Growing Up During the Great Depression How Neighborhood Families Survived

The Great Depression created difficulties for almost all the people of Fort Kent, Maine. Most of the people were Frenchmen with a few Englishmen, and one Native Americans (Dennis' and Trombleys'). The French came from Nova Scotia and Quebec. Most of the Frenchmen had never gone to school. They had to learn to survive. They suffered many hardships and mistreatments in the war between France and England. The English came from downstate and seemed to have all the money to start businesses, especially cutting the virgin timber. We were thankful that our land and forest produced plants and animals to help us survive. My family and neighbors endured.

Edmond Theriault was born on March 22, 1923 in Fort Kent, Maine. He was the fourth son of Eva and Joseph Theriault. They raised a family of fourteen children during the Great Depression (1929-1939) and World War II (1939-1945).

Edmond's mother was proud of her large family and said she would rather have her sons fighting for her than anyone else. All the boys in the family served in the military during World War II. Eli joined the Army Air Corps, went to flight school, and was made a B-17 pilot. Alban joined the Infantry and spent one and a half years as a platoon leader in Europe. Edmond joined the Army Air Corps, went to flight school, and spent twenty-two months in the Pacific Theater as a B-17 pilot. Alire (Pete) joined the Air Force. Donald served for over thirty years in the Air Force.