencon at the Falaise Gap and were the first armored unit to cross the Seine River. They entered Belgium on September 2nd, later fighting around the Foret de Parroy, in October, and supported the advance toward Strasbourg in November.
  Battling the German Nordwind offensive in January, 1945, they partially re-equipped with M18 tank destroyers after heavy losses. The unit shifted to Belgium in February, re-equipping again with M36 tank destroyers, and crossed the Rhine River March 24th, participating in the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket. They then conducted a long road march south to Ulm and took on military government duties in early May.
  The 813th received credit for the Tunisia, Rome-Arno, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe Campaigns. Adelard was awarded the Bronze Star and Good Conduct Medal and left the service at the rank of Pfc. In addition to Adelard, his brother Edward, also served in WWII.
  He returned home to Derry and married the former Rosa M. Roy. Adelard passed away on March 13, 1949, and was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Derry, NH.
  At the time of Adelard’s death, Rosa was pregnant with a son who was born on June 3, 1949. She named him Ronald Michael. I want to thank Adelard’s great-niece, Debra Case Donovan, for providing the photos and information for this tribute.