By M.I. MacDonald
Atlantic News, October 22, 1998
the call, and are still serving. (left to right:) Ken Buell, Gus Fatello, Otis
Cushman, Edwin Hobson, and Elinor Brown.
[Atlantic News Photo by M.I. MacDonald]
HAMPTON -— On Saturday, October 17, Hamptons’ American Legion Post #35 honored its members with a Veterans’ Appreciation Dinner. With an affordable but gourmet dinner served up by Joe Kutt of Joe’s Meat Shop (also Commander of the Post), and music provided by D.J. John Emery, there were a lot of smiling faces at the full-house event.
And there were as many stories as there were faces. When Kutt, who also emceed the evening asked the attendees to stand up and identify themselves and briefly state the capacity which they served in the military, each vet in the room, man and woman, told their name and their branch, and in some cases reeled off a short-list of some of the battles they had fought during the conflicts in which they served: World War I (double-ya-double-ya One), World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, U.S. Coast Guard ….
It was a history lesson all by itself just hearing the place names that for some are relegated to the history books, but for others who were there have been committed to memory. Okinawa, Iwo Jima, the European Theatre, the Persian Gulf. And those are just the name tags. Those are just the short stories of which volumes could be spoken, of which history books indeed have been written.
But perhaps one of the most striking stories to tell was not of the hard times seen by the veterans, either during their time of service or in the years and decades that followed, for some fraught with visits to the VA Hospital to treat the physical wounds inflicted in war or the emotional battles that can linger on long after the gunfire fades; perhaps one of the stories that is most striking is not of the hard times, but of the fast friendships made, friendships that started early and endured.
(center) puts down his apron for a moment to share a warm hug with
Elinor Brown (right) and an unidentified guest, at the American
Legion’s Veterans’ Appreciation Night dinner on October 17, 1998.
[Atlantic News Photo by M.I. MacDonald]
Hampton is a town of veterans. With over 100 in attendance just at this one dinner, that is evident. And not only there, but in every avenue of daily life here in Hampton, they are “still serving,” in many capacities: through membership not only in the legion but in the school administration, on the various town committees, and in their attendance at meetings and events. And in their participation in their families and their businesses, they continue to serve their community.
Though not all the veterans at Saturday night event knew each other well, one in preface to the stories exchanged among them was often, “Oh, I could show you our first grade class picture. We’ve been friends since the first grade.” When friendships span more than six decades, three wars, and still return home to Hampton, it gives a whole new depth to the phrase “Home Town”.