The Marlborough
Historical Society

Woodrow was born the 11th of November 1918 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the fourth of nine children born to Ernest and Bernadette Houde. He made his home with his parents at 32 Berkley Avenue. When his brother Severe was given a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Colorado, but found a job shortly afterwards, Woodrow took on his brother’s identity and headed to Colorado for employment. While still presenting himself as his brother Severe, Woodrow enlisted into the Marine Corps the 18th of May 1939 in Denver, Colorado. He received his basic training at Marine Corp Recruit Depot San Diego from the 20th of May 1939 until the 24th of August 1939 when he was assigned to Battery “F”, 2nd Battalion 15th Marines. This unit was stationed in San Diego and their name changed to Battery H-50, 1st Defense Battalion the 1st of November 1939. Woodrow was transferred to Machine Gun Battery, Detachment B, 1st Defense Battalion the 13th of February 1941. On the 28th of February 1941, Woodrow and the rest of the 1st Defense Battalion departed from San Diego aboard the USS WILLIAM P. BIDDLE (APA-8) and arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii the 6th of March 1941. Woodrow was now serving as a Private with the Machine Gun Group, 1st Defense Battalion and spent the next few months in training in Hawaii. On the 8th of August Woodrow and the rest of the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion departed from Hawaii aboard the USS REGULUS (AK-14) and arrived at Wake Island the 19th of August 1941. Spending the next few months preparing the island for an attack by the forces of Imperial Japan, Woodrow and the rest of the 1st Defense Battalion along with the hundreds of civilian defense contractors were attacked on the 8th of December 1941. Defending the island from Japanese invasion forces, Woodrow was Killed in Action the 23rd of December 1941, The first man from Marlborough to die in the Second World War. Originally buried on the island in a mass grave, his remains were repatriated along with many others he fought and died with to a group grave at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, Section G, Site 68. The Akroyd-Houde American Legion Post in Marlborough is named in his honor. A cenotaph in his memory is located in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

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