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A native of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, <em>Joseph Ludger Chabot</em>’s<em> </em>life embodied the state motto, “Live Free or Die.” A 29-year veteran of the Army, Joe survived the infamous Bataan Death March and three years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese. Joe was born in Whitefield, New Hampshire, on 30 July 1914. His parents, Ludger and Georgiana Savoie Chabot, emigrated from the town of St. Bernard in Quebec, Canada. Joe graduated first in his class from Whitefield High School in 1932 and was a member of the state champion debate team.</p>
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When Joe arrived at West Point in the summer of 1933 to take the entrance exams as an alternate candidate for Senator Charles Tobey of New Hampshire, he expected to be considered for entrance the following year. However, he was accepted and ordered to report immediately with the Class of 1937. As a cadet, Joe was a member of the Catholic choir and the golf team. The 1937 Howitzer states: “Joe...found no difficulty in making the academic grade. Perhaps this is because he thinks out his own problems and follows them with a dogged determination...He adapts himself easily to any situation. If he cares he will go far in the Army.”</p>
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Joe chose Infantry and upon graduation was assigned to the 23rd Infantry Regiment at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. In December 1937 he married his cadet sweetheart, Bonnie de Kiraly of New York City. He spent much of his time in Texas at Camp Bullis and in the field on maneuvers testing of the new Mechanized Infantry (Square) concept. The following year, son Brion Victor '60 was born at Ft. Sam Houston.</p>
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In December 1939, Joe and family sailed for the Philippine Islands via the Panama Canal. Arriving in the Philippines in February 1940, Joe was assigned to the 57th Infantry at Ft. William McKinley. Daughter Jeanne Gay was born in April 1941. In July, Bonnie and their young children left the Islands for the United States on one of the last boats to evacuate families. Two months before Joe’s tour was to end, the Japanese attacked Clark Field, where he was assigned.</p>
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Joe became the assistant G-3, HQ North Luzon Force. General Wainwright assumed command of this force, later renamed the First Philippine Corps. Joe was promoted to major one week prior to the outbreak of hostilities. As assistant G-3 under GEN Wainwright, he was involved in the planning of the withdrawal and defense of West Bataan. He was awarded the Silver Star and Legion of Merit for his actions with the corps. Upon surrender of the forces on Bataan, Joe made the infamous Death March and spent 34 months as a prisoner of war.</p>
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Joe was moved from Cabanatuan Prison Camp to Bilibid Prison in Manila with a group of prisoners being shipped to Japan (on the Oryoko Maru). While in Bilibid, Joe became critically ill, and, with a small group of officers and enlisted men too sick to march to a prison ship, was left behind. Horace Greeley, a 1937 classmate, had traded a Hamilton watch for 10 cups of mungo beans. Just before leaving for Japan, Horace told Joe he had arranged for him to get the four remaining cups of beans. Joe always credited this classmate's generosity with saving his life, as he could not tolerate the desiccated rice given the prisoners during his convalescence.</p>
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Joe was released by men of the 37th Infantry, Ohio National Guard, on 4 February 1945. General MacArthur visited Bilibid and honored Joe with warm words of appreciation for the sacrifice and suffering experienced by him and his fellow prisoners. MacArthur ordered a one-grade promotion for all released POWs, and Joe was promoted to lieutenant colonel.</p>
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Following a 90-day convalescent leave, Joe reported to Ft. Benning to attend a battalion commander’s refresher course in July 1945. Upon completion of the course he was selected to remain as chief of the mortar-rocket launcher-flame thrower committee of the Infantry School. Bonnie and Joe were blessed with their second daughter, Georgiana Sue, during this time.</p>
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In 1947 Joe attended the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth and was posted to Ft. Monroe as a staff officer in the Reserve Forces and ROTC branch of G-3, office of the chief of Army field forces. Bonnie and Joe’s second son, Joseph Laurent ’71, was born at Ft. Monroe. In this assignment, Joe traveled widely, inspecting ROTC and Reserve units.</p>
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In January 1951, Joe was selected to attend the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, and son Edmund Ludger ’74 was born at the Portsmouth Navy Hospital. Joe went to Germany to become secretary of the general staff of the newly-activated V Corps in Frankfurt, then commanded by Major General John Dahlquist. He then was selected to command 3-22 Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, quartered in a muddy tent city near Giessen. When Joe arrived, the battalion had the notorious reputation as the worst in the division, but ‘Tiger Joe" soon had the battalion turned around, soldiering and winning every competition in sight. He was selected for a special below-the-zone promotion to colonel reserved for outstanding former POWs.</p>
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After promotion, Joe was assigned as deputy G-1, and later G1, of Seventh Army in Stuttgart, commanded by LTG Tony McAuliffe of Bastogne fame. In September 1954, Joe became chief of the Classification and Standards Branch, G-1, at the Pentagon. In June 1955 he was moved up to chief of the Reserve Components Division and assigned principal staff responsibility for implementing the Reserve Forces Act of 1955. The following year Joe was selected to direct of the Reserve Forces Policy Division in the office of the assistant secretary of defense. In this capacity he served for three successive assistant secretaries of defense until July 1958. A sixth child, Ella Bernadette, was born in December 1957.</p>
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Joe attended the National War College during 1958-59 and was selected to command the 17th Cavalry (Gary Owen), 1st Cavalry Division in Korea. His innovative ideas prompted an officer who knew him well to refer to him as “the most mobile-minded Infantryman I have ever known.” In August 1960 Joe was assigned as deputy chief of staff, Reserve components, HQ Second Army at Ft. Meade, Maryland. He served as chief of the Reserve components and ROTC study group of the Hoelscher Committee, evaluating and recommending the reorganization of the Army. Upon completion of the study, he returned to Second Army and served successively as deputy chief of staff for operations and training, deputy chief of staff and assistant chief of staff. Joe was called to the Pentagon during the Cuban Missile Crisis to head a staff of experts drafting joint contingency plans for a possible postwar occupation.</p>
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In April 1963 Joe was reassigned to HQ Third Army at Ft. McPherson, Georgia as deputy chief of staff for Reserve components; deputy chief of staff for operations and training; and assistant chief of staff. Joe retired from the Army a few months early, in August 1966, to answer a call from the Reserve Officer’s Association to serve on their national staff as director of Army affairs. Joe handled a myriad of matters involving strengthening the Army Reserve and ROTC. An article in Officer magazine reported, “Joe Chabot has probably had more experience with the Army Reserve than any graduate of West Point ever had.”</p>
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Joe loved people, and at any gathering you would find him surrounded by a group involved in spirited and usually dynamic conversation. Joe was a loving family man, enormously proud that his three sons opted to follow in his footsteps of the Long Gray Line and serve as career Army officers. Joe embodied the spirit of Duty, Honor, Country throughout his lifetime and passed these ideals on to future generations of family and friends.</p>
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After he retired, Joe looked forward to returning to his native White Mountains each spring. On 31 August 1990, he died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Whitefield, New Hampshire.</p>
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<em>Loving Wife and Children</em></p>