Hometown Heroes
Putnam's 1st Lieutenant Andrew H. Pepin, U.S. Army
By Michael Rocchetti
Andrew H. Pepin (1917-1970) was a highly decorated U.S. Army soldier and WWII veteran from Putnam who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters. His extraordinary heroism and courageous exploits in combat at Guadalcanal, New Georgia, New Guinea, and the Philippines were numerous, and reported extensively in the local media.
From the Putnam Patriot, August 19, 1943: “Sergeant Andrew Pepin Led Unit Against Well Defended Machine Gun Position and Took the Post, Killing Nine Japanese. In the thick of the fighting for the Munda Airbase of New Georgia Island in the South Pacific, a Putnam soldier so distinguished himself that he was one of a few chosen for special mention by war correspondents who accompanied the troops.
The first Putnam hero of the war is Platoon Sergeant Andrew H. Pepin, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Pepin of Providence St. He received special mention in a United Press dispatch direct from the battlefield. Fighting for control of this important airbase was so severe that the dispatch was delayed for several days before it was sent to this country. Pepin was among the leaders onto the airfield and in company with three other soldiers, stormed a Jap machine gun nest, leaving nine dead Japanese when it was finally taken.
On Wednesday, the day before the end of the battle, the men were congratulated by the Commanding General on their fine work. In telling of Pepin’s exploit he said, “The outfit’s greatest feat was accomplished by a unit headed by Platoon Sergeant Andrew Pepin of Putnam, Conn., which stormed and captured a powerfully defended machine-gun nest. It contained nine dead Japanese when the platoon finally took it.”
The following is from an early 1945 War Department press release SF-856: 
“Winner of the DSC for extraordinary heroism in action against the Japs, and holder of the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, symbolizing the three wounds he received in as many different campaigns, 1st Lt Andrew Henry Pepin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Adelard Pepin, of 274 Providence Road, Putnam, CT, has been returned to the US because of a bullet wound he received on Luzon. Lt Pepin, veteran of 32 months overseas service, was awarded a battlefield commission as a result of the leadership, skill and courage he displayed in the New Georgia Campaign. At the time, Lt Pepin was a Staff Sergeant, the ranking non-commissioned officer of his platoon, a unit of the 43rd Infantry Division. He took command of the platoon when its officer became a casualty, and led it so successfully that he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. The officer was taken to Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco, California, upon arrival in the United States. Subsequently, he was transferred to another hospital. The veteran officer, then a staff sergeant, won the coveted DSC for the extraordinary heroism he displayed as the leader of a gallant band of 34 doughboys cut off and isolated by a force of Japanese estimated at 2000 on a little island (Baanga) just off the New Georgia coast in August, 1943. “My company, with my platoon leading, was to spearhead the battalions attack on the island,” said Lt Pepin. “Just as we hit the beach, the Japs, in far greater force than had been anticipated, opened up on us with all they had, killing several of my men and wounding several more in the first minute or two. We were stopped cold right where we were on that barren coral beach. The Japs ceased firing, but the slightest movement on our part immediately brought a hail of lead. The remainder of the company and battalion could not get across that narrow stretch of water, and we were stranded on that beach with no food or water and a limited supply of ammunition. And there we stayed for 5 days and nights. We were a perfect target for the Japs,” the Lt recalled, “for that beach offered no concealment. But as long as we remained motionless, they didn’t shoot at us much, just an occasional shot to let us know they were still there. Why they didn’t wipe us out, as they usually could have done, is a mystery. The only answer we could find was that they were leaving us there as decoys so that they could ambush the rescuing party they knew was bound to come. At night, when the tide came in, the water would rise almost to our necks. But any movement to reach higher ground would bring down Jap fire. The worst of our wounded we placed on a little rock ledge that remained above water. At the end of the fifth day a small engineer’s boat reached us. I climbed on board, hoping to get back to the mainland with information that would enable the Battalion to rescue the remnants of my platoon. But the boat stuck on a coral reef and we had to get into the water and push it off, with those Japs firing at us all the time. When the boat’s motor refused to start, so we paddled. I would paddle a few strokes, drop my paddle for my M1 rifle and fire a few rounds. The Japanese were using a 75 mm cannon on us as well as small arms fire, and those big shells kicked up the water all around the little boat. One of their bullets hit our gas tank, but fortunately we had a spare 5 gallon can of gas which we fed into the motor, which by then had been started. With the motor running we managed to pull out of the Japs field of fire and we reached the New Georgia coast just as our last drop of gasoline went into the motor. Using the information I was able to give on the Japanese positions, the battalion made a full scale attack on the island and rescued the survivors, 11 of the original group of 34. They wiped out the Japanese to the last man. During the time we were on that beach, the only food we had was one coconut.” Lt Pepin was wounded on New Georgia when a shelf fragment struck him in the chin. “It didn’t count too much, though,” he said. “The doctor took six stitches in it and I stayed with my platoon.” He was wounded again on New Guinea when a Jap rifle bullet shattered the stock of his carbine, driving splinters of wood and lead into the palm of his right hand. His third wound, the one that sent him back to the US was received on Luzon when a Jap machine gun bullet went through his chest, perforating a lung. In addition to the DSC and the Purple Heart with its two clusters, the veteran infantry officer has been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for exemplary conduct in action against enemy. His Asiatic Pacific ribbon has four campaign stars and he is eligible for the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. A member of the Connecticut National Guard, Lt Pepin trained with the 43rd infantry Division at Camp Blanding, Florida, and Camp Shelby, Mississippi, before going overseas. While abroad, he married a New Zealand girl and is now eagerly awaiting her arrival in this country. 
Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
*Closing commentary: Many people remember him, and probably not in a good way. Although he survived the war, I suppose a part of him died over in the Pacific. I think people would have had more empathy for him if they had known what he endured, the painful wounds he received, and his struggle to restrain the inner-beast that had been unleashed during three years of intense combat. This will be explored in more depth in a follow-on article.

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