A City Council resolution, approved on July 7, 2011, seeking to rename the U.S. Post Office building on West Silver Street after a former postmaster is now federal legislation now on the desk of President Barack Obama.
The council’s resolution, to name the Post Office building in the memory of the late William T. Trant, was sent to U.S. Rep. John W. Olver who sponsored the federal legislation during August OF 2011. The bill was co-sponsored by all nine House members from Massachusetts.
The legislation was approved in the House and sent to the U.S Senate where it was approved Thursday and sent to the White House for the president’s signature.
Trant, a native of Westfield and a standout athlete, playing with a minor league baseball team in the New York Giants’ system, began working in the Post Office after his discharge from the U.S. Army, following the end of World War II.
Trant was named postmaster of the Westfield Post Office, then located in the building at the corner of Main and Broad streets (now the Tavern Restaurant), in 1967, while also serving as the procurement officer at the Springfield Post Office and the director of procurement service for the Northeast Postal District in Hartford, Conn.
Trant enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in five campaigns of World War II. Corporal Trant went ashore on Utah Beach with the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division V during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and was wounded by machine gun fire during the battle. He also participated in the liberation of France and survived the Battle of the Bulge, where the Allied forces beat back Germany’s final attempt to change the tide of the war.
Trant received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five bronze stars, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster for wounds sustained at Normandy and Rhineland.
Trant served on Westfield’s City Council for nearly 20 years and served as Acting Mayor in 1962 following the death of Westfield’s incumbent Mayor.
“William Trant was an exemplary citizen and a wonderful asset to the city of Westfield. I am pleased that this tribute to him is moving forward,” Olver said in a prepared text.
The bill also received crucial support from Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown in the Senate.
“William Trant gives meaning to the oft-quoted words ‘Greatest Generation.’ He took off his uniform after World War II and put on another one. His life of service was exceptional by any measure, from World War II, to the Westfield Post Office, and the Little League fields as a father and grandfather,” Kerry said in a press release. “The Westfield Post Office is already a place for tribute to this great man, now we’re just making it official, and I know this is a proud day for William’s wife, Mary, his daughter, Sally, who followed her father into the postal service, and the entire Trant clan.”
Brown, who has also served in a combat zone as a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard said in a release that “William Trant lived a remarkable life and exemplified what we call ‘the greatest generation.’ Mr. Trant was a highly decorated soldier, serving during World War II in historic battles like the invasion of Normandy. He then returned home to start a family and serve his community in public office and the Postal Service. Massachusetts is grateful for heroes like Mr. Trant, and naming this post office for him is a way of showing our gratitude for all he did for us during his life.”
