It was the most iconic anti-war image of the Vietnam era: A flower, set against a yellow background, with the words — suggesting a child’s handwriting — “War is not healthy for children and other living things.”
Designed in 1965 by activist/artist/mother Lorraine Schneider, it became the logo for an organization called Another Mother for Peace.
It was incorporated into posters, flyers, newsletters, datebooks, buttons, cards and jewelry, and became an internationally recognized plea for peace.
More than half a century later, it’s back.
Westporter Cathy Utz and Fairfield resident Grayson Craddock have resurrected, redesigned and redeployed it, to fight another war: the one against social media.
Cathy Utz
A 1979 graduate of Staples High School, Utz was too young to participate in anti-Vietnam marches or rallies.
But she knew the poster well. It hung for years in the home of Estelle Margolis, the mother of a family friend and a longtime Westport peace advocate.
Today, Utz is a therapist. Her 3 sons are adults. But in her work she sees the negative impacts of social media on young people, and their families.
Craddock’s children are 15, 13 and 7. He too knows the pressures and problems caused by social media.
Craddock — a graphic designer — works with Utz’s husband, Tom Greenwald, in Broadway advertising.
Grayson Craddock
He was unfamiliar with the “War is not healthy …” design. But when Utz came to him with the idea of recreating it for the modern era, he understood the need.
And what was needed.
He had to transfer the feel of the poster, without infringing on creative rights. And it had to feel as if a young person made it.
Craddock worked with paper. He spent a day cutting out pieces, and arranging them with a glue stick. Then he took photos.
When Craddock showed his work to friends, they understood immediately. Even more tellingly, they noticed it evoked child’s play, like crafts, which have fallen out of favor lately.
Because of the pull of social media.
In the 1960s, Schneider’s art raised money for Another Mother for Peace.
Utz and Craddock — who donated all his time and talent — searched for a modern-day non-profit that could benefit from this one.
They found the Organization for Social Media Safety. Called “the first consumer protection organization exclusively focused on social media, they help protect against social media dangers like cyberbullying, sextortion, sexual harassment, anxiety, depression, suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, substance abuse and trafficking.
They work with schools, youth groups and corporations, and have developed both a K-12 curriculum and free program for parents.
Craddock also designed a website: SocialMediaIsNotHealthy.com. Through it, he and Utz offer merchandise with the updated design, including posters, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, bumper stickers, decals — and smartphone cases.
“We are well aware of the irony that our message has to go out via social media,” Utz says.
“Social media by itself is not bad. But we have to be aware of its bad effects.”
The website, she and Craddock hope, will “remind us to be more mindful, and dial our use back.”
(“06880” encourages limited social media use. But before you shut off your device today, please click here to contribute to “06880.” Our blog IS healthy, for children and other living things. Thanks!)
Carl Addison Swanson reminds us that today is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
Memorializing the date in 1973 when the last American ground troops left Vietnam, it is a day of recognition, remembrance, healing and education.
Swanson – a longtime Westport resident, Staples High School graduate, and author of books about Vietnam — has a special connection to today.
He served there.
About 2.7 million other Americans did as well. 58,000 died there.
And 300,000 of Swanson’s comrades have died since the end of the war, from exposure to Agent Orange.
Vietnam Memorial wall, in Washington.
Swanson says that according to government statistics, on any given night 40,000 veterans are homeless. Half are from the Vietnam era.
49 Westporters served in Vietnam, Swanson notes. One was a woman, Clistie Spearen, who joined the Navy after graduating from Staples in 1966. She ended up an E-9, after 20 years as a “WAVE.”
Meanwhile, a group of local women, calling themselves “Project Hope,” sent care packages to every Westporter in Vietnam each month, for over 5 years.
“Their chocolate chip cookies were legendary,” Swanson says. “It speaks to the compassion of many who chose not to protest, but to do something directly for the military personnel.”
Five Westporters never came home.
A plaque in Veterans Green, opposite Town Hall, honors their service.
One of those 5 is Timothy Barmmer. In 2012, “06880” honored him, with this story:
The World War I and II memorials across from Town Hall are impressive.
But nearby lies a smaller, less-noticed plaque. This one salutes 5 Westporters killed in Vietnam. Timothy M. Barmmer (Marine Corps), Michael B. Paquin and Stephen A. Shortall (Army) and Frederick M. Rader III and Francis A. Walsh (Air Force) are cited for their “honorable service in Southeast Asia, in the face of uncommon adversity.”
Westport’s Vietnam Memorial, opposite Town Hall.
In January 1968 — more than a year after arriving in Vietman — Tim Barmmer wrote to his parents in Westport:
Listen, I’m sorry I’ve waited so long, but I went to Bangkok for 7 days, and when I got back we were pretty busy.
I guess you’ve heard a lot about Khe Sanh on the news & stuff, but DON’T WORRY! I’ll be honest, we’ve been getting hit with rocket & artillery every day, & they’ve surrounded us, but if you’ve seen the support we get, you’d feel as good as I do.
We have built a bunker so good, NOTHING could get through it — believe me.
Lance Corporal Tim Barmmer
We have jets bombing the area every 15 minutes, gunships, & B52 bombers every day. Feel a little better? I have not been SCRATCHED. The American flag flies atop our hole, unscathed!
We call ourselves the “glorious untouchables” and we’ve been put in for two more medals. How about that?
I’m pretty sure they’ll be pulling us out after all this is over, ’cause we’ve lost about 40 in a month — maybe we’ll go to Okinawa or something!
Bangkok was REALLY GREAT! I’m gonna go back there some day — met some really good people there. Thailand people are really friendly & good to Americans. It was terrific R&R!
I have a lot of work to do. Take care of yourself, and remember – I AM FINE — morale is terrific, and the guys are fighting their hearts out. Keep praying as I am, and we’ll keep fighting for you.
I made TV carrying a wounded News Coresspondent down the street — look for me on CBS! How about that?
Don’t worry, please. Give my love to all, and I’ll see you in 4 1/2 months. Love you all,
Tim.
Two days later — on January 30, 1968 — Lance Corporal Timothy M. Barmmer was killed by enemy fire. He was 20 years old.
Tim Barmmer’s company.
A recon corpsman said, “He died in my arms. He died trying to get someone else in the bunker during incoming… Tim was literally throwing people in (the bunker). Shrapnel got to him.”
Later, Tim’s parents received a letter from a woman named Viola Howes. Her son Roger had often written about Tim — his best friend, and someone who “made this place bearable.”
This time, Roger wrote about his best friend’s death. Viola wanted another mother to read Roger’s words:
Yesterday evening we were sitting in our bunker eating C rations and a rocket came in about 3 feet from it. Huck (Tim’s nickname), Doc, Mac and Zeke were outside heating chow. Huck tried to push them in like the big stupid loveable guy he was and took the blast and was killed instantly. The other 3 are in serious condition and sent back to the States.
My God, what a dear friend we’ve lost, Huck was big and big hearted, he could be gruff yet gentle. We loved him like a brother and he left an impression that could never be forgotten. Everyone in our company could not help but like him. He was first to help a new guy coming in. He was the first one to welcome me here. This place can never be the same without him.
God has some purpose in it I know, but Oh God, we will miss him. Could you do me a very great favor and have a Mass said for Huck. His name is Timothy Barmmer. Thanks Mom, so much.”
His name lives forever, too, in the much smaller — but no less significant — Vietnam veterans’ plaque opposite Town Hall, right here in Tim Barmmer’s hometown.
The request by owners to demolish the 112-year-old, 8,500-square foot home at 114 Beachside Avenue is remarkable enough.
As first reported by Westport Journal, the Tudor mansion includes 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 2 half-baths, a wooden deck, and a brick patio and terrace.
Alert “06880” reader — and longtime Westporter — Don Willmott writes:
“The owners in the 1970s were family friends. I have fond memories of running around that gorgeous house, the biggest one I had ever been in. The sweeping lawn, which sloped gently down to the Sound, was stunning.”
114 Beachside Avenue
But that’s not all.
As Don notes, the home was later owned by Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas. Her “diva-like antics there were memorialized by her disgruntled butler in the nutty 1990 tell-all book, ‘That Girl and Phil.'”
“it’s sad to see it go,” Don says. “I hope someone salvages the beautiful woodwork before the bulldozer arrives.”
As large as Phil and Marlo’s mansion was, it’s dwarfed by new construction closer to Long Island Sound. Take a look:
Phil Donohue and Marlo Thomas’s “old” 8,500-square foot house is at the top (north) of this photo.(Photo courtesy of Don Willmott)
The newer and spectacularly larger house is at the bottom of the property. Clearly, the 1911 home has to go.
But that’s not the only multi-million-dollar shoreline home that will soon be torn down.
In fact, demolition of 34 Owenoke Park has already begun.
That 4,600-square foot, 5-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath house was built in — are you sitting down? — 2016.
The owners are demolishing it — along with the property they own next door — to build a new one.
There are some interesting items on next Monday’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting (April 3, 7 p.m., Zoom). They include:
A request by the 1st Selectwoman, on behalf of Westport PAL, to remove the Doubleday clubhouse at PJ Romano Field (behind Saugatuck Elementary School), and replace it with a new, larger structure.
An application to convert the existing 120-bed skilled nursing facility at 1 Burr Road (next to from Kings Highway Elementary School) into a 68-bed memory care facility.
A pre-application meeting (no public comment) on a proposed 8,000-square foot commercial recreational facility, behind the electrical sub-station behind Coffee An’ and The Grapevine.
Also on the agenda: an expected pro forma request to release the site bond for 1076 Post Road East. That’s the supposed site of an Amazon Fresh grocery store, replacing the former Barnes & Noble.
Exterior work has been completed, along with parking lot and sidewalk improvements. So — according to law — the bond must be returned.
Even if, as seems increasingly likely, Amazon Fresh will never move in.
(Click here for the Zoom link to Monday’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.)
Carl Addison Swanson — a Staples High School graduate and Vietnam veteran — writes:
The 2017 Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act recognizes the over 3 million Americans who served in our military from November 1955 to March 1975.
[Signed into law by President Trump on March 28, 2017], the date is particularly significant. It marks the date we finally left Vietnam for good (March 29 1975).
Forty-four Westporters served in Vietnam. Five did not come home, as noted on the plaque in Veterans Green across from Town Hall.
Westport’s Vietnam memorial, in Veterans Green.
Over 58,000 Americans lost their lives in Vietnam in combat. Over 300,000 have died in the decades following, due to exposure to Agent Orange.
Today is a day to remember those who made it home, those who didn’t, and a reminder that although our country was deeply divided during Vietnam, most of our wounds healed. Eventually. Maybe? Some day?
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US Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery was joined by leading law enforcement representatives at last night’s “United Against Hate: Identifying, Reporting and Preventing Hate Crimes” session.
The Westport Library hosted the interactive program, in collaboration with the US Attorney’s Office, Westport PRIDE, Westport and Norwalk chiefs of police, and the Connecticut State Police’s Hate Crimes Unit.
Vanessa Roberts Avery, US Attorney for Connecticut, at last night’s Westport Library event. (Photo/Dan Woog)
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Only 3 days remain in The Great Westport Pizza Contest.
There are 8 categories (Best Slice, Personal, Meat, Gluten-free, Veggie, Plain, Delivered and Flat Bread Pizza), and 14 participating restaurants (Cuatro Hermanos, Gallo Express, Golden Pizza, Joe’s, Julian’s Kitchen, La Plage, Old Mill Grocery & Deli, Outpost Pizza, Pizza Lyfe, Rizzuto’s, Romanacci, The Spotted Horse, Tutti’s and Via Sforza).
Anyone can vote online. Every voter is entered in a drawing, to win a free pizza from one of the 8 winning restaurants.
Winning restaurants receive plaques from the sponsoring Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce. For more information and to vote, click here.
Enjoying pizzas at Old Mill Grocery & Deli — one of the participants in the Great Pizza Contest — are (from left) 2nd Selectwoman Andrea Moore, Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce director Matthew Mandell, Police Chief Foti Koskinas, 3rd Selectwoman Candice Savin and 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker.
Bedford Middle School students do know rocket science.
And many other types.
Last weekend, 2 BMS Science Olympiad cleaned up at the Connecticut championships.
After a long, grueling day in Coventry, they won 15 out of the 23 gold medals. Events ranged from Anatomy & Physology and Bio Process Lab to Codebusters and Experimental design.
The teams have practiced since the fall, under the guidance of teachers Dr. Daniel Cortright and Kathry Nicholas.
The wins earn the Bedford squads a trip to Kansas in May. They’ll represent Connecticut in the National Science Olympiads.
“Gold Coast Mystery Series” author Timothy Cole reads and chats at the Westport Book Shop next month (April 13, 6 p.m.).
The series includes “The Sea Glass Murders” (a Connecticut Book Award finalist), “Murder This Close,” and recently published “The Moscow Five.”
Timothy Cole
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The Greens Farms Garden Club invites everyone to meet Trish Manfredi. The noted floral designer and flower show judge will create art with surprise plant materials, and containers presented by the audience.
The event is next Tuesday (April 4, 11 a.m., Green’s Farms Church). Refreshments will be served.
Trish Manfredi
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“06880” has mentioned “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” twice already.
The Coleytown Company production opens this Friday (7 p.m.). at CMS. The show also runs Saturday (April 1, 1 and 7 p.m.) and Sunday (April 2, 1 p.m.).
We normally wouldn’t add another plug. But Inna Agujen Veloso’s video may be the best middle school sizzle reel ever made.
Bridgewater Chocolate welcomes New York artist and fashion illustrator Kelsey Linnartz to their Main Street store on April 8 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
She’ll customize ivory boxes, using her trademark bright colors — with a purchase, of course.
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Longtime Weston resident Joan Williams died peacefully Monday evening. She was 87.
Joan moved to Weston in the early 1970’s with her first husband, commercial artist Paul Williams. She was a very successful businesswoman who worked first for a commercial art studio in Detroit. She moved to a management position at Weston Racquet Club, helping it to flourish through the ’80s.
She later became the first employee of Newman’s Own. Joan worked with Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner, handling finances of the company for 28 years and earning the tile of CFO.
Joan loved her home. She enjoyed playing tennis, collecting art and antiques, listening to music and singing, reading, gardening, and spending time with her Scottish terriers and cats.
Her family says, “Joan will be remembered for her frank and honest manner as a beautiful woman.”
She is survived by her husband Steve Campbell, stepson Adam Campbell, nephew Mark Kalnow and niece Sheryl Reiber.
At Joan’s request there will be no funeral or public memorial service, just a private gathering. In lieu of cards and flowers, contributions may be made to the Yale Eye Center at Yale New Haven Hospital.
(From Amazon Fresh and the PAL clubhouse, to Beachside Avenue and Owenoke Park, “06880” covers the town. Please consider supporting us. Click here — and thank you!)
W.E.B. DuBois — the writer, professor and civil rights activist — was once called “the most dangerous man in America.”
Decades later, Henry Kissinger said the same thing about Daniel Ellsberg.
It’s fitting then that The University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s W.E.B. DuBois Library houses hundreds of boxes of Ellsberg’s papers.
UMass is also home of the Ellsberg Institute for Peace and Democracy. Its director is professor of history Christian Appy.
Appy — one of America’s foremost Vietnam scholars — is an apt choice to oversee the institute named for one the most historic figures from the Vietnam era.
Christian Appy
Appy’s love for history began in Westport. A 1973 Staples High School graduate, he earned a BA in history at Amherst College, a Ph.D. at Harvard, and taught at MIT before moving to UMass in 2004.
He earned the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2013, and a university-wide graduate mentoring honor in 2019.
His Vietnam books include a social history of American combat soldiers; an oral history from multiple perspectives, and a history of the war’s impact on American national identity, culture, and foreign policy.
The other day, Appy talked about his work on — and with — Ellsberg. At 91, the former military analyst whose daring release of the Pentagon Papers led to his indictment under the Espionage Act, precipitated a landmark court ruling, and was the first criminal act committed by President Nixon’s Plumbers, has “more intellectual energy than most people of any age.”
Ellsberg works with Appy — and his students. And, the professor says, “I learn something every time I talk with him.”
Appy has been immersed in the multi-faceted Ellsberg project since the papers arrived 3 years ago.
He never knows what he’ll find. There are pamphlets, underground journals, and reams of personal papers.
Ellsberg is not “organizationally gifted,” Appy laughs. “But he saved everything.”
Daniel Ellsberg at work, around 1982. (Photo courtesy of University of Massachusetts)
There was a lot to save. The more he studied, traveled and had access to high-level reports, the more the RAND military analyst and Department of Defense aide became first a skeptic, then a critic and finally an activist against the Vietnam War.
Appy calls it “one of the most dramatic reversals ever by a government official with access to information and power. He broke so radically, and at such great personal risk.”
Daniel Ellsberg emerging from a National Liberation Front tunnel in Vietnam, around 1966. (Photo courtesy of University of Massachusetts)
Ellsberg tried for 2 years to publish the Pentagon Papers — photocopies of classified documents that revealed that government officials knew that winning the war was nearly impossible, and the Johnson administration lied to both the public and Congress about it.
In 1971 the New York Times published the first excerpts. The Nixon administration tried to block further publication. While eluding an FBI manhunt for 13 days, Ellsberg leaked the documents to The Washington Post. On June 30, the Supreme Court ordered the resumption of publication.
Soon a group of men, including E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, broke into the offices of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. The goal was to obtain damaging information, to discredit the activist. That was the precursor to the more famous break-in of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate building, 9 months later.
The psychiatrist break-in — and evidence of illegal wiretapping — helped Ellsberg at his Espionage Act trial. He was the first American charged with leaking classified papers to the press, public and Congress — not to a foreign agent or country.
In 1973, a judge dismissed all charges, due to gross governmental misconduct and illegal evidence gathering,
Appy’s students — just over a dozen, including juniors, seniors and post-grads — are learning all that and more, in a special seminar. Begun in 2020 — and continuing through COVID, the Black Lives Matter movement, the presidential election and January 6 — it “had the same crisis feel as the late ’60s,” Appy says.
“I’ve never seen students so engaged.”
Ellsberg — who joins occasionally via Zoom, from his home near Berkeley — says they ask questions he has never, in his long public life, heard before.
Daniel Ellsberg, today.
A 2-day conference at UMass commemorating the 50th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers drew more than 2 dozen whistleblowers and journalists, including Edward Snowden, John Dean, Frances FitzGerald and Hedrick Smith.
As director of the Ellsberg Initiative, Appy is planning 5 years of programming. Upcoming events will examine US imperialism, threats to democracy, secrecy and surveillance, and existential threats.
Ellsberg — who was once a nuclear war planner — has long been an ardent proponent of nuclear disarmament. The Ellsberg Initiative will also address those issues — and other concerns, like the environment. “The military is the biggest user of fossil fuels on the planet,” Appy notes.
After decades of political activism, the professor says that Ellsberg “gets depressed at how little things have changed. The same problems are still here.”
Daniel Ellsberg, after one of his 80 arrests for civil disobedience. (Photo courtesy of University of Massachusetts)
Appy tries to bolster his spirits. “I tell him our work at UMass may lead to good things. He tries to be optimistic. But he’s dubious.”
Appy, though, is motivated by his students. Most came to his class knowing little about Ellsberg, or even the Vietnam War.
Still, he says, “they’re looking for political, even moral, inspiration, as they face this dangerous world we’ve passed on to them.
“Daniel Ellsberg is a model of civil disobedience for them. He’s been arrested about 80 times. He is an inspiring model for everyone.”
(To learn more about the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace & Democracy — including how to donate — click here. To see the Ellsberg Archive Project, including a timeline of events and podcast, click here. For a story by Professor Christian Appy on how Nixon’s obsession with Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for his own downfall, click here.)
(“06880” is truly “where Westport meets the world.” Please click here to support our global work. Thank you!)
It may have been lost in the run-up to Thanksgiving.
It shouldn’t be.
Earlier this week, John Brandt moderated a fascinating discussion with 4 Vietnam War veterans. Part of the Westport Library’s Oral History Project, it delved deep into the experiences of the quartet — all Westporters — and what it all means today.
Panelists included retired Army veterans Capt. Jay Dirnberger, Sgt. Preston Koster, Sgt. Bud Siegel, and retired Navy Lt. JG Tucker Mays. Click below to watch.
The broken record of Staples High School swim and dive team broken records continues.
The girls finished their season in style last weekend, with 4 state open record- breaking performances.
Freshman Annam Olasewere once again dominated the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events, with state open record times of 22.58 and 50.21. The 200 free relay team of Jessica Qi, Ella Alpert, Ayaan Olasewere and Annam Olasewere recorded a record 1:35.94. In addition, their record-breaking 3:27.46 in the 400 free relay qualifies them for All-American status.
Other outstanding swims came from Jessica Qi (4th in the 100 free, 8th in the 200 free). Divers Kate Whittaker and Mia Guster finished 13th and 17th respectively. Freshman Ayaan Olasewere was 12th in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 free, while senior captain Ella Alpert placed 10th in the 100 fly.
From left: Annam Olasewere, Jessica Qi, Ella Alpertm Ayaan Olasewere.
Speaking of sports: A new tradition began on Thanksgiving Day.
A bunch of fathers — all relatively new to Westport — reserved PJ Romano Field behind Saugatuck Elementary School for the first-ever “Westport Dadz Turkey Bowl.”
Cones were set, football flags arranged, and teams picked. A good time was had by all. Even a few hamstring pulls could not keep these guys from smiling, and enjoying the rest of their holiday weekend.
(Photo/Josh Stern)
Meanwhile, a much older tradition — the Staples boys soccer Turkey Bowl — took place at Wakeman Field.
Over 60 current and past players worked up an appetite. There were alumni from as far as California and Texas, and as far back as Staples’ Class of 1975. Guys who just finished their college season showed their stuff. So did everyone else.
There were plenty of alumni spectators too. And the weather was perfect too.
The 2021 Staples soccer Turkey Bowl. (Photo/Barry Guiduli)
Longtime Westporter Vermelle Miro died recently, at 88. Her funeral is set for today (Saturday, November 27, 11 a.m., St. Luke Church).
The Greenwich native had a variety of hobbies, interests and careers. She worked at Vogue magazine before opening the Westport Country Day Preschool in the 1970s.
“Mel” became a realtor in Westport in the 1980s, and enjoyed a successful career until she retired close to 40 years later.
She was a member of the Westport Young Woman’s League and Westport Rotary Club, along with many other civic groups.
Mel traveled around the world, learning about different cultures and viewing famous pieces of art. She was a talented artist as well.
Her family says, “Mel had a unique ability to connect with people on a deep level, providing a safe haven for her community of friends and acquaintances. She was a magnet to others, always willing to lend an ear to those who needed it. But er greatest joy came from her children and grandchildren.”
Mel is survived by her children, Donald (Kim Healy); son-in-law Chris Healy; grandchildren Ryan, Tyler and Brittany Healy, and grandson-in-law Steve Geiges. She was predeceased by her husband Donald Miro and her long-time partner, Patrick Mitchell.
On this holiday weekend — when all of us are stuffed — photographer Lou Weinberg says of this “Westport … Naturally” photo from Lansdowne Condominiums: “Hey, everybody’s gotta eat.”
And finally … Stephen Sondheim died yesterday, in Litchfield County. The legendary Broadway composer was 91.
The New York Times calls him an “intellectually rigorous artist who perpetually sought new creative paths … the theater’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century, if not its most popular.” Click here for Sondheim’s full obituary.
On the heels of Veterans Day, Y’s Men member Jay Dirnberger has created a program about the Vietnam War for the Westport Library’s Oral History Project.
On November 23 (7 p.m., Westport Library) he and 3 other combat veterans — all now Westporters — will talk about their war experiences, reflect on its impact since leaving the military, then answer questions from the audience.
Captain Jay Dirnberger, US Army retired, came home from his last college final exam to find he’d been drafted. He missed his graduation to report to the Army. He completed helicopter flight training, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and assigned to an assault helicopter battalion in Vietnam in 1968.
Also on the panel: Lieutenant JG Tucker Mays, US Navy retired. He served most of 2 9-month tours at Da Nang as a boat group commander,
Air Force Sergeant Bud Siegel was assigned to an air traffic control unit responsible for controlling fighter/bombers near the North Vietnam border.
The final member of the panel, Army Sergeant and Y’s Man Preston Koster, was first assigned to Vietnam as a combat engineer, then finished his tour of duty near Saigon.
Y’s Man John Brandt, a Vietnam era Naval Reservist, though not a combat veteran, will moderate the discussion.
Jay Dirnberger served with the 1st Cavalry Division in South Vietnam.
They’re years away from military service. But Boy Scout Troop 100 had the honor of accompanying and supporting veterans during yesterday’s ceremony at VFW Post 399.
Led by Scoutmaster Alexey Syomichev, the troop has dedicated this year to supporting local veterans, and the VFW post. Scouts have built relationships with VFW members, and are dedicating service hours, and leadership and Eagle projects, to benefit and support those who served.
Before yesterday’s festivities, Troop 100 cleaned and painted the VFW parking lot, provided fresh painted lines and arrows, and cleaned up the VFW grounds.”
Boy Scout Troop 100, at yesterday’s VFW Veterans Day ceremony.
Speaking of the Playhouse: There’s no “doubt” that the current production of “Doubt: A Parable” — the first in-person play since the pandemic — is a hit.
It runs through November 21. Click on the trailer below. Then click here, for tickets and more information (including virtual tickets).
And finally … happy birthday to Booker T. Jones. The pianist/saxophonist/ songwriter/producer/Grammy Award Lifetime Achievement winner is 77 years old.
For some Westporters, Veterans Day is a holiday. For others, it’s business as usual.
No matter what today is, all of us — all Americans, really — should take time to reflect on the millions of men and women who, over the years, have sacrificed greatly to serve our nation, and the world.
Here are just a few of the many Westporters who deserve our deepest gratitude.
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In March of 1944 Emanuel (“Manny”) Margolis turned 18. He was a student at the University of North Carolina, but lacked a deferment. Drafted into the Army, he was chosen as a candidate for Officer’s Training School, and taught Morse Code.
Sent to England as a forward observer radio operator, he carried a 100-pound radio on his back. He weighed just 118.
PFC Manny Margolis, age 18 in June 1944.
He went to France and Belgium, to the Rhine River. The Germans had blown up all but 1 bridge crossing — a railroad bridge near Remagen. Made of wood, it was not meant to handle heavy tanks and artillery. The Army sent 100 engineers to remove dynamite, and shore it up.
Manny was among the first in his unit to be sent over the bridge. Radio operators had to report back to artillery how far to set their cannon fire.
Manny was not far into the woods on the other side of the bridge when the Germans began firing. He lay down behind a tree, and was shot through the leg and kneecap. He asked to be sent back to his unit, but his war was over. It was March 17, 1945 — 1 day before his 18th birthday.
The Army got some tanks and artillery over the bridge, but it collapsed with 100 engineers working on the underside. Many were killed.
Luckily, Manny’s leg was not amputated. He had 3 major operations in England, and more after returning home in the spring of 1946. He was awarded a Purple Heart, went back to UNC and graduated in 1947.
Manny Margolis, at a Town Hall ceremony. (Photo/Craig Skinner)
Thanks to the GI Bill, Manny went to Harvard. He earned a master’s and Ph.D. in international law. He taught at the University of Connecticut, then was accepted at Yale Law School with 1 phone call (no LSATs or interviews).
Manny worked for civil rights and civil liberties for 55 years, and lived nearly all his adult life in Westport. He died in August of 2011, at 85 years old.
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Stanley L. Englebardt landed on the beach at Normandy a couple of days after the initial assault. He saw action on the front line during the Battle of the Bulge. Initially a corpsman, he was put into infantry when the Germans broke through Allied lines in 1944. A longtime Westporter, he died this past March.
Stan Englebardt, age 18, soon after entering the Army.
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Donald Snook was a B-17 pilot in the 369th Squadron of the 306th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was stationed at Thurleigh Air Force based north of Bedford, England during World War II. He flew 24 missions over Europe, and remained there with the Occupational Air Force until July 1946.
Don is now 91. He lives in Westport with his wife, Katherine.
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Bob Beeby served in the South Pacific during peacetime, just after the Korean War.
Bob Beeby
As a naval aviator he flew an anti-submarine aircraft to hunt for typhoons. With technology less advanced than that in today’s Prius, he went through the walls of a typhoons 1,500 feet above sea level, directly into the eye. He took readings with a sextant, and radioed the storm location to the fleet, in case they had to relocate.
Aircraft were often damaged by storms. Pilots risked their lives on emergency landings. Bob was one of them.
He has lived in Westport for 50 years. He logged over a million air miles a year as CEO of the international division of a major corporation. He is generous in time and spirit, and a loving father and grandfather.
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Byron Miller was a Special Forces radio operator in Vietnam. For the past 38 years, he’s been a psychotherapist in, and resident of, Westport.
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Tom Feeley at Fort Benning Airborne School, 1962.
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Robin “Bob” Custer Sr. graduated from technical school in 1965, with a degree in drafting. He then served in the Army, seeing combat duty with the 1st Infantry Division (the “Big Red One”) in Vietnam from 1967 to ’68.
For years, Bob has played a big role in Westport. He’s been the sexton at Greens Farms Congregational Church for over 20 years (giving students on the Jennings Trail Tour the church history), is quartermaster at VFW Post 399, and always marches in the Memorial Day Parade.
Bob Custer, standing amidst the flags he loves.
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Jay Dirnberger served with the 1st Cavalry Division in South Vietnam, in 1968.
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Kendall Gardiner Anderson was in Vietnam, with the U.S. Army
Kendall Gardiner Anderson’s husband, Lt. Cdr. Robert Gavin Stewart Anderson, served in Cyprus with Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. After moving to Westport and becoming a naturalized US citizen, he served on the Board of Finance and as second selectman.
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And let’s not forget the Gilbertie family. John S. Gilbertie Sr. volunteered in World War I, and was awarded medals by the US, French and Italian governments for bravery.
He enlisted at 17 — just 12 years after emigrating from Italy — and served as a scout behind enemy lines in the Argonne forest, among other locations. He became a founding members of Westport’s Joseph J. Clinton VFW, was grand marshal of the Memorial Day parade, and helped organize Memorial Day ceremonies on Jesup Green for many years. His name is on the Doughboy statue on Veterans Green (with the Italian spelling, “Ghiliberti”).
John’s son Mario went to Korea. Anthony, who was younger, was a member of the Army National Guard.
Several grandchildren also served. Jay was in Vietnam, and was a member of the 1st crew of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy. Marty was in the Navy CBs during Vietnam. Tom joined the Air Force in the 1980s, while Peter was in the infantry then.
Trevor — a great-grandson — recently returned from Afghanistan, with the Army National Guard.
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Thanks to all the Westport veterans we’ve mentioned — and the many, many others who also served proudly served us, over so many years.
In the 1960s and ’70s, a good-sized group gathered every Saturday morning in front of Town Hall (the current Spruce store next to Restoration Hardware). Week in and week out, they protested the Vietnam War.
Estelle Margolis, on the bridge.
Since 2005, a much smaller vigil has taken place on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Post Road bridge. For over 300 Saturdays, several folks have held a “peace vigil” to draw attention to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Estelle Margolis was there 40 years ago. She’s still working hard for peace. This Saturday from 11-11:30 a.m., she says, “we will ‘celebrate’ the 7th anniversary of our peace vigil, if celebrating is an appropriate word for this serious mission.”
She adds:
We have failed to generate an influential peace movement in this country. I believe it would be different if we had a draft. We do get a lot of honks of approval on the bridge for our message: “End the Wars, Bring the Troops Home!, Get Out of Afghanistan, NOW!”
We will commemorate 7 long years on this Vigil. We are sick about the time we have been trapped in these two countries. President Bush created a living hell that is now 10 years old.
After 10 years we are still in Afghanistan at the insistence of President Karzai, who is known to be corrupt and untrustworthy. We support this fake “democracy” with our troops lives, financial aid and weapons while the Afghans make huge amounts of money exporting heroine. The latest figure estimates over 300,000 acres of poppies are planted every year….
The scene on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge, several years ago.
How many horribly wounded young people could we have saved with a serious nationwide peace movement? How many lives? Over 6,000 dead and over 40,000 wounded. Over 400,000 who are in need of help from the Veterans Administration and a record high number of suicides among returning vets. How many more will there be? What have we done?
Come join us and lend your voice to the call for peace.
A portion of the crowd -- primarily Staples students -- protesting the Viet Nam war in 1969. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
For nearly 10 years, America’s all-volunteer military has fought 2 costly, controversial wars.
Protests have been muted. A few people stand on the Post Road bridge every Saturday morning. Someone writes an occasional letter to the editor.
At Staples, high school students — few of whom even think of serving — scarcely give Iraq and Afghanistan a passing thought.
How different things were in 1969. Vietnam was a quagmire — and Westport was up in arms, on both sides of the issue. Loud anti-war protests took place at Town Hall every Saturday. After 3 hours of raucous debate the RTM passed — 17-15 — a resolution asking immediate action to withdraw from Southeast Asia.
Many Staples students — though certainly not all — were fervently anti-war. On October 15, 1200 students — joined by some from the 3 junior highs — celebrated a national Moratorium Day.
They — actually “we,” because I was among them — marched from the Staples tennis courts, down North Avenue and Long Lots Road, all the way to the steps of the YMCA.
The long line of marchers headed downtown. The A&P was near what is now the firehouse; the Esso gas station is now a Phillips 66. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
We carried American flags and wore buttons saying “Peace Now” and “Hell No, We Won’t Go.” Along the way, other students threw eggs at us.
At the Y, we listened to speeches (including one by Iowa Senator Harold Hughes). We waved our fingers in the peace sign. We looked around, and were stunned at our numbers.
A year earlier, we had helped drive Lyndon Johnson from the presidency — but our new president was Richard Nixon. Finally, in 1973, a peace treaty was signed. Two years later the last Americans were evacuated from the U.S. Embassy roof.
In 1969, Adrian Hlynka was a Staples student. A gifted photographer, he took dozens of shots on Moratorium Day. Here is what it looked like to protest a war, more than 4 decades ago.
A portion of the crowd in front of the Y. The Fine Arts Theater (now Restoration Hardware) was showing "Alice's Restaurant" and "Medium Cool." Police stood on the roof next door. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
More of the enormous downtown crowd. The current Max's Art Supplies is on the extreme left; what is now Tiffany is at the far right. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
Rabbi Byron Rubenstein of Temple Israel addresses the crowd from the steps of the Y. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
The crowd was predominantly -- though not entirely -- made up of Staples students. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
A Staples student states his case. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
Junior high students joined Stapleites at the 1969 Moratorium rally. (Photo/Adrian Hlynka)
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