Kenneth Duckett: Abstract | Full Story | Images and Artifacts

You could say 3 is Mr. Kenneth Duckett’s luckiest number after hearing his stories from World War II. Drafted as a 21-year-old in 1942, Kenneth Duckett, didn’t think much of the army. He wanted to serve his country, but he didn’t want to leave his wife and 3-month old son.

A part of the 3rd Army, 3rd Division, 3rd Batallion, 3rd Company, and 3rd Squadron, Duckett was first sent to North Africa for 17 weeks of basic training. This is where Duckett learned his skills as a gunner on the mortar which would later earn him a Bronze Star, something he is very reluctant to talk about. “I don’t know why I got it,” said Duckett.

For Duckett, WWII was defined by death. His first position in the military is what Duckett described as “a replacement for men who had been lost”. Although he faced the loss of friends, Duckett held no hostilities besides in the heat of combat.

Stationed in North Africa, Sicily, Rome, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, Duckett’s favorite place to see was the Coliseum in Rome. “We knew we were going to be in Rome for a month, and there was no fighting there, so we knew we were going to be alive for another month,” said Duckett. Missing his wife and his newborn back home in Maryland, Duckett would write letters to his wife, only to find out most of it would be censored for his protection. “They blacked-out almost everything,” said Duckett, who was forced to develop a secret code with his wife in which the second letter of every word would combine to spell something out. Missing home, Duckett took up drinking to pull himself through the war.

Although Mr. Duckett was willing to talk about nearly every aspect of the war, there was one thing he was most reluctant to expand on: his Bronze Star. As a Staff Sgt of a 30-man company in Germany, Duckett was rewarded the Bronze Star after he brought injured soldiers to safety in combat. Spending 3 years in the military, his time in Germany is what he recalls the most. Christmas Eve of ’44, it was 5 below zero and Duckett didn’t even know what part of Germany he was in. 3 feet of snow left him “talking like a soldier” as he had to endure the cold, hungry, and wet winter.

Mr. Duckett also recalls when Germany was being bombed by the United States. He was in the outskirts of a town, hiding in a fox hole for 12 hours. “If that didn’t make you a Christian, nothing would,” said Duckett. For Duckett, prayer and thoughts his wife and of opening his own carpet business in Annapolis when he got home is what got him through the war.

Kenneth Duckett was finally sent home in September of 1945. He was shipped out of Germany in a box car on a train. When they reached France, they got on a boat and it took them more than a week to reach the port at New York. When Duckett stepped on U.S. soil again, he decided he would forego becoming a lieutenant and he would open his carpet business. When he got off the boat he was greeted by a plate of potatoes, steak, and a nice glass of milk. “I drank the milk faster than I’ve ever drank anything in my life,” said Duckett, who was used to eating rations of dried beef and macaroni out of a can for survival.

When Kenneth Duckett reached Fort Meade, MD, he was greeted by his wife and his son and he vowed never to go back to the military again. He had three more children with his wife and he opened his own wall-to-wall carpet business on Spa Road in Annapolis.

Kenneth Duckett: Abstract | Full Story | Images and Artifacts