Templeton High baseball heroes from Baldwinville killed in action during World War II

BALDWINVILLE – The precinct of Baldwinville was well-known as perhaps the hub of the entire town of Templeton.

It was home to one of the town’s biggest employers, Temple-Stuart Co., boasted one of the finest recreational facilities in town with the Gilman-Waite Field and would later be known for local landmarks Lee’s Hot Dog Stand, Tuna’s Place and the Thirsty Turtle Pub.

In addition, Templeton High School was located in Baldwinville, a small school which with grades 9-12 had a small population of only 90 students.

However, the tiny school gained statewide notoriety on June 20, 1936 when Templeton High School, wearing patchwork uniforms and using hand-me-down equipment, knocked off mighty Somerville High 2-1 for the state baseball championship at Fenway Park in Boston.

The victory marked the first-ever state baseball championship won by a Central Massachusetts high school team. And it came against a Somerville team which was one of the largest high schools in the state, with a student body of more than 2,000.

Two of the members of that championship Templeton team - Prentiss Spaulding and Johnny Lendo - would go on to wear another uniform for the United States military, and lose their lives in World War II. Spaulding is included in this segment, while Lendo will be profiled in an upcoming feature in this series.

This is the continuation of the series Remembering Local World War II Heroes.

Tech Sgt. Walter P. Norskey (1917-1944)   

Walter Paul “Chuck” Norskey was born in Baldwinville on Jan. 15, 1917, the son of Stanley and Amelia Norskey and had been a lifelong resident of the village living on Fisher Street. He graduated from Templeton High School in 1935.

Norskey had been employed at the E. L. Thompson Chair Corp. and was working at the Winchendon Furniture Corp., when he entered the service in Nov. 18, 1942. He was president of the Pulaski Guards and active in the organization’s social activities.

He trained at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, and Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky, before being sent overseas in April of 1944. He was married to the former Lody Koldys and was the father of two daughters, one just 2 weeks old.

Technical Sgt. Norskey, 26, was a member of the 83d Infantry Division when he was killed in action on July 13, 1944 in France.

On Aug. 29, 1944, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star by the United States Army, for gallantry in action against the enemy.

The citation read that Tech. Sgt. Norskey, “while as acting platoon leader, personally led his men in an attack against four enemy pill boxes. Through individual encouragement and disregard for his own safety he so inspired his men with confidence in themselves and in his leadership that they followed him aggressively into withering enemy fire.

"The attack was successful in knocking out one pill box and in so disorganizing the enemy resistance that the battalion was able to push through to its objective with comparative ease. In the course of this action, Technical Sergeant Norskey was fatally wounded. Technical Sergeant Norskey's conspicuous and valiant leadership was in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service.”

Then on Oct. 9, 1944, he was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously from Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and presented to his wife. It was awarded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt “for military merit and for wounds received in action resulting in his death July 13, 1944.”

Besides his wife, two daughters and mother, he was also survived by a sister, Mrs. Stella Mikkala, of Baldwinville. His wife is living with her sister, Mrs. Joseph Keady of Myrtle Street, for the duration.

Lt. Prentiss P. Spaulding (1921-1944) 

Prentiss P. Spaulding was born in Baldwinville on June 5, 1921 to Lionel W. and Myrtie (Glover) Spaulding and grew up in the village on Prospect Street. He graduated from Templeton High School in 1939, and while in high school was a member of the 1936 state champion baseball team with the Hilltowners.

He enlisted in November of 1939 and was stationed in Hawaii and at Pearl Harbor at the outbreak of the war, remaining there until April 1942. He graduated from the Ryan School of Aeronautics in Hemet, California, and from the Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Luke Field, Arizona, in February of 1943.

Following his graduation, he served at Westover Field, Chicopee until that October, and then received gunnery training at West Hampton Beach, Long Island, before being sent to England.

Lt. Spaulding was a covenant member of Memorial Congregational Church and was married to the former Julie Shea of Worcester and they had an infant son, William Matthew Spaulding, born on May 5, 1944. They made their home in Springfield while he was in the service.

Spaulding was assigned for combat duty as a member of the 485th American Air Force Fighting Squadron. On May 1, 1944 he met his death while on a combat flight, as his fighter plane, a Lightning P-38, was shot down over Europe.

In addition to his wife and infant son, he was survived by his father and mother, a grandmother Mrs. Adeline Spaulding, two sisters Mrs. Lona B. Howe of Millbury and Mrs. Enid Mawhinie of Keene, New Hampshire, and six nieces.

He was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Templeton

Comments and suggestions for Remembering Local World War 2 Heroes can be sent to Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Rd. Sandwich, MA 02563.  

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Templeton MA High baseball champs killed in action in World War II