Lee S. LaForge Collection

Lee Spencer LaForge was born to Carrie Pattee and Burton LaForge on the family farm in Curran, Michigan on April 9, 1913. He served in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Company D 333, from 1941 to 1945. Mildred Breest (died Oct. 16, 2015) and Lee married on June 11, 1946. Lee died in Detroit, Michigan on March 22, 2003 and is buried at the Curran Cemetery. Excerpts from "The Technical Services: the Corps of Engineers: the war against Germany" by Beck, Bortz, Lynch, Mayo, and Weld, 1985: "The 333d and 342d Engineer General Service and the 333d Engineer Special Service Regiments were assigned to the 1056th Port Construction and Repair Group to begin reconstruction of Cherbourg [France]" (page 353)...and..."Early in July [1945] the 333d Engineer Special Service Regiment began clearing debris from the shattered docks" [Darse Transatlantique in Normandy, France and Gare Maritime in Brussels, Belgium] ..."After the debris and mines were removed from the quays at the Darse Transatlantique, the 333d Engineer Special Service Regiment began construction." (page 355). The images in this collection taken by Lee LaForge represent these areas and time frame.