Trumbull Barton Collection, 1942-1946 | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

Trumbull Barton, often referred to as “Tug,” was born on August 8, 1917, in Worcester, Massachusetts to George Summer Barton and Elizabeth Trumbull Lincoln. Barton attended the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, and entered the Yale School of Drama in the fall of 1935, where he studied theater.  Barton left Yale in 1937 and worked briefly for Ina Claire and Otto Preminger.

In October 1941 Barton applied to the American Field Service (AFS) as an ambulance driver, and set sail for the Middle East on the S.S. El Nil from New York the following  January. In July 1942 Barton was attached to the 11 Ambulance Car Company (ACC), which was subsequently renamed the 485 Company (Coy). He was also assigned to the 15 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) in September 1942 and later attached to the 567 ACC in April 1943. Barton was transferred to the AFS Headquarters in August 1943 before being repatriated to the United States in January 1944. He reapplied to AFS in March 1945 and served as an ambulance driver in the France-Germany Campaign before being repatriated to the United States again in June 1945. Barton was awarded the Africa Star with Eighth Army Clasp for his services with AFS during the war.

After the war, Barton was involved with the theater in London and New York City, where he lived with his partner, John McCugh.  Trumbull Barton died at age 86 on October 31, 2003, in New York.