Harvey Madore was the youngest of four children born to Joseph and Annie Madore of Cyr Plantation, a small town on the Canadian border in Maine. Originally from New Brunswick, Canada, the Madore family spoke French almost exclusively. The Madores and their four children, Alma, Armand, Irene, and Harvey, made their way south looking for a better life.

They spent time in Old Town and Bradley, Maine before finally settling in the state capital of Augusta in the late 1920s. Joseph found work in a local paper mill, and Annie worked in a local cotton mill. Madore attended parochial school in Augusta. He later found work in the Edwards Manufacturing Company Mill. Over time, he became close to his sister’s friend Rita Grégoire.

Looking to impress Rita, Madore accepted a challenge from a friend to swim halfway across the Kennebec River, which flows through Augusta, and touch the bottom. He surfaced with sand in his hand to prove his feat! Rita and Harvey married on June 30, 1941. They took up residence in a duplex on Mount Vernon Avenue in Augusta owned by Rita’s parents who lived in the apartment downstairs.

The couple had a son, Robert, on October 30, 1942. During this time, Madore continued to work in the Edwards Mill, and Rita worked for the Hallowell Shoe Company. Each morning on his way to work Madore carried his son, Robert, across the road to the woman who watched him while his parents worked.

“Come see me, come now”

In 1944, Harvey Madore was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 27. He reported for duty at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and was soon transported to Camp Van Dorn in Centreville, Mississippi, for basic training. Madore was assigned to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division. Just after arriving at Fort Devens, he wrote a letter to Rita letting her know he had won “a few dollars” playing cards on the way there. He asked about their son and told her not to worry. During his training in Mississippi, Madore sent a photograph home of him with a grin on his face, proudly holding a snake.

After training throughout the summer, Madore and his regiment were sent to Camp Shanks, New York, in November 1944. According to his son, Madore called Rita shortly after arriving at Camp Shanks in the middle of the night. “Come see me, come now,” he told her.

Madore let his wife know that his unit would soon be shipping out for Europe and he wanted to see her one more time before they left. Rita left her son with her mother and took the first train to New York. Madore had given his wife instructions on how to find the pier and the ship.

Upon arriving, Rita was puzzled to see no ship. She asked a man nearby if he knew where the ship was located. The man nodded and pointed offshore. In the distance, still visible, was that ship, bound for France. “It left a little while ago,” the man told her. Rita had just missed him and would never see her husband again.

Private First Class Madore was assigned to the forward element of the 63rd Infantry Division. The Task Force, led by Brigadier General Frederick M. Harris, arrived in Marseille, France, on December 8, 1944. After a few days in a staging area, they moved by road and rail to Camp d’Oberhoffen, France, located about midway between Colmar and Sarreguemines.