Current Dartmouth resident John Silva was drafted into the military in 1943 at age 18. “There was nothing I could do about it when the government sends a letter saying 'greetings,'" said the New Bedford native.

That moment initiated his three-year service in the U.S. Army. Deployed after only six months of training, Silva was tasked with being part of the truck driver convoy—known as the Red Ball Convoy. Though his primary duty was to provide the frontline with food, supplies, and ammunition, he also had to load up his convoy and collect bodies in the middle of the night in France and Belgium.

“I saw a lot of the dead,” Silva said. “I couldn’t stop… to help them.”

Silva worked his way up to private technician, 5th grade, while his older brother, Anton, served in the air force. “I did what I had to do and that was it,” Silva said of his service.

As one of five siblings, Silva’s military allotment helped his parents Michael and Maria Silva to put his only sister, Margaret—“But everyone called her ‘Peggy’”—through nursing school.

Though Silva was disappointed that he couldn’t buy the car he wanted with his earnings upon his return home, he was happy that his money went toward educating his beloved sister.

“I couldn’t say nothing. It went to a good cause,” he said.

Upon his return, Silva lost track of his military friends. Post-World War II, Silva met his closest friends, and his wife Mary Souza, whom he married in 1947.

“Good wife, good mother, good housekeeper, good worker,” Silva said of her.

They had a daughter, Doreen, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband, Richard.

Silva worked construction for 18 and a half years before retiring to Dartmouth. During those years, he remained active with veterans posts throughout the South Coast. From 1989 to 1990, he was the commander of the Fairhaven VFW. He remains active today in the Dartmouth VFW.

“They told me I’m one of their oldest members,” said 90-year-old Silva.

Though he gets by using a wheelchair, Silva still drives and frequents the Council on Aging, where he enjoys chatting with the workers.

The Memorial Day parade in South Dartmouth is one of the highlights of Silva’s year.

“I look forward to it every year,” he said. “Remembering my comrades, that’s why I do it.”

Silva was born in Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 30, 1925. He served overseas from 1943 to 1945.

This year’s Memorial Day parade will be held on Monday, May 30, and will take off from Apponagansett Park at 9:30 a.m.