Please join the South Hero Historical Society at the Worthen Library on Monday, July22 at 5pm for a presentation of "The Vermont Naval Volunteers"

Chris McDonald, the historian of the Vermont National Guard Military Museum and Library will relate the story of the VNV, during 1942-1945. They provided boats and amphibious training support to a military unit called the First Special Service Force around Plattsburgh, Grand Isle, and the North and South Hero area in June and July 1943.

The organization's leader was Commander Warren Austin Jr., son of Senator Warren Austin, Sr., U.S. Senator from Vermont and later the first U.N. Ambassador. Warren Austin Jr. was a prominent Burlington lawyer, yachtsman, and VT civilian assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The Vermont Naval Volunteers were local yachtsmen who volunteered their time and boats as a supplemental activity to security and safety patrols usually provided by the Coast Guard. These were a direct response to the declaration of war with Japan, Germany, and Italy.

They were headquartered in Burlington on the waterfront, supported by the city, and had many businessmen of the Champlain Valley as officers. They eventually merged into the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Flotilla 1—302, which operated as part of the CG reserve on Lake Champlain during World War II.

Of their noteworthy achievements, they assisted a Joint Canadian and American unit, the First Special Service Force, often called the Devil's Brigade, with amphibious training in the summer of 1943. The FSSF would be one of the founding units of the U.S. Army's Special Forces. They were featured in a 1968 movie titled "The Devil's Brigade" starring William Holden,

Event Info

Sep 8, 2024, 9 AM

Sep 9, 2024, 5 to 8 PM

Sep 10, 2024, 12 to 1 PM