'We all lived and they all died': Maine WWII veteran talks about Memorial Day

May 29--BANGOR, Maine -- Seven decades ago, a 19-year-old Army private from Bangor arrived at a Belgium depot and was assigned to the 5th Armored Division, 46th Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Platoon as a replacement soldier to fill the shoes of those who had fallen before him in the fight against Nazi Germany.

The 5th, dubbed the Victory Division, left Belgium shortly after he arrived heading toward the German heartland and, unbeknownst to the teenager, an attack on the day after Easter 1945 that would forever change his life.

Galen L. Cole lost five of his brothers-in-arms and was wounded that day, but he returned home to become a successful businessman, Bangor City Council chairman and a veteran's advocate.

Cole, who is 90 and still lives in Bangor, has never forgotten the twist of fate that likely saved his life that day.

Just days before the soldiers were to cross the Rhine River, Pvt. 1st Class William Golladay of Shenandoah County, Virginia, returned to the unit from a stay in the hospital for frostbite and asked Cole to change seats with him.

"He came to the back of the half-track and said, 'Cole,' -- I've told this to thousands of kids -- He said, 'Cole, I hate to do this to you, but the seat you're in: That's my seat,'" Cole recalled recently, while seated in his office at the Cole Land Transportation Museum he founded. "[Golladay said], 'I had that seat all the way through France, Belgium, Luxemburg, and I'm superstitious.'"

Cole gave up the seat, located about halfway down the right side of the transport vehicle, and took another seat on the left side. A couple of days later, just outside of Albersloh, Germany, the transport took fire.

"All the guys on that side of the truck, those are the guys who died," Cole said about the April 2, 1945, attack by a German anti-tank artillery gun that left him with a Purple Heart.

The blast knocked Cole out of the vehicle and into a ditch, and it took the lives of five others -- Golladay; Pvt. 1st Class George Blackard of Perry County, Arkansas; Pvt. 1st Class Simon Brewer of Clark County, Nevada; Staff Sgt. Claude Newton of Ray County, Missouri; and Technician Fifth Grade Alfred Southard of Rooks County, Kansas.

He only knew his lost comrades for a couple of days, but their deaths have stayed with him. They are among the reasons he works so hard to advocate for veterans and to teach each generation about the sacrifice soldiers and their families make.

"The memories of the wars that so many of us have fought and many others were killed in need to be remembered forever," Cole said. "Freedom is not free, and there was a huge price that has been paid for it."

He started the Patriot Program to connect young people with veterans, as a way to teach students about the realities of war. Thousands of local students over the years have interviewed veterans about their military experiences and visited the museum that is home to the State of Maine World War II Veterans Memorial, Maine Military Order of the Purple Heart Memorial, Maine Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Maine Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Cole also founded the Walking Stick Program, which has given out nearly 9,800 walking sticks to Maine veterans since 1999 in recognition of their service.

There is a special section of the museum on Perry Road dedicated to 5th Armored Division memorabilia, since the unit disbanded after the war, that includes a half-track that is a replica of the one Cole once rode in, and a sign that lists all the names of the fallen from his unit.

A bronze memorial, sculpted by Belfast artist Joseph Query, is on display outside to honor the 2,551 Mainers who died in World War II, 110 from Bangor, and veterans memorials in communities all around Maine have granite benches -- to give people a spot to stop and reflect -- donated by the Galen Cole Family Foundation.

Cole said he lost "several dozen fellows" during World War II and they are who he thinks about each Memorial Day, the day set aside to honor all Americans who died while fighting in a war.

"We all lived and they all died," he said, saying it is his honor to pay tribute.

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