Bangor man lives up to WWII vow

The tragedies of Sept. 11 turned us into a nation of patriots, at least for a while. We waved our American flags like never before, sang our patriotic songs with one voice, and gave generously of our blood, tears and money in equal measure.

Then there’s Galen Cole of Bangor, one of the most passionately patriotic, flag-waving men you could ever meet. Unlike some other Americans who summoned their nationalistic pride as a response to a crisis, however, Cole didn’t need a terrorist attack to fire up his own patriotic zeal. It’s been burning brightly inside of him since he was a teenager, and, at 76 years of age, it shows no signs of dimming.

Cole remembers precisely when the patriotic spirit first moved him, and he’s told the story to thousands of children who have visited his Cole Land Transportation Museum and World War II memorial over the years. It was the day after Easter, 1945, when Cole was a scared, 19-year-old infantryman riding in a halftrack vehicle to the front lines in Germany after D-Day. At the request of a squad member named William Golladay, who was just out of the hospital and superstitious about where he sat, Cole agreed to move to the other side of the truck so the soldier could have his lucky seat back.

Then the large artillery shell struck, killing all five men on the side of the truck Cole had vacated. As Cole regained consciousness and crawled away, wounded by shrapnel, he reflected on how extraordinarily fortunate he had been.

“That’s when I made my promise to God,” he said Tuesday at his museum, where he spent the afternoon clearing ground for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be unveiled next year. “I figured God must have had something in mind for me to do in this world. So I vowed that if I was allowed to come home from that war, I would devote my life to my community and to my fellow man.”

And he’s kept that promise for more than 50 years now, by translating his love of country into a commitment to civic duty and philanthropy that has benefited Bangor and dozens of towns throughout the state. In August, the Military Order of the Purple Heart presented Cole with its 2002 Americanism Award, the national organization’s highest honor, for “exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous service to the community, the state, and the nation.”

While serving as a Bangor city councilor in 1949, Cole became the president of Cole’s Express, the trucking firm that his parents had started in 1917. In 1958, he and his wife, Sue, donated company funds to help build the gymnasium that bears the family’s name. There is now a Cole ball field in Kenduskeag, too, as well as a park in Lee, a community center in Presque Isle, an addition to the state police barracks in Houlton, a conference center at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and a chapel at Eastern Maine Medical Center.

After selling their 900-vehicle trucking business to Roadway in 1992, the Coles used their wealth to further enhance the charitable work of the Galen Cole Family Foundation, begun in 1975. Through a partnership with the Maine Dental Association, the foundation funds an orthodontic program that has repaired the teeth of more than 100 needy Maine children so far. The foundation also has bought thermal imaging cameras for more than 70 community fire departments.

But for Cole, the patriot, honoring the contributions and sacrifices made by World War II veterans remains his unwavering lifelong obligation, the fulfillment of a pledge made long ago by a young soldier who survived to his comrades who did not.

To that end, Cole has become one of Maine’s leading advocates for war veterans, a tireless organizer at the forefront of numerous parades and military commemorative services. His museum has distributed 1,200 walking sticks to Maine’s war veterans, and the veterans parade he arranged for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II is considered the largest ever assembled in the area. Over the last few years, thousands of Maine schoolchildren have participated in a museum program that allows them to meet with aging veterans and learn of their war experiences firsthand.

“It’s a way to pass the word to the young generation, the children who will lead this world one day,” Cole said, “about the severity of war and the sacrifices that so many Americans have made to preserve our liberty. Knowing that, maybe the kids will grow up to appreciate their freedom even more.”