Interpreting
the Past - Research by the Windham Town Historian
Honor a Veteran Project, Part 1 - Windham's Civil War Book
Honor
a Veteran Project, Part
2 - Catskill Mountain Post No. 1545, VFW Renamed for Sgt. James F. Carty
Honor
a Veteran Project, Part
3 - Windham's World War I Monument in Hensonville
Honor
a Veteran Project, Part 4- Maplecrest's World War II Roll of Honor
Honor
a Veteran, Part 5 - Windham Township Honor Roll
Honor a Veteran Project, Part 6 - WAJ Roll of Honor, Graduates and Members of
the Faculty
Honor a Veteran Project, Part 7 - National Bank of Windham's World War II Honor Roll Poster
by Patricia Morrow, Windham Town Historian
Originally published in the May 26, 2005, issue of the Windham Journal.
A month after the Windham Township Honor Roll was unveiled, the
Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School classes of 1943 through 1947 presented the
school with an honor roll listing eighty-four graduates and members of the
faculty in the armed forces. The dedication and unveiling of this glass-fronted
case took place during the commencement ceremonies on June 26, 1944. W. Sheridan
Cammer, a member of the school board, gave the dedicatory address.
Several more names were added to the roll by the time World War II ended in
1945. Today the list numbers ninety-nine. The case still hangs on the west wall,
just inside the school's front entrance. The inscription is as follows:
ROLL OF HONOR
OUR GRADUATES AND MEMBERS OF THE
FACULTY SERVING IN THE
ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES
(Column 1) 1919 - Brockett, Donovan G.; Hayes, John N.; 1925 -
Howard, Everett M.; 1927 - Garraghan, John H.; Phelps, Edward J.; Towner, Wesley
L.; 1929 - Furgason, Ernest W.; Moseman, Birdsall; Moseman, Gerald M.; Munger,
Edward S.; Peck, Sheldon N.; 1930 - Hauser, Harold J.; 1931 - Law, Bernard G.;
Mc Glashan, Edward C.; Traphagen, Charles A.; 1932 - Bernhard, Stephen W.;
Smith, William M.; 1933 - Crandell, Donald F.; Goff, Douglas N.; Haner, Frank
H.; Runyan, Stephen A.; 1934 - Munson, Elmer G.; 1935 - Conley, William; Soehl,
Claude F.; Vining, Walter W.; 1936 - Miles, Morton M.; Thompson, Olive C.; 1937
- Beers, Glenn N.
(Column 2) Parker, Jack W.; Rhoades, Robert C.; 1938 - Alberti, Leslie M.;
Biegel, Richard R.; Casper, Robert F.; Constable, R. Truby; Johnson, Angelo G.;
Lane, Clarence D.; Thompson, Donald O.; 1939 - Biegel, Charles L.; Chase, Elbert
O.; Chatfield, John D.; Christman, Stanley A.; DeLong, Floyd F.; Griffin, Sumner
A.; Miller, Horace F.; Rappleyea, Robert H.; Schuchman, William G.; Smith,
Thomas B.; Woodworth, Buell L.; 1940 - Alle, Ivan S.*; Andersen, Victor G.;
Jump, Wallace C.; Lamson, Paul L.; Munson, Harold L.; Pond, Edward H.; Proper,
Harvey B.*; Soehl, Viola A.; Tompkins, Bertram C.; 1941 - Alberti, Alice M.;
Biegel, William R.; Colson, Conrad H.; Fancher, Richard L.; Hayden, Thomas J.;
Lee, Hugh E.; Mattice, Robert E.; Morrow, Gerald E.; Moseman, Morton S.;
Shoemaker, Richard S.
(Column 3) Tompkins, Franklyn C.; Van Valkenburgh, Lillian; Van Valkenburgh,
Vivian; Zegel, David F.; 1942 - Elbrecht, Henry B.; Ford, Newton B.; Makely,
Fred A.; Ostrander, Earl J.; Spencer, William M.; Turk, Donald E.; 1943 - Cammer,
S. Wallace; Haner, Thomas K.; Johnson, Jeanette L.; Kupka, Eugene C.; Maier,
Walter J.; Siegmann, William N.; Valentino, Joseph C.; 1944 - Andersen, Nielsen
M.; Lane, Eli; Snyder, Robert O.; Zegel, Robert P.; 1945 - Elbrecht, James J.;
Hoffman, Richard H.; Johnson, Donald C.; Miller, Richard A.; Morse, Richard G.;
Stein, Alfred J.; Tompkins, Harold N.; Munson, Gwen; Faculty - Peck, Sheldon N.;
Vail, Carleton M.; Wilhelm, Muriel L.
In the lower right corner is a brass plaque that says, ""PRESENTED BY
THE CLASSES OF 1943 - '44 - '45 - '46 - '47."
A photograph of this honor roll was used in the 1945 WAJ school yearbook, The
Wajerian. The caption below that picture is as follows: ""To those
whose names are recorded above, and to scores of others who have attended this
school, and are serving their country on land, on the sea, or in the air, we
dedicate this book. We are justly proud of them and salute them in this manner
with the hope that their valiant efforts in the cause of democracy may help to
bring lasting peace to a war-weary world."
It has been pointed out that the names of James Barker, Class of 1939; Walter
Johnson, Class of 1943; Gordon Spaulding and Leonard Mallory, both from the
Class of 1944; Donovan Andrus, Class of 1945; Lyle Sokoll, Class of 1946; Audrey
Maben, Class of 1947; and William Soules, Class of 1948, should be added to this
roster. All left school to join the service. In recent years each man has been
awarded a diploma, some posthumously, having supplemented their educational
requirements with military service and a lifetime of experience.