Photograph of J. Roger Raymond recognition plaque, located in Manchester NH at the southeast corner of Queen City Ave and Second Street.
One of several Military Squares added following World War 2, by an ordinance passed on 16 December 1947 and signed by Mayor Joseph T. Benoit as follows:
” That the westerly approach to the Queen City Bridge, where Queen City Avenue and Second Street intersects, be officially designated … as “Roger F.J. Raymond Square.” A ceremony was held on 16 December 1947, installing the plaque that reads: ROGER RAYMOND, A/C U.S.A. BORN JANUARY 2, 1921. DIED AUGUST 17, 1943. NORTHWEST CROSS PLAINS, TEXAS
Joseph Roger Raymond was born on 2 January 1921 in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, the youngest of 5 children born to Joseph Alfred & Lydia (Dubois) Raymond. His parents were Canadian immigrants who came to Manchester seeking jobs, and his father worked as cobbler [repaired shoes]. Roger grew up in a house at 475 Second Street, on the west side, and graduated from the local schools, including Sacred Heart Grammar School, and West High (Class of 1939). He was active in sports and played on several local base ball teams. The Manchester (NH) City Directory of 1941 shows his occupation as a shoe worker, and that he still lived with his parents. The next year (1942) the directory shows him in the military.
Death record of Roger Raymond.
Roger Raymond was sent to Coleman Municipal Airport in Coleman Texas, as part of the 304th Flying Training Detachment there, a cadet at the AAF Contract Pilot School. Although documents are scarce, it appears that on the 17 August 1943 he was a member of a 3-person crew who left the airfield in a PT-19A airplane with Lew M. Patton as pilot, for training. The records state that an accidental plane crash occurred 30 miles north of Coleman TX (the northwest section of Cross Plains, Texas). Roger was one of three casualties of that crash, from injuries he sustained. [see photo of death record]
Roger’s body was send home for burial, which was performed with full military honor on 23 August 1943 at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Manchester NH.