Navy hero awarded

medal 66 years later

GUILFORD — A Navy veteran whose heroism just after World War II likely saved his ship from being blown up is finally getting his due.

Robert Boudreau, now 84 and living in Guilford, was honored earlier this month at a ceremony in Norfolk, Va., for saving the USS Robert L. Wilson and its crew of about 200 men in 1946.

Boudreau was a crewman on the destroyer sailing in the Mediterranean when the chief petty officer approached, looking for volunteers to secure explosives that could tear the ship apart. The explosives came loose during a furious storm.

Boudreau, then 18, volunteered. Asked if he was sure, Boudreau again agreed to do the dangerous job.

His wife said Boudreau hasn’t taken off his medal since receiving it.