South Shore
Neptunes
Remembering Cliff Theriault
Cliff Theriault was one of the early pioneers in scuba diving on the South Shore. He was a good friend and dive buddy of “The Great John Baldi” owner of South Shore Skin Divers, Quincy, MA. Cliff was a member of The South Shore Skin Divers Club based out of John Baldi’s shop for many years. They went on dive trips to Puerto Rico and Bonaire together. Fred Lane was also a member of this dive club. Bruce Lane, his son, is a current member of the Neptune’s Dive Club.
(Left to Right - D. Layton, B. Olson (President), B. Atran, Cliff Theriault)
Cliff was a veteran of WWII, starting out as a paratrooper with the Airborne 501 st PIR at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. He was injured in a parachute jump in very high winds at Fort Benning, Georgia. President Roosevelt was visiting and observing the jump. The paratroopers were not supposed to jump in winds over 30 mph but because President Roosevelt was there, they said to jump anyway. Cliff separated three ribs from his sternum and fractured his collarbone on the jump. After recovering from his injuries, Cliff was transferred to the 234 th Engineer Combat Battalion and went into Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on D+3. He fought across France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany supporting the 29 th and 30 th Infantry Divisions. Using his valuable French speaking ability, Cliff was always on the frontline gathering intelligence on enemy positions and activities from locals. He received many decorations including the Purple Heart, French Legion of Honor, Army Commendation Medal, WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 Stars and Arrowhead for the initial invasion.
Returning home after the war, Cliff was a master union carpenter and foreman for many years on large projects with Thomas O’Connor Construction Company. One of their projects was building the Air Force Texas Tower General Surveillance Radar System. While working on Texas Tower 3, they observed floating debris from the sinking of the ship SS Andrea Doria off Nantucket on July 26, 1956, after a collision with the MS Stockholm, which killed 51 people. He recalled many stories about the fierceness of ocean storms while working on the towers which shook the towers vigorously. One such story was the total loss of Texas Tower 4 where he lost some friends during a fierce January 15, 1961, nor’easter off the coast of Long Island in 185 feet of water, killing all 28 men aboard. Cliff finished his career as a Facilities Manager at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Of course, scuba diving was a passion of his and he spent many weekends diving with his many friends from the South Shore Skin Divers Club getting lobsters. After his son Jay Theriault was born, Cliff designed custom scuba equipment for him which he made from a fire extinguisher. He flipped the tank with the valve down like the French dive because the tank was too long for Jay’s small frame which prevented the valve from hitting the back of the head. The backpack and shoulder straps were made of aluminum which hooked over the shoulders. A Velcro belt held the tank on at the waist. At age 5, Jay began his scuba diving with the customized equipment.
Later, when Jay Theriault joined the South Shore Neptunes Dive Club and the Quincy Underwater Recovery Team, Cliff pitched in and supported the Dive Team as a volunteer.
The Dive Team acquired a bookmobile to use as an Emergency Management Command Center for the City of Quincy. Cliff and several other members of the dive team pitched in using their expertise and quickly customized the vehicle for diving recoveries and disaster relief missions The dive truck served the City of Quincy and other communities for many years. Later in life, Cliff enjoyed diving trips to Bonaire and the Cayman Islands.
Submitted by Cliff’s son,
Jay Theriault
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