Lloyd Ernest Gravelle
T/5 in Signal Co, Special : Inst & Maint; Telephone & Wire
Military occupational specialty: 650 (telephone switchboard operator)
ASN#32741849
Born 1923 in CT, Died 1976
County of residence at enlistment: Washington County, NY
Other residence(s): Pittsford, VT; Proctor, VT; Fort Edward, NY; Glens Falls, NY; Hudson Falls, NY
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: semiskilled occupations in manufacture of paper and pulp
Lloyd Gravelle was born on June 2, 1923 in Enfield, CT, the third of four children. His father worked in a marble mill, and later as a truck driver. Sadly, Lloyd's mother died when he was only 12. In the 1930s, the family lived in Pittsford and later Proctor, VT, but later they moved across the state line to Fort Edward, NY, a small town on the Hudson River, south of Glens Falls.
Lloyd attended Fort Edward High School; when he registered for the draft, on June 30, 1942, he was working for LT COL George Traver at the Schenectady General Depot. He enlisted on January 11, 1943, stating that he had completed three years of high school and that his occupation was in the category of "semiskilled occupations in manufacture of paper and pulp."
Lloyd Gravelle's headset; photo courtesy William Gravelle
On Christmas Eve, 1947 he married Irene Case in Glens Falls. At the time he was working as a carpenter for a Schenectady construction company. In 1952, he took a job with NIBCO, a brass fittings manufacturer. He worked there as a machinist for the rest of his life, maintaining equipment to guarantee continuous production. He fixed broken machines and also produced parts for damaged machines.
Lloyd and Irene had two children: a stepdaughter, Russellan Carol Canfield, and a son, William. The family lived in Glens Falls and later in nearby Hudson Falls. Lloyd also became very active with the Hudson Falls volunteer fire department. He served for some years as chief of the fire police for Kinsgbury Volunteer Hose Company #1 and as secretary of the Lower Adirondack Fire Police Association for more than 15 years.
He maintained his interest in radio communications after the war and also took up painting as a hobby.
He died suddenly on the date of the US bicentennial, July 4, 1976, in Schroon Lake, NY. He is buried at Pine View Cemetery in Queensbury, NY. According to his son, William, "he passed away 20 years before the Ghost Army was declassified and never told anyone."
Photo:
1948 photo of their 1947 wedding in the Post-Star (Glens Falls NY)
Sources:
1930 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/9912716:6224?ssrc=pt&tid=39674297&pid=29564922959
1940 census
1942 draft card
1943 enlistment record
1945 article in the Post-Star (Glens Falls NY) re his military service
https://www.newspapers.com/image/477398609/?terms=lloyd%20gravelle&match=1
1947 NY State Marriage Index
1948 article about their wedding in the Post-Star (Glens Falls NY)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/477447427/?terms=lloyd%20gravelle&match=8
1950 census
1967 article in the Post-Star (Glens Falls, NY) about his role as a volunteer fireman
https://www.newspapers.com/image/347184680/?terms=lloyd%20gravelle&match=1
1973 article in the Post-Star (Glens Falls, NY) about his work with Fire Police Assn.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/346952489/?terms=lloyd%20gravelle&match=1
1976 Find a Grave record
1976 obituary in the Post-Star (Glens Falls, NY)
1976 Social Security death index
1976 VA death record
2023 (March 13) GALP Veteran Biography Worksheet from son, William L. Gravelle