Windham’s last surviving World War II veteran Carroll McDonald dies at 99

By Ed Pierce

And then there were none. Carroll McDonald, the last surviving World War II veteran living in Windham, died at the age of 99 on Nov. 14.

Carroll McDonald, the last surviving World War II veteran
in Windham, died at the age of 99 on Nov. 14. He trained
as a P-51 pilot during World War II and later served as a
postal carrier, seaplane pilot, Meals on Wheels driver and
was a former commander of American Legion Field-Allen
Post 148 in Windham. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

Born on his parents’ dairy farm in South Windham on March 1, 1925, he was the first son of Edwin and Nellie McDonald and would soon be joined by a younger brother, Kenneth. From an early age he was fascinated by airplanes, and it was a passion he never lost sight of.

“When I was about 4 years old, I heard a biplane flying near a school,” McDonald said. “The sound of it going up and down and buzzing all around stirred my interest and it never left me when I was growing up. It was doing spins and barrel rolls overhead. At first, I was scared, but the longer I watched that old biplane, the more impressed I became, and I knew from that moment that I wanted to become a pilot someday. The sound of it going up and down and buzzing all around stirred my interest and it never left me when I was growing up.”

Both McDonald brothers were so infatuated by airplanes and aviation that in 1937 when Carroll was 12 and Kenneth was 9, they rode their bicycles from Grant’s Corner in South Windham for more than 12 miles to the airport in Portland one morning. Without their parents’ knowledge, the brothers paid for and boarded a flight to Boston where it landed, and then took off again for a return flight back to Portland. Both brothers then rode their bicycles back to their farm, and neither of their parents learned about their flight until years later.

Throughout his high school years, McDonald played trumpet in a dance band and then formed his own group called the Don Carroll Orchestra and also played for the Windham Town Band. He graduated from Windham High School in 1942 and started classes at Northeastern Business College in Portland that fall, but by the next summer he decided to accept a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a pilot before being drafted and assigned any job that was needed.

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, he was sent to an Army flight school in Alabama and then for training as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. He received his flight wings in 1944 and spent the remainder of the war in Fort Myers flying P-51s, a long range, single-seat fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War.

“I joined because it was an opportunity to be well-trained and a chance to fly every single day,” McDonald said.

Upon his discharge from active duty in 1945, he attended business school using the GI Bill but in 1951 while fulfilling his military commitment in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant during the Korean War.

“Flying P-51s was the best experience I could have ever hoped for. It was a top-of-the-line aircraft and was really very fast,” he said. “Here I was just a teenager, and I was flying one of the fastest aircraft in the world and serving my country during wartime. It was simply an amazing time.”

Following his active-duty discharge in 1945, McDonald returned to Windham and attended business school using the GI Bill. He joined the U.S. Post Office as a rural postal delivery driver, a job he worked at for 32 years, delivering mail in South Windham and on River Road until retiring. He also continued to pilot aircraft while serving as a mailman and would finish his mail route by 2 p.m. in the summers and then drive to Naples where he would fly sightseeing trips for tourists around Sebago Lake.

About that time, McDonald joined American Legion’s Field-Allen Post 148 in 1951 and eventually served as Post Commander and performed many other duties for the veterans’ group through the years. He married Marjorie Steeves, and they raised a son, David, who graduated from Windham High in 1963, and a daughter, Karen.

“Carroll is surely near and dear to all of our hearts,” said Al LaRhette of South Weymouth, Massachusetts, during a 2023 reunion gathering for the Windham High School Class of 1963.

“I remember getting to play in the band with him when we performed at Fenway Park in Boston for the State of Maine Day in 1959.”

LaRhette said Carroll was known as a friend to all the class members and is beloved by everyone who knows him.

“He was just always there for us,” LaRhette said. “He had a way about him. It was like when you were with him, you were the most important person he got to speak to that day. He’s been a cherished friend to all of us throughout all these years since our graduation.”

Upon his retirement from the U.S. Post Office in 1980, McDonald volunteered for more than 20 years delivering Meals on Wheels to area seniors. He also became a member of the Presumpscot Lodge of Masons, Windham Hill Church, and Windham Historical Society.

While attending a vintage airshow in the Auburn area in 2014, he jumped at the chance to take a test flight in a restored P-51 Mustang aircraft.

“I couldn’t believe it after all these years,” he said. “I was thrilled to have that opportunity once more.”

Earlier this year he entered St. Andre’s Health Care Facility in Biddeford but insisted he would make it home in time for his 100th birthday on March 1, 2025 and a parade in his honor. His wife Marjorie died in 2007, followed his son, David in 2013, and his brother and sister-in-law Kenneth and Elizabeth McDonald in 2014. McDonald is survived by his partner Joan Esty of Windham, a daughter Karen Hopkins and her husband Blaine of Greenville, Maine, granddaughters Maureen Hopkins of Auburn, Maine and Brenda Lebo of Milford, New York, and a daughter-in-law Molly McDonald of Arcanum, Ohio.

Of everything he accomplished during his lifetime, McDonald said he would like to be remembered most as a pilot and for his military service in defense of America.

“I still think it was the right thing to do,” he said. “I am very positive about my time in the military. I enjoyed the structure, the discipline and was very pleased with the training I received. I’m lucky to have served and proud of what we accomplished.” <