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Friday May 27, 2016 Edition
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Memorial Day Tribute Honoring And Remembering Those Who Have Passed

William Larrabee
photo by provided
William Larrabee
Winston Whitten.
photo by provided
Winston Whitten.
Ralph Jackman.
photo by provided
Ralph Jackman.
Martin Casey.
photo by provided
Martin Casey.

Friday May 27, 2016

By Cookie Steponaitis

As the bands move down Main Street in the Little City and are joined in celebration by fire trucks, police cruisers, four wheelers, floats, bikes, bagpipes and cheering crowds, there are some chairs that will be empty and voices that will not be raised in celebration. During this past year more of our oldest veterans have passed and the stories and lessons of the Greatest Generation are now being told by the next generation. Memorial Day pays special tribute in honoring all those who have served, continue to serve today and by remembering those who are no longer with us. Without a doubt the Champlain Valley has many special veterans whose lives touched multiple generations through their service. The Valley Voice salutes and honors those who are no longer with us.
    William Larrabee served in the U.S. Navy and Reserves from 1942-1982 and was a Chief Torpedo’s Mate in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1946. Bill served on submarines in the Pacific Theater and had to face the staggering reality that one in every seven men who set to sea in a submarine was lost and one in five subs never returned. Serving his country in a three hundred eleven feet nine inch submarine Bill was in charge of twenty four torpedoes on board each weighing 3300 pounds. “You had to know every bolt, every airline and every hydraulic line,” Bill commented in a 2008 Valley Voice article. “We were sent out on war patrols for an average of sixty to ninety days,” he recalled. “On average we were at depths of 300-450 feet but I had occasion to go to 1100 feet once. When the enemy was on the offensive and depth charging you, you would take your sub deep and rig it for silent running.” Bill explained, “That met all unnecessary machinery was shut off. You did not speak and you even took off your shoes and walked around in your socks. The enemy sonar was increasing in accuracy each year and they could hear a pin drop. Sometimes you would maneuver in a pattern or sometimes you even went to the bottom and sat there, playing dead.” Serving with Larrabee were a unique mixture of men from about twenty different states. Larrabee shared stories of people missing home, sharing stories of their families and in particular one young man from Kansas who swore that the crunching noise you heard in the fields at night was corn growing.
    It was December 2008 when World War Two veteran Winston Whitten sat down to share the story of the morning of November 20,1944 and the sinking of the USS Mississinewa. Winston Whitten joined its crew early in 1944 as a ‘pollywog’ and was moved to the title of ‘shellback’ once the tanker passed through the Panama Canal joining the Pacific Fleet for active duty. The Mississinewa and young crewmember 1st Class Machinist Mate Winston Whitten had been involved in four active missions and engagements in the Pacific including the August 31- September 8, 1944 raids on the volcanic Bonin Islands; September 6 - October 13, 1944 capture and occupation of the Southern Palau Islands and assault on the Philippines and October 10, 1944 support of operations in the Okinawa attack. The tanker was 553 feet long and carried 140,000 barrels of ship fuel and 100,000 gallons of high octane plane fuel. Winston was one of 278 enlisted men and twenty one officers aboard when in the early morning hours a heavy explosion rocked the tanker. Fumes from an aviation cargo tank ignited and the ship was ablaze. Whitten shared in the 2008 interview, “I was a sleep on the well deck, which was in the aft part of the tanker. We were hit by a torpedo from a suicide Japanese sub known as a Kaiten. In Japanese this term translates to ‘the turning of the heavens’. We were knocked out of the bunks and on to the decks. Fire was roaring down the deck. Fire and choking smoke engulfed the ship, forcing us to the stern. I managed to jump and get into a lifeboat that contained several men. We were able to pull some twenty men out of the water. Many were burned badly. We went to the USS Lackawanna, leaving the wounded and went back bringing another fifteen or twenty to safety. Sixty three men went down with the ship that day and the tanker sunk to the bottom.”
    It was August 2009 when Ralph Jackman sat with the Valley Voice staff to talk about service for the country both in time of war and peace. Jackman directed the conversation not only at the topic of his beloved Vergennes Fire Department but to his time of service in World War Two. While most Champlain Valley residents remember Ralph Jackman as Chief Jackman at the helm of the Vergennes Fire Department since 1954, there is in fact another story in Jackman’s life that shaped most of his beliefs about how to strengthen a country whether in uniform for the Armed Services or not. Sitting in a chair at the Vergennes Fire Department Chief Jackman raised his hand and pointed to the Fire Department Motto on the wall. It read simply “Service Above Self” and for Jackman it was more than words. It was the creed that motivated Jackman in all of his roles in the community. Serving his country in World War Two took Jackman into the European Front and one of the war’s most brutal battles The Battle of the Bulge. Speaking to high school students in 2007, Jackman’s voice was quiet and thoughtful as his presentation was recorded. “I’m not quite sure how to take you to that time and place. It was from December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945. The conditions were nothing short of brutal and you were fighting to stay alive, keep territory and to push the enemy back. I wore the same uniform for the entirety of the battle and when I finally was able to take it off and bathe, it stood up on its own, rigid with mud, blood and dirt.” Putting his love of country to work as soon as he came home, Ralph Jackman raised five daughters, Lynn, Christine, Cathy, Susan and Carleen and saw grandchildren and great grandchildren come of age. He officially retired from a twenty-seven year military career in 1971, but served as one of the foundational members of Rotary, American Legion Post #14, and Fraternal Order of Eagles. Ralph served as a delivery person for Meals on Wheels in his last few years and remarked, “It is just the most terrific program. Volunteers deliver the same routes day in and day out and I cannot tell you want that means to the elderly people it serves. It is just so important to continue that work. It really makes a difference in the lives of others.”
    The Little City bid farewell to Martin Casey in 2015 and yet another of the Greatest Generation who came home from service to his nation more committed than ever to make a difference. For many of the Champlain Valley Martin, Ralph, Winston and many more of their generation are linked to countless memories of our childhood and youth. If a civic event was held they were there. If a meeting was held concerning the planning of the town and its future, they would speak. If a committee needed forming it appeared. If a child needed help or a family was in need an aide appeared. Quietly and without much fanfare year in and year out the generation less present at the table this year opened doors, created programs, improved the lives of the county, developed training and safety routines still in place and still found time to be at the baseball games, the lawn sales and school concerts and musicals. They helped renovate churches and were in at the foundations of countless organizations that are community cornerstones to this day. They served out of choice and continued out of commitment. They shook hands with ease and spoke their minds but always listened to opposing viewpoints ready to see a different view. All of them were grounded in life in a small town and a state they loved. All of them cried when the American Flag was raised and laughed with joy as a child caught candy or tapped their feet to the music of the Memorial Day Parade.
    Memorial Day again brings us together as a community and state and lets us pause to hear the voices no longer present and honor their legacy by picking up the call to service and following in their example. As we munch on our ears of corn, grill the perfect burgers and lift our faces to the warmth of a summer sun and celebrate with loved ones, let’s honor and remember those who gave us the freedom to be.


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