The marquee at Bob Rogers Canoe Sales on Route 1 in Wiscasset announces the passing of Marine Sergeant Charles Abbott, and he will be missed.
What the marquee does not say is that Abbott, who served in Vietnam and Desert Storm, was a big man with a big heart. Abbott died following an ATV accident in East Moxie Nov. 16.
Rogers, a close friend, was with Abbott during the last few days of Abbott’s life, at a camp on Moxie Lake.
Rogers and Abbott went to camp on Friday to cut some firewood and do some odd jobs around the camp site. During the weekend, Abbott told Rogers they were going to play on Monday, and take the ATVs for a ride. According to Rogers, that is what they did.
Rogers said Abbott was following Rogers in a separate ATV. At some point, Rogers noticed Abbott’s ATV headlight was no longer in view. At the same time, a car came by and the passengers told Rogers there had been an ATV accident down the road.
Because there was no telephone service in the area, and people in the car were rushing to a phone to report the accident, Rogers said he rushed to the scene to find his friend deceased.
“It is something that I will never forget,” Rogers said.
According to initial reports, Abbott is believed to have struck a tree and speed could have been a factor in the accident, a conclusion Abbott’s wife, Jennie, and close friends have difficulty accepting. His friends say Abbott was never known for speeding. Rogers said he always drove slow, whether it was his motorcycle, a car, or an ATV.
Jennie Abbott said she wants her husband to be remembered for a man that was proud to be an American, proud to be a Marine; a man dedicated to his mother, his wife, his children, his friends, and his animals.
Abbott was born in Damariscotta, and lived in Wiscasset for more than 60 years on his family farm in Wiscasset. He joined the Marines after graduating from Wiscasset High School and served in Vietnam.
When the Desert Storm conflict came up in 1991, he joined the Army to defend his country again. After returning from his military service he began working with young veterans at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Togus in Augusta.
Wiscasset resident Richard Lutes, a native of Newburyport, Mass. recalled a situation in 1969 when he was serving in the U.S. Navy, on a patrol boat, as a F50 gunner in Vietnam, the same time that Abbott was there as a Marine reconnaissance sniper. The two had never met.
According to Lutes, Abbott was pinned down, under heavy fire. Abbott had gone into the water for cover and threw up a flare. Responding to the flare Lutes said he was able to pull Abbot from the water, saving his life.
A while later near Cambodia, Abbott was on the run again from enemy fire and Lutes’ patrol boat was nearby and was able to rescue Abbott again.
After Vietnam the two men did not see each other again for about 30 years. After the war, Lutes was stationed at the Brunswick Naval Air Base, and he later settled in Wiscasset after retirement. Abbott, of course, also came back to Wiscasset after his discharge from his military service.
Lutes said he first saw Abbott at Ships Chow Hall in the early 2000s, and after about three weeks of staring at one another, “I went over to the table where Abbot was sitting, and said, ‘Do you mind if I set down?'” Lutes said. “He said ‘What if I say no?'”
Lutes replied, “I am going to sit down anyway gunny.”
Lutes and Abbott went on to become became very good friends. “He was like a brother to me, and I will miss him very much,” Lutes said.
Abbott was very pleased that his step-son, Dalton Simmons joined the Marines and is currently stationed at Camp Pendleton, in California.
Saturday, Nov. 28, USMC Sergeant Charles Abbott will be laid to rest at the Back Cove Cemetery in Waldoboro, at 1 p.m. with full military honors. His brother David Abbott, of Alna, will officiate at the service.
