Memorial Day in the Rosedale Park Area

By John Berry

As I think about Memorial Day, I wanted to call out a veteran who lost their life in the service of our country who came from Rosedale Park and the surrounding Detroit/Redford area.  There are so many who served and died in the service of our country, so please feel free to post your memories here of all that served our country and died in the service of our country for this Memorial Day:

John Alger MacDonald

Private First Class John Alger MacDonald.  John Alger MacDonald was born on December 30, 1924 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was the son of John Anderson MacDonald, a Sales Manager for the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) and Irene Alger MacDonald. He had two sisters, Janet and Mary MacDonald. The family apparently moved to the Detroit area by the time of the 1940 census for business reasons.

John attended Redford High School, Detroit, Michigan, around 1939-1943. From my research, it appears that he was born in Massachusetts, but moved to 17361 Snowden Street, near Outer Drive and the Lodge Freeway in 1940. He was accepted and began as a student at Columbia University in New York City as an aspiring writer and sent numerous articles to NBC.

On February 18, 1943, John MacDonald enlisted in the U.S. Army and began basic training in Fort Hood, Texas and then began training with a tank destroyer battalion. He was in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) program at the University of Mississippi at Oxford. Subsequently, he was sent overseas and served in the 1st Platoon, Company K, 376th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, 9th Army. He would later become involved in the ongoing D-Day operations.

John MacDonald’s division landed at Utah Beach on September 8, 1944. He was later killed while on a foot patrol near Bouvron, France on November 11, 1944. John had been sent on combat patrol to assess German Army strength. His objective was to engage the Germans, and attempt to get the Germans to follow them. After a pretty intense firefight the patrol withdrew with only one casualty, John MacDonald, who was killed. At the time of his death, MacDonald was 19 years old.

He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts.  He is also listed in the Columbia Roll of Honor. John was a true American and we remember his dedication to this country. It is important that we not forget the sacrifices of those like John that protected our freedoms and gave up their lives to do so. They sacrificed their future for ours.