Hopkinton Veteran Served in WWII Africa and Italy

In 1942, Raymond Fair joined the U.S .Army and became a communications lineman for the 5th Army Artillery.

After training in Oklahoma and Louisiana, Fair was sent off to Africa and then Italy where he spent his time laying lines for phone communications for his battalion during many battles. 

With all the explosions and gunfire, it was difficult to keep the phone communications running so he also spent time fixing the lines.

Whenever a shell burst severed communications, Fair would be there to fix the phone lines.

He was at Mount Casseno for five months during the battle for Rome.

A back injury put Fair in a hospital in Florence in southern Italy where he recuperated. 

Once he was well enough to resume duty, he went to France before returning to Massachusetts' Fort Devens to work in the machine shop on the base.

While he was fighting in Europe, Fair's sister Helen Cady worked at Ashland Telecom, which made parts for military planes.

Some of the parts Ashland Telecom made were used on the plane for the American attack on Hiroshima.