A war hero named “Fergie”

 This is Paul Janensch with a Treasure Coast Essay for Memorial Day about a World War II hero from Stuart known as “Fergie,” His full name was Forest K. Ferguson Jr.  Standing 6-foot-3, he was a football star at the old Stuart High School and the University of Florida.  In 1942 he joined the Army.  On D-Day, he led his squad in a successful assault on German defenses so that American forces could move off Omaha Beach.  He was hit in the head by a machine-gun bullet.  Back in Stuart, Fergie, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, did some volunteer coaching but never fully recovered and died in 1954 at age 34.  Around noon today, a ceremony will be held in Stuart’s Bandstand Park on East Ocean Boulevard .  The bandstand will be officially named the Forest K. Ferguson Memorial Bandstand.  I’m Paul Janensch.