Since its first year of publication, the Gazette has sought to provide space to pay tribute to Hampton’s veterans. One honored tradition is the cover of every July issue, which is always reserved for the Memorial Day Addresses that honor our veterans, some of whom have delivered these speeches. Our most recent speaker, Mike Castillo, spoke of his service in the deserts of Iraq. Bob Grindle, the only speaker thus far to have served in the Vietnam War, spoke also of his protests afterward. Gordon Hansen, who spoke several times, and Jim Rodriguez were representatives of the Korean War. There were common themes among them: of serving in faraway places, the camaraderie among soldiers, the hope of peace, the longing for home, and especially of those who never returned.
Most of the veterans who delivered Memorial Day Addresses were on active duty during World War II, their service varied and heroic. Wendell Davis, who fought in the Pacific, Richard Schenk, who participated in the Normandy Invasion, Arthur Osborne and John Woodworth who served in the European Theater, Tom Gaines, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and Charlie Halbach, who spoke of the wartime efforts on the home front here in Hampton. We’re honored to have preserved for posterity their witness and their words of profound wisdom.
Along the line of recalling where we were on momentous occasions such as Kennedy’s assassination, or more recently, 911, the August 1995 issue commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Victory in Japan with Pearl Scarpino’s interview of veterans who remembered where they were when they heard the news of the war’s end. Some, like Larry Henri and Mario Fiondella, were still in training. Others, like John Woodworth and Arthur Pearl had returned from the war. Walt Stecko and Maurice Caya were in the Pacific. Henry Moon and Vincent Scarpino were both in Marseilles, after their respective service in North Africa and Germany, and both were preparing to set sail for the Pacific Theater. And while Robert Jones had been recently released as a prisoner of war in Germany, Charlie Halbach was still there when he heard that the war had ended.
A number of contributors have written of Leslie Jewett, Hampton’s only casualty of World War II. Jean Wierzbinski’s most comprehensive article detailed the role Sergeant Jewett and his infantry division played in “Operation Overload”, which would become known as D-Day. The description of the tragic demise of those soldiers who were first to storm the Omaha Beach overwhelms us with a sense of sadness and of pride for our hometown hero who sacrificed his life so that that horrific chapter of the world’s history could finally come to an end.
The 98-year-old American Legion Post established in 1919 by three veterans of World War I was rededicated after World War II. News of the Leslie Jewett American Legion Post 106, their meetings and membership, has been regularly reported in The Hampton Gazette, and in 1990, the post was recognized as the “Volunteer of the Year” for its continual service in organizing the Memorial Day Parade and for a special project, the Veteran’s Memorial on the front lawn of the Town Hall which honors the veterans who lived in Hampton at the time of their service in the armed forces. Plans for the memorial were first reported in 1988, when a meeting of interested citizens and legion members formed a committee to erect a new monument to the soldiers who served since the 1920 memorial on the town green was dedicated “in honor of the men of Hampton who answered their country’s call in the great world war of 1917-1919”. The article detailed the cost and efforts needed to facilitate the project, with Austin and Marion Emmons collecting and verifying the names of the 137 veterans of World War I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and over $7000 raised. Veterans of earlier wars are also remembered on the granite and bronze memorial.
In 2016 we started a series, Those Who Serve, which provided space for our veterans to share their military experiences, starting with Mario Fiondella, who served in the post war occupation of Japan. Other World War II veterans we interviewed were Charles Pike, who served in the South Pacific, Clarence Thornton, who was sent to England, France, Belgium, and Germany, Tom Gaines, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and Harold Haraghey, who spent time in post war Germany. The Korean War was represented by Gordon Hansen, who served on the front lines, James Rodriguez, who was in the Sahara Desert, and Felix Winters, who trained troops in Puerto Rico. We also interviewed veterans of the “Cold War”, Fred Curry, who was stationed in Greenland in the Arctic Circle keeping an eye on the Russians, and Wayne Stoddard, keeping the same vigilance in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The distance of time facilitated interviews with Vietnam War veterans Jamie Boss, Stan Crawford, Joe Wierzbiniski, Juan Arriola, and another hometown hero, Randy Thompson. Our most recent contributors – Dan Postemski, who served in Iraq and Alex Muir, who is stationed in South Korea.
We thank all of those who have shared their stories with us through our series and through their speeches. Their words have reminded us, enlightened us, and given us an opportunity to honor “those who serve”.
We invite all veterans to an interview so that we may acknowledge your great service to us. And we invite residents on Veterans’ Day, and every day, to remember those who have served, and especially during the holidays, those who are serving still.