Salute to ‘Red’

FAMILY HONOR: Hanson Veterans’ Services director Bob Arsenault presents a memorial American flag to Army Sgt. James F. ‘Red’ Harrington’s surviving siblings, from left, Jean Croghan, Rose Dunlea, Jack Harrington (front) and Mary Tucker. Photo by Tracy Seelye

HANSON — Korea is called the Forgotten War as it was, and remains, a stalemate paused by a lingering cease-fire that many political and military leaders wanted to put behind them.

But the families and hometowns of the Korean War’s wounded and fallen have never forgotten, even when honors were delayed.

On Saturday, Sept. 26 Hanson saluted Army Sgt. James F. “Red” Harrington, who was killed in Korea on April 8, 1951.

“It was very moving, also it’s been a long time coming,” his sister, Jean Croghan, said after the ceremony dedicating a memorial corner at the Hancock Street ball field where her four brothers used to play baseball. “The whole family feels terrific. We’re pleased with the turnout and support we’ve received.”

Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said it was a day for which Hanson could be proud.

“It’s a nice hometown, small town event where people get together and get united for an effort to honor somebody who gave his life in defense of freedom for others,” Young said.

Like many who served in Korea, Sgt. Harrington was a veteran of military service, having joined the Army in 1946 and served two years before going on reserve status.

During his junior year at Boston College in 1950, he was recalled to active duty and sent to Korea in January 1951.

“I can’t say he was a diamond in the rough — he was a diamond,” Croghan said, noting he had always been a fine example for his younger siblings, especially his younger brothers. “We still miss him.”

Saturday’s program, held at 10 a.m. on the ball field, began with bagpiper Don Teague playing a selection of service hymns and other selections, including “Scotland the Brave,” before Veterans’ Services Director Bob Arsenault began the ceremony by introducing Croghan and her surviving brother and sisters, Jack Harrington, Rose Dunlea and Mary Tucker.

Members of the Tech. Sgt. Elmer R. Hammond American Legion Post 226 Honor Guard also took part in the ceremony along with Young and fellow Selectmen Bill Scott, James McGahan and Kenny Mitchell.

“I’d like to thank everybody for turning out this morning,” Arsenault said. “It’s a beautiful day — Red’s looking down upon us. You can’t ask for much better weather.”

Arsenault outlined the all-too-brief story of Sgt. Harrington’s service in Korea, where he had volunteered for the mission of forward observer.

“During Korea, when you were a forward observer, it was a very dangerous position,” he said. “You were out in the front lines in the hills and the mountains of Korea and the North Koreans would try to triangulate on your position. A lot of these forward observers, unfortunately, did not make it home.”

Jack Harrington spoke for the family during the emotional program, quipping that he had prepared a 10-page speech about his big brother.

“Red, you’d be proud,” he began, speaking in front of a silhouetted figure of a soldier mourning a fallen comrade. “I feel very privileged and honored to be asked to speak about my brother, James.”

He noted a tragic family lineage of sacrifice for country — his maternal great uncle, Sgt. James F. Healy, was killed in WWI; a cousin, Sgt. James F. Healy was killed in WWII and his brother, James F. Harrington, was killed in Korea. His mother asked her remaining children not to name their sons James F., he said before introducing his oldest son, James F. Harrington, to applause.

“They say the good die young — I’ll live to be 120,” Harrington said. “But James was surely good. He was good looking, good at football, good at basketball, good at baseball, good at fishing, good at studying. He was good to his mother and father, his sisters and his brothers.

“He was a good soldier,” he continued. “He was a gentleman — a man of good breeding and refined manners.”

Harrington said the letters in Red’s nickname stood for regular (conforming, straight), educated (cultivated, disciplined) and dependable.

He quoted a letter the family had received from a Jesuit chemistry professor of Red’s from Boston College: “Jim was a good, humble, enthusiastic boy who was a joy to a teacher. I’m sure that he would have developed into a good chemist. … He was unspoiled by the world and I think of him as a boy loved by God and carried to heaven lest he should be contaminated by the world.”

Arsenault read citations in honor of the dedication from the General Court of the Commonwealth and Gov. Charlie Baker before presenting an American flag in a shadowbox to the Harrington family on behalf of the president, governor and citizens of Hanson. He thanked all those who helped make the ceremony possible, including Highway Surveyor Bob Brown and his crews, selectmen, Sons of the American Legion, Mike Means and Bob Hayes.

The Rev. Kwang H. Lee, vicar of St. Joseph the Worker Church offered the closing prayer, followed by Teague’s playing of “Amazing Grace” and Jack Harrington leading the crowd in singing “God Bless America.”

Sgt. Harrington’s siblings then threw ceremonial first pitches to four children, symbolic of renewed life for the old ball field.

More photos from the event can be viewed on the Whitman-Hanson Express Facebook page.

ROLLING HONOR: Whitman businessman Mark Shadley customized this Harley to salute Medal of Honor recipients. Photo by Tracy Seelye.

WHITMAN — When someone calls on you to help honor the nation’s Medal of Honor recipients, you answer the call.

So when Mark Shadley of Auto Tec/Shadley Bros in Whitman was approached by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes to create a motorcycle to make that salute, he readily agreed.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s convention met it Boston last week, where the society’s 79 members were asked to sign parts of the custom Harley-Davidson. Whitman sign company owner Gary Heager did the artwork, which included graphics of valor in action from the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes’ website, barbed-wire trim design to salute decorated POWs and copper accents fashioned from brightwork that came from the USS Constitution.

“It was real cool,” Shadley said of the honor. “They loved it. We tried to do it right for them.”

The bike was displayed during the Medal of Honor Convention at the Seaport Trade Center and will be placed on permanent display in a memorial being built next to the Moakley Federal Courthouse.

“It’s also going to be on display at all the veteran runs — they’re going to move it all around,” Shadley said. “This memorial is the first one of these in the country.”

The bike started out as a 2015 FLH-X, valued ad $21,000. Shadley said it’s value is now closer to $50,000.

“We tore it all down,” he said. “I changed the front fender, the rear fender, made the dashboard, the exhaust pipes [which feature a rotating mini-Gatling gun design], I made the lights, made the shifter.”

They took the engine apart to diamond-cut the cylinders.

Direction-signal housings are designed from large-caliber bullet casings and the front features the campaign ribbons of all service areas represented by the Medal of Honor recipients as well as three depictions of the medal itself. It also features the seals of the Medal of Honor Society and the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes.

“We tried to build a bike that was not a clown bike, one that was being respectful of what the Medal of Honor means instead of having a bike with machine guns hanging off it and all kinds of craziness,” Shadley said. “We build a lot of motorcycles, so they called us to do it and we were happy to do it.”

Learning ‘Rules’ of writing

A MILE IN OTHER SHOES: Cynthia Lord’s book, ‘Rules,’ was a school-wide reading project this summer. Courtesy image.

HANSON — In a way, summer vacation lasted a few more weeks for Indian Head School students than others in the W-H district.

They just last week enjoyed the finale of a school-wide summer reading project between Indian Head students and the Maquan School second-grade pupils promoted to third grade at Indian Head.

Newbury Silver Award-winning author Cynthia Lord visited the school on Thursday, Sept. 17 to talk about her life and work as a writer. Students read Lord’s book, “Rules,” about autism and acceptance of differences over the summer.

“Because we house the autism program for the district in this building, we thought it would be important to have a book like that,” Principal Diane White said on the last day of school June 25.

Lord began her visit at an assembly of all three grades before meeting with students in each grade level separately. It was Lord’s second school visit in as many days in Massachusetts. The Maine resident and former teacher spent the day at a middle school in Blackstone Wednesday, Sept. 16.

To illustrate the writing process, she led the children in the creation of a story. Grade four was up first, as the students learned that becoming a writer is a little like the old joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall.

“Practice.”

Her slide presentation began at her own beginnings — a one-page story she wrote in the first grade.

“We all start somewhere as writers,” she said. “I did four things between this early story and [“Rules”] that helped me get there.”

Read. Practice. Learn. Dream.

She asked the boys and girls for the titles of the books they just couldn’t put down. There were few duplicates as she called on several among the large number of students raising their hands. Lord also made sure that they knew writing, like many other skills, takes practice and a willingness to learn from your mistakes.

For her fourth point, she noted a comment from her second-grade report card:

“Cynthia would rather stare out the window than get her work done,” it read.

“Sometimes, when I’m staring out the window, I’m goofing off and that’s not a good thing,” she said. “But other times I’m thinking, and thinking is a very important part of writing.”

As autism acceptance was also the theme for the reading project, Lord talked about the inspiration for “Rules.”

The book was published April 1, 2006, but it started when her 12-year-old daughter Julia, now 25, asked her a question: “Mom, how come I don’t ever see families like ours in books?” Lord’s son Gregory, now 23, was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

There were some out there at the time, but Lord felt the stories about autistic characters were sad.

“It’s funny to live with my son, because he’ll say those things that you and I think but don’t say,” she said. “I think I was writing the book my daughter couldn’t find.”

Her audience had evidently read her book very closely, asking thoughtful questions about the story and answering her question in detail.

Some students were touched more closely by the book than as a fan of a good story. One student told Lord that her heroine Katherine’s love of art inspired his passion to draw.

“My brother has autism, so when I read the book it made me feel really good that someone wrote a book about autism,” another boy said.

He also told her that he’s working on his own book series called “Superbacon,” the inspiration for which came to him over breakfast one morning. His friends thought that sounded really cool. Lord agreed.

The boy’s first “Superbacon” story won first prize in a writing contest.

After her grade four presentation, Lord was surrounded by students eager to speak with her. She was equally impressed by them.

“They had very good questions,” she said. “They asked really thoughtful questions.”

She noted there’s more awareness of autism now than when “Rules” was originally published, partly thanks to the character of Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the CBS comedy, “The Big Bang Theory.”

The show’s humor is an effective tool toward helping foster acceptance of autistic people, she said.

Children can also take a leadership role in that acceptance.

“I think, sometimes, we don’t encourage kids to talk about people who are different, because we are so concerned about not hurting somebody’s feelings,” Lord said. “We teach little kids that it’s not OK to talk about differences, but then those differences exist and they choose not to interact with people who are different.”