Paid for by Citizens for Colburn Committee. Authority John W. Phillips, Jr., Treasurer

Eight charter members of local VFW are honored
By KONRAD SUROWIEC
Staff Writer - Star Democrat
February 2, 2005

Founding members of the Easton V.F.W., the E.E. Streets Memorial Post 5118 on Glebe Road, were present for the celebration of the post’s 60th anniverary Saturday. Front row, from left: Eddie Jefferson, William “Doc” Hill, and George Tarr. Second row, from left: Eugene Price, Henry Turner, and Charlie Johnson. Standing, from left: Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore, with Talbot County Council members Hope Harrington and Tom Duncan. Founding members Leroy Messick and Ray Smith are not pictured.

EASTON — State and county officials joined members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in honoring eight charter members of VFW E.E. Streets Memorial Post 5118, founded 60 years ago in Easton.

The eight men honored were Gene Price, Henry P. Turner Jr., Charles Johnson, Edwin R. “Eddie” Jefferson Jr., George Tarr, William C. “Doc” Hill, Ray Smith and Leroy Messick. Six of the men (all but Smith and Messick) attended an informal celebration at the post home Saturday afternoon. Of the 126 original members of VFW Post 5118, eight are left, said Eugene Daisey, past post commander.

“These are the guys that started this post,” said Daisey. “... What we have today is because of those people that started this post.”

Post Commander H. Glenn Daubach and Daisey presented pins and certificates for 60 years of continuous membership to Price, Turner, Johnson, Jefferson, Tarr and Hill. The six World War II veterans also received certificates of commendation from Talbot County Council members Hope Harrington and Tom Duncan.

State Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore, presented a citation signed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich and a Maryland Senate resolution honoring the men for their six decades of service in the VFW. Colburn, referring to a book by journalist Tom Brokaw, praised the men and women who came of age in the Depression and fought in World War II as “the greatest generation.”

“A nation that forgets its veterans will find itself forgotten,” Colburn said.

Johnson, 81, served in the Army Signal Corps, attached to the Air Corps, from January 1943 to November 1945.

Jefferson, 79, was a paratrooper in the Army’s 17th Airborne from 1943 to 1945.

Hill, who turned 80 on Friday, served in the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946.

Turner, 80, served in the National Guard and was in the Army’s 29th Division from 1943 to 1946.

Tarr, 87, served in the 76th and 80th divisions of the Army from 1943 to 1946.

Price served in the Air Corps in India.

VFW members who received pins for 50 years of continuous service were Daubach (Navy); Al Hinkle (Navy); and Tom Healy (Air Force). Another 50-year member in the audience was Everett Foreman, 84, who served in the Army’s 37th Division from 1942 to 1945 and fought in the Pacific.

Daisey said Doc Hill’s father, a World War I veteran, was the first commander of VFW Post 5118. The post was chartered on Jan. 14, 1946. The first post home was the old armory at South and Harrison streets, and the second home was the basement of Hill’s drug store. The post bought the Glebe Road property for its current home in 1946.

Post 5118 is named in memory of Edward E. “Eddie” Streets, the first Talbot County resident to die in World War II. He served in the Canadian Air Force and died in March 1942.

Colburn said Jefferson was his first boss when he worked at the A&P supermarket in Easton. Colburn said his father and Jefferson were both sprinters on the track team at Easton High School.

Harrington said she was pleased to honor the veterans. She said her father is a World War II veteran who served in the Philippines and Okinawa. He doesn’t talk about it much, “but I’m very proud of him,” said Harrington.

Daisey thanked Wayne Dyott and the other VFW members who organized the celebration for the 60-year charter members.