ROCKLAND, Maine — The stories of two young Rockland men who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I were recalled on this Veterans Day as medals were presented to their family members by a grateful state and nation.
The ceremony was held in the downtown square named in honor of the two men, 2nd Lt. Albert Holbrook and Pfc. Arthur Winslow, who died fighting in the war.
One of the family members to whom the award was presented in honor of Holbrook was his 94-year-old sister, Roberta Holbrook Best. Best was born two years after her brother died.
Holbrook was born in Rockland and grew up in a house that is still standing at 22 Camden St. near the intersection with Cedar Street. He enlisted in June 1917 after completing his sophomore year at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in Plattsburgh, New York, in November 1917 before being shipped overseas to France.
According to a news account of the June 1918 battle in France, Holbrook led a platoon into “murderous machine gun and artillery fire” in an attempt to take out a German machine gun encampment. He was reported missing in action after the firefight.
There was no word of his whereabouts until September, when the family received a telegram from the military that the 23-year-old died in a German prison camp. Later information would reveal he died in a French hospital under German control in Fismes, northeast of Paris.
Winslow left Maine in September 1917 for training in Massachusetts and was shipped overseas. He was wounded in battle and died because of those wounds on July 6, 1918.
His great-grandniece Cheryl Bhaer was among family members present to accept the medal and certificate on his behalf.