veteran

VETERANS HONORED AT SPECIAL

COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

For the second year, MMHS has awarded diplomas to eligible veterans who had to leave high school in order to serve in the military during war times. This year since there were seven recipients, it was decided to hold a special ceremony. The ceremony was held on May 31st, 2003 in the Rose M. Gaffney gymnasium.

The unique military theme of the program became apparent as guests entering the auditorium passed through an Honor Guard cordon formed by the United Veterans of Washington County. The MMHS band opened the program by playing the traditional Pomp & Circumstance while two members of the Honor Guard escorted each honoree to his/her seat.

After welcoming the audience, Ashley Whitman, President of the class of 2003, faced the flag and led the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Respect for our country was further exemplified by the display of a special flag for each branch of the military service. Particularly poignant was the singing of the National Anthem presented a capella by Connie Snider. Connie is a member of the class of 2004 and the granddaughter of Richard Albee whose diploma was awarded posthumously.

In a reversal of the traditional commencement format, the graduating veterans were honored for what they sacrificed by leaving school early and for what they accomplished in life despite being denied the status of a high school graduate. At the podium, former students of MMHS, John Woodman, '51 and John Sprague, '56 expressed gratitude for those contributions by offering the opening and closing prayers, and Leonard Hooper, '44, delivered the Commencement Address. Mr. Hooper is an author, historian, veteran of WWII and the Korean Conflict, and currently is an English Teacher at MMHS. In his speech entitled, "HEROS", Mr. Hooper recalled the hardships of the 1940's and read the roll of Machias area servicemen who made the supreme sacrifice for their country. He concluded his presentation by singing a heartfelt rendition of God Bless America.

Julie Millay, President of the MMHS Alumni Association, presented the representatives of the deceased veterans certificates of appreciation and flower arrangements to decorate the cemetary lots and presented $25 Lifetime Memberships in the MMHS Alumni Association

to the other four graudates.

MMHS Principal, Timothy Reynolds, presented diplomas posthumously to:

Richard C. Albee - U.S. Marines, Class of 1945

Mark A. Babson - U.S. Navy, Class of 1943

Lloyd W. Hill - U.S. Army, Class of 1943

Mr. Albee's diploma was accepted by his daughter, Ruby Smith; Mr. Babson's diploma was accepted by his cousin, Margaret Worden; and Lloyd Hill's diploma was accepted by his sister, Sondra Richards.

Mr. Reynolds then presented diplomas to:

Eugene C. Johnson - U.S. Air Force, Class of 1953

Richard R. Johnson - U.S. Navy & U.S. Army, Class of 1946

Charles S. Saddler - U.S. Army, Class of 1942

Wendall L. White - U.S. Air Force, Class of 1956

Mr. Saddler was hospitalized in Bangor, therefore, his diploma was accepted by his wife, Etta.

The significance of the award was well expressed by Mr. White who served during the Korean Conflict. He stated that while the receipt of a diploma would certainly not enhance employment opportunities, a missing piece of his life had finally been restored.

Mr. Hooper's presentation follows:

Some lines from Elias Liberman's Poem "I Am An American":

My forefathers were America in the making:

They spoke in her council halls;

They died on her battle-fields;

They commanded her ships;

They cleared her forests.

Staunch hearts of mine beat fast at each new star

In the nation's flag.

Keen eyes of mine forsaw her greater glory;

They sweep of her seas,

The plenty of her plains,

The man-hives in her billion-wired cities.

Every drop of blood in me holds a heritage of

patriotism.

In the light of the Liberty torch

"See," said my father, pointing to the flag that

fluttered near,

"That flag of stars and stripes is yours;

It is the emblem of the promised land.

It means, my son, the hope of humanity.

Live for it--die for it!"

Under the open sky of this, my country, I

swear to do so;

And every drop of blood in me will keep that vow.

I am an AMERICAN.

The American Creed by William Tyler Page

"I believe in the United States of America

as a government of the people, by the

people, for the people; who just powers

are derived from the consent of the governed,

a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation

of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one

and inseparable; established upon those principles

of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for

which American patriots sacrificed their lives and

fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to

love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its

laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it

against all enemies."

--Written in 1917, accepted by the United States

House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.

I went to high school in 1941 while war clouds gathered, threatening our bucolic way of life. Every morning of my life (because I lived on Bruce Street, quite near Machias High School) I looked out my bedroom window to spy the edifice which I knew sooner or later held the key to my success or failure. A twelve-year-old about to enter into a paradise only dreamed about before, with poiunding heart approached the school house door and climbed the six steps to that wide gaping door which I felt held all the answers to the mysteryof life. But my mother said that college was beyond my expectations, to educate myself for life and hope for the best. The Great Depression barely over, times were hard. I remember those early years of high school when we made one pair of shoes carry us through the summer and fall and winter and into spring. By the time of spring thaw, I was forming insoles of cardboard to keep the slush and water away from the holes worn in my socks to my bare feet. And the coat made of reverse side of fabric of a hand-me-down and sown on the old Singer sewing machine with the foot pedal was threadbare to say the least. So what she said was true: college cost money and it seemed beyond my expectations.

Don't feel sorry for me. I was not alone. Many classmates started out on this new experience knowing that maybe some dreams needed to be deferred, because it was a time when deferred dreams were commonplace. But just because things sat on the back burner did not mean that the pot would never come to a boil. I didn't know then of the great promise of the GI Bill of Rights which would impact my future. So we plugged along, refusing to admit that success would not be ours.

On December 8, 1941, I was home and in bed in an upstairs bedroom with a case of German measles. Suddenly, the radio was carrying an address of President Franklin D. Rossevelt to the Congress of the United States asking that it declare war on Japan because of a dastardly attack on our country at Pearl Harbor. Who had time now to worry about a home in the sole of a shoe?

The war took many young men from our town, some forever. And we were ever mindful of their sacrifices. Every morning the student body of our high school gathered around the flagpole while a chosen student raised the colors and words of remembrance recalled the friends and relatives gone off to fight in far away lands. We saved our dimes and bought War Stamps every Friday afternoon in the library, and by the time the Pearl Harbor anniversary rolled around in 1943 we'd enough money to buy two jeeps. In addition, the town divided itself up into districts, each with an Air Raid Team, and every boy was expected to serve in some capacity usually to deliver messages from one area to another. And afternoons at the end of the school day, boys stood duty at Air Raid Stations, scanning the sky for enemy planes, while girls manned the telephones at the Command Center in the Country Courthouse. It was a time of sacrifice and devotion to our country.

But life went on. Emma Means opened the Colonial Theater on Main Street where every night and sometimes at matinees for a quarter (or was it ten cents?) the latest flicks flashed on the screen. Barbara Stanwick in Stella Dallas; Bette Davis in Jezebel; and Gene Autry, Tom Mix, and Roy Rogers every Saturday afternoon. Not a seat was empty in the theater as Butterfly McQueen told Vivien Leigh, "Lawsy, Miss Scarlett, I don' know how to birth no baby!"

And there were dances every Saturday night at the Community Hall in Marshfield, never mind that you had to walk home four miles after it was all over. The jitterbugging, the slow dancing, and the contras were worth the wear and tear on shank's mare. And partners were never a problem, for young and old alike never passed up a chance for a dance to the music of Diddy Hall.

I was sixteen when I graduated from Machias High School. Knowing that college was not in the cards, I asked my parents for permission to enlist in the service of my country. My dad was quite proud, and my mother did not cry. During April vacation of 1944, I boarded the train at the Maine Central Railway Station and headed to Portland to enlist in the service branch of my choice the U.S. Navy. Of course, I passed physical; I was as healthy as a hog. And they said to go back home and wait until I reached the age of seventeen before I could go. I was off to war.

But I was not the ony one. I can proudly say that every young man in that graduating class of 1944 served his country in WWII, just as ten of the eleven young men from the class of 1943 the year before donned uniforms and served in far off lands. Three of them gave their lives for their country in that war, Cecil Day, Hobart MacLaughlan, and George Williams.

I will never forget the day that George Williams and Cecil Day entered the ranks of HERO when on June 6, 1944, they both gave their lives in the Allied Invasion of Europe at Normandy Beach so that all of us might enjoy the great freedoms we have today. I walked the streets of Machias that day, pondering the meaning of it all. I often wonder still where they rest, and do we remember them every year on that day of sacrifice with a pilgrimmage to that spot. Shouldn't we?

So is it any wonder that these men we honor today proudly went off to serve this country in time of war--never being concerned at that moment but that the decision they made was right and good. A few short years before heros were made on beaches at Normandy and on battlefields in Europe and the ROLL CALL OF HONORED DEAD urged them onto duty in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

Hear now the names of the Machias High School graduates who gave their lives in WWII, Korean and Vietnam Wars:

Hollis Andrews, Class of 1931

Roger Dunbar, Class of 1932

Merle Clark, Class of 1935

Dan Longfellow, Class of 1936

Kenneth Reynolds, Class of 1936

Victor Churchill, Class of 1940

Sewell Smith, Class of 1941

Cecil Day, Class of 1943

Hobart MacLaughlan, Class of 1943

George Williams, Class of 1943

Edwin Manchester, Class of 1950