NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Dr. Bernard Auge served his country in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 as a petty officer, second class, but most importantly, in the capacity of Naval Intelligence. 

 

At 101 years of age, he is gracious, remarkably sharp and represents the Greatest Generation with extreme humility, pride and distinction.

 

He grew up in North Adams and was a football and baseball standout at Drury High, graduating in 1942. He was also a speed-skating champion and skated in the old Boston Garden. He turned down an athletic scholarship at Williams College to attend Notre Dame University (he still bleeds the gold and green as an alum) but was drafted after just three months. 

 

He would do his basic training at Sampson Naval Training Station in New York State and then was sent to Miami University in Ohio to learn code and radio. He was stationed in Washington, D.C., then to Cape Cod with 300 other sailors where he worked at the Navy's elite Marconi Maritime Center in Chatham, the nation's largest ship-to-shore radiotelegraph station built in 1914. (The center is now a museum since its closure in 1997.)

 

"We were sworn to secrecy under penalty of death — that's how top secret is was — I never talked with anyone about what I was doing, not even my wife, until 20 years after the war," he recalled.

 

The work at Marconi changed the course of the war and gave fits to the German U-boats that were sinking American supply ships at will, he said. "Let me tell you that Intelligence checked you out thoroughly, from grade school on up. We were a listening station, one of five. Our job was to intercept German transmissions from their U-boats and pinpoint their location in the Atlantic so that our supply ships could get through."

 

The other stations were located in Greenland, Charleston, S.C., Washington and Brazil.

 

The Americans caught a huge break when the Navy captured a U-boat in a surprise attack and took control of the vessel before the Germans had a chance to scuttle the ship. In ordinary circumstances when captured, the German crew

would jump into the water, and the last man out would open a valve to let in water so that the ship would sink. 

 

"Nobody knew we had captured it, not even the Germans. They had it categorized as 'lost at sea.' We brought the boat and

crew to Bermuda and were able to obtain their radio communication code books," he remembered.

 

Auge spoke of the seriousness of his Naval Intelligence Group. "Everyone paid attention to detail and was quite serious. It was quite the duty," he said. "We could never leave our stations and had our meals brought to us there."

 

His thoughts on service? "It was a different feeling. I was proud of the work we did and what we accomplished. We just never talked about it, that was the main thing." 

 

At 101, he can still read Morse Code. He would return to Notre Dame after the war and go on to graduate from Tufts Dental College. He would have a wonderful dental practice for 36 years as well. 

 

"I've had a pretty good life. I married my high school sweetheart, Eleanor. God gave me such a beautiful wife (they were married 78 years until her passing in 2021). I've got 12 great-grandchildren and 44 great-great-grandchildren," he said. "It's been a good life."

 

Dr. Bernie Auge, thank you for your service to our great country.

 

Wayne Soares is the host of the popular new veterans cooking show, "The Mess Hall" that airs Saturdays on NBC's NECN at 9:30 a.m. He also entertains our troops around the globe and is the host and producer of the Vietnam veterans documentary "Silent Dignity – The Chapter That Never Ends." He can be reached at waynesoares1@gmail.com.