Pictured are the recent inductees to the 2019 Maine Ski Hall of Fame, held at Sugarloaf Mountain on October 26. From left to right, Leigh Breidenbach, Brent Jepsen for Henry Anderson, Lizzie Chenard for Billy Chenard, Lindsay Ball, Jeff Schipper for Paul Schipper, Seth Wescott, Don Fowler and Bob Zinck. (photo by Dan Cassidy)
An Act to Return Funds to Maine Property Tax Payers requires the Maine Office of the State Treasurer (OST) to provide tax relief payments of no less than $100 to qualifying homesteads, when the Property Tax Relief Fund reaches a threshold of funding to support the payments. In 2019, this threshold will be met based on available funds divided by the number of homesteads net of expenses to administer the program. To read the law in its entirety, please click here.
State Treasurer Henry Beck has determined the fund to be at a level sufficient to trigger a payment for FY 2020. Property owners should contact their town office for assistance.
Q. Is this a new program?
A. Yes, this is a program that began in 2019 and is administered by the State Treasurer. This program was established by P.L. 2019 Chapter 448, as proposed in LD 1713 “An Act To Return Funds to Maine Property Tax Payers.” It is separate from previous and existing efforts to provide property tax relief such as revenue sharing, certain property tax exemptions and certain property tax credits.
Q. How is this program funded?
A. This program is funded by the Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents. The Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents consists of excess general fund revenues.
Q. Does a qualified taxpayer with a property valued at $20,000 receive a payment?
A. Yes, all qualified homestead exemption property taxpayers will receive the same payment.
Q. I work for a town or city. How should I send my list of homestead property owners to the Treasurer?
A. Our office has sent a request to each Municipal Tax Assessor with an attached template that will need to be completed and returned. If you do not have Excel, we will work directly with you to find a solution. TRIO Users will be provided an extract to use and pull the exact data we need. If you have not received the template, you can download that here. Please make sure the list is accurate.
Q. The money for this relief used to come to the municipality as an offset to taxes, is this not the case anymore?
A.This is a different program from the homestead exemption. The homestead exemption is simply the qualifier for the relief payment.
Q. How do we contact you?
A. You may call 207.624.7477 or Email: PropertyTaxRelief@maine.gov
Q. If a check was sent with information that is incorrect, who should be contacted?
A. If you are a recipient of a payment, please contact your Tax Assessor who will make a formal request to the Office of the State Treasurer to correct the recipient’s information. We will only reissue checks by request of the Tax Assessor who submitted the original name. Other examples of errors that can be potentially be corrected include:
The Office of State Treasurer has discretion to approve or not approve the reissue of payments consistent with the intent of the law. The Office of the State Treasurer may require certain documentation before reissuing payment. We wish to be of assistance ask for the patience of taxpayers.
Q. Who qualifies for a homestead exemption?
A. For more information on this program, please review the FAQ here: https://www.maine.gov/revenue/faq/homestead_faq.html
Q. I submitted my application after April 1, 2019. Will I receive a payment?
A. No, only properties that qualified for the exemption on or before April 1, 2019, will receive a payment.
Q. When will I receive my payment?
A. Payments will be processed and mailed in the months of January and February.
Q. Have a question that has not been answered?
A. Please contact our office at PropertyTaxRelief@Maine.gov and we will respond as quickly as possible.
The brick pad, the picnic table and sign placard near the outlet stream. Front, from left to right, Kameron Rossignol, Kasen Kelley, Remy Pettengill, Ayden Newell, Caleb Knock. Back, Ben Lagasse, Aiden Pettengill, Hunter Praul, Kaiden Kelley, Michael Boostedt, Leaders Derek Rossignol, Darryl Praul and Ron Emery. Missing from photo Leaders Lee Pettengill and parents Keith Lagasse, Jonathan Knock and Grange member Bernie Welch (contributed photo)
There is something wonderful about being amongst volunteers. What better way than to be part of an Eagle Scout project that promotes community, conversation and education. The Vassalboro Historical Society and the Vassalboro Grange partnered with the Maine Rivers to create an opportunity for the talented troop #479, of China, and specifically Eagle Scout candidate, Ben LeGasse, with the thought of sharing a bit of Vassalboro Lore from the Historical Society and the Grange, plus providing a place to share the plan for an alewife introduction to China Lake. Ben and his father organized a work day on Saturday, October 19. They pre-planned and created a bench and sign placard for the north side of the Grange and also planned and placed a picnic table and sign placard at the Outlet Stream to provide respite for the fishermen, bird watchers and soon to be alewife tourists that promise to be more plentiful once the Maine rivers project is complete.
Ben and his father organized a work day on Saturday, October 19. They pre-planned and created a bench and sign placard for the north side of the Grange. (Contributed photo)
An eagle Scouts project is one that fills a need. The Eagle Scout Service Project, or simply Eagle Project, is the opportunity for a Boy Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community. This is the culmination of the Scout’s leadership training, and it requires a significant effort on his part.The project must benefit an organization other than the BSA, and it cannot be performed for an individual or a business or be commercial in nature. Completing an Eagle Project is a requirement in order for Boy Scouts to attain the Eagle Scout rank. Ben chose to organize his project to support the greater Vassalboro community. On the work day he involved his fellow scouts and their fathers. All Scouts actively participated in clearing the area and placing sign posts , the bench, the brick picnic table pad and the picnic table.
Ben also solicited and received tremendous support from Hannafords in South China, Fieldstone Quick stop, Lowes Home supply and, of course, parents and friends. The fathers of the scouts were also out in force providing guidance, institutional memory and wisdom when using hand tools. A ground wasp nest did not deter but did enliven the effort on the day of the event. Grange members provided food and information about the grange. Ben will share his project with the Vassalboro Historical Society and the Maine Rivers during future meetings. His discussion and question answer session at the last Friday Grange meeting was informational and a bit of fun.
Scouting in our area is a hidden community gem. Young people inspire community members to think about the power of doing something for the benefit of others. Yes, there is something wonderful about being volunteers. And you know what , they can be us!
Ben, 17, is a senior at Erskine Academy, in South China, and the son of Keith and Kristie LaGasse, of Windsor.
David Herard, China rescue chief.
This space is not large enough for the story of David Herard. During his remembrance at the China Dine-ah, I talked with daughters, sons-in-law, family, friends and colleagues and was given a glimpse into the life of a man who made his life’s work looking after people, both those he knew and those he had never met. His dedicated care of the town of China, his country and his family shone through every conversation I had, as did his obvious love of duty and honor for their own sake.
David in his youth.
David was a straight shooter and you always knew just where you stood with him. David looked like a “grumpy old Marine” (a phrase used with love by one of his mentees that I talked with) but had a heart of gold behind that exterior. David hated being praised and avoided accolades. I can’t help but feel that if he were reading this he would not enjoy it, but as it is true I will tell the story.
David and his childhood best friend played Cowboys and Indians as kids growing up in Waterville, and both volunteered for tours in Vietnam where they served our country well. David’s commitment showed in his volunteering for a second tour in his difficult job of being a tunnel rat, a mission that required entering small tunnels to underground networks that were filled with enemy combatants and booby traps. I read online that the tunnel rats were the unsung heroes of the Vietnam War and thinking about the process sheds light on David’s determination to serve others even when the job was difficult. It was in those tunnels, during his second tour, that a mortar nearly killed David. He saw a brilliantly lit place and a river and heard the voices of people on the other side. But a hand on his shoulder told him he had more to do and then he woke hearing the medic who was pounding on his chest (and saving his life), ordering “Marine, you do not have permission to die yet!”
The love David’s family showed in their eyes as stories were told of how he looked after them. A daughter said, that if they had had problems, they never worried long. David made sure of it. He provided for them, while he was quietly patching his own clothes. He gave everything even if it left him with no time, no matter what. He was content to look after everyone else without recognition. It was this love that I saw when I first met David, when my youngest son Peter and I came to adopt two kittens a year ago. His love was plain to me, in the way he looked at his daughter and granddaughter, it was clear that he was looking out for them and after them.
It was to this daughter his last words were “You are my anchor,” and then she told me “But he was mine.” It was to this granddaughter his last words were “You’re a pretty girl and I love you.” He was good with his grandchildren and had big expectations for them to be well-rounded and respectable. I am sure he said farewell to his whole family the same way as the quoted words above: using direct, carefully chosen words of love as one last way to care for them.
But it wasn’t just his own family he looked after, he extended that service to his town. He started public service with the Weeks Mills fire department, but transitioned to their safety officer (leading trainings and supporting crews) and then became an EMT for the town of China area.
David Herard’s service jacket. (photo by Ron Maxwell)
David was an EMT for about 10 years, starting with his training when he was in his 60s and culminated in his being elected rescue chief. Anecdotal reports from his colleagues range from 95 – 100 percent response to rescue calls, with one volunteer telling me how he looked at the call sheets and regularly the number 901 (the chief’s number, David’s number) appeared, documenting David’s presence at a scene. He had a good head on his shoulders, a calm demeanor, and a way that reached the people he was helping that gave them a peace and a confidence in his care. He was dependable, always the first to go, going all the time, always there and willing to help. He also mentored newer members to his work by walking them through their calls and advising them.
More than once, as I talked to the people he loved, I found myself hoping that I would be seen by my family and community as he was by his. These people who shared with me their love of David Herard understood and respected him in the way that I have always hoped I would be understood and remembered. I am a better man because I heard his story and have his example to follow. His service to them was quiet and constant and dependable and he didn’t want recognition for his work. They all saw and loved him for it. This work ethic, this love for family and his community, and this selfless dedication are to be commended and emulated. His is an example that is heroic. Thank you for your service, David.
An interment will take place on Friday, November 15, at 10 a.m., at the Wall, at the Veterans Cemetery, on Civic Center Dr. (Rte. 27), just off I-95 Belgrade Exit,. All who plan to attend should arrive by 9:45 a.m. There will be fire department and sheriff’s department escort.
Gaige Martin, 13, of Benton, had a very exciting youth day hunting experience when he shot his first deer on October 26. (contributed photo)
Tina Richard, second from left, in the wheelhouse of the USS Hunley.
Following graduation from Rumford High School, in 1984 Tina Richard, of Clinton, decided she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and brother, and join the U.S. Army. When that didn’t work out, she was determined to continue her pursuit to serve her country. Her father served a tour of duty in Vietnam, and she felt the need to do her part.
That’s when she decided to join the U. S. Navy, and did just that in August 1987, at the age of 20.
Following basic training in Orlando, Florida, with Company K125, at a Navy base that no longer exists, she was assigned to the USS Hunley, a sub tender, as a quartermaster. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its service.
Quartermaster is a military term. In many navies, a quartermaster is an officer with particular responsibility for steering and signals. The seaman is a non-commissioned officer (petty officer) rank; in some others, it is not a rank but a role related to navigation.
The term appears to derive from master of the quarterdeck where the helmsman and captain controlled the ship. The duties involve reading charts assisting in the navigational process.
The USS Hunley, AS31, was sent to Holy Lock, Scotland, as she had done several times previously during its commission, to assist in submarine repairs. During Richard’s tour of duty, the Hunley was docked in Scotland for six months, when it was then sent back to the United States, to be stationed in Charleston, North Carolina.
[See also: Brief history of USS Hunley]
“When I got on the USS Hunley (AS-31) in Holy Loch, Scotland, in January 1987, said Richard, “I started out in deck department. I handled the mooring lines in and out of port. I painted the decks, bulkheads, the anchor chain and the side of the ship.”
Once underway, she drove the ship and kept in contact with engineering about how fast or how slow to steer the ship under the Officer of the Deck during her watch.
Richard came back to the states in Norfolk, Virginia, after six months of being in Scotland. “After being in deck department for awhile, I wanted to find a rate that I could go up in rank so I shopped around and found something I really liked. I became a quartermaster, navigation in and out of port.” She worked directly with the captain and executive officer.
“Duties I did as a quartermaster included, correcting charts, using a sexton, had to know about tides and currents, determined the time of sunrise and sunsets, worked with compasses – the magnetic compass and Gyro compass – and planned for when we went out to sea. I was very good at being out on the weather deck and picking up the navigation stuff so the quartermaster in the pilot house could plot it.
“They called me eagle eyes because I was quick and my eyes were incredible. In August 1989 our ship went to Charleston, South Carolina, to tend SUBRON FOUR submarines.
“In September we were underway steaming east to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Hugo. We were out to sea over a week. Upon our return to port we assisted in the local cleanup and relief efforts. We returned to our homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, in November, in time to enjoy the holidays with family members.”
Richard was discharged from the Navy on August 28, 1990, and returned home to Rumford, as a QM 3.
“I would’ve stayed in but back then they would not let women on many ships. Now the ladies are on all of them, even subs. I didn’t want shore duty and I loved being out to sea doing my job.”
Richard took a year off and then, “I did one year of reserves [because] I was bored. I was not use to sitting around on my weekend duty so I got out as a QM2 after taking the test. Would I do it again? Yes, I would and make a career of it.
“My most memorable memories of being in the Navy was being out to sea and seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets, watching the dolphins swim at the bow of the ship, going to Scotland, Annapolis, Maryland. seeing the Blue Angels fly, Halifax, Novia Scotia, the buildings were just incredible and the fort I visited had lots of history. Even went on a Canadian Navy ship which was way cool. Made many friends, in fact, I keep in touch with a few of them on Facebook. Some day I hope to go to a reunion and catch up with some of my shipmates.”
It was a different experience for Richard as she served on board the Hunley, which was a coed subtender. At first segregated from the male seamen, the policy was changed later to allow for mixed accommodations. Changes were taking place at an accelerated rate during her active duty, as even the uniforms of the female service members changed during her time of duty.
But, being a quartermaster on board the ship didn’t exempt her from other manual duties. One of those experiences involved having to be lowered down the side of the ship to do some painting on the hull. It was not one of her favorite things to do, knowing there could be sharks in the waters that were only a few feet below.
One of the oddities of the Hunley, as Tina explained, was that it “had a periscope.” She doesn’t know why.
The Hunley was decommissioned in 1994 and turned into scrap metal in 2007. As of this writing, there are only two subtenders left in service.
During her active duty, she was awarded the Good Conduct ribbon, National Defense ribbon, Sea Service Deployment ribbon, with one star, Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon, Humanitarian Service ribbon, and SW Asia (Persian Gulf).
But, following her discharge from the military, is when she began her career in the American Legion.
She joined the Legion in 2000, and would commute to Lewiston from her home in Rumford. That travel commitment lasted two years. Her subsequent marriage brought her to Clinton, as her husband’s employment was at the SAPPI, Hinckley mill, and she became deeply involved with the American Legion Post #16, in Skowhegan.
In her 19 years of service to the American Legion, she holds the position of historian and chaplain locally, and is historian and first vice president at statewide District #10.
“I love my positions and I love helping other veterans,” she emphasized.
But, her work is far from being done. She is very much involved in veterans’ issues and continues to support military veterans, past and current.
USS Hunley leaving port in Holy Lock, Scotland
USS Hunley (AS-31) was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on September 28, 1961, and commissioned June 161962. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its service. The Hunley was decommissioned from the regular navy, in 1995 transferred to the US Maritime Commission, and in 2007 sold as scrap to a metal recycling company in Louisiana. In September 2008, during Hurricane Gustav, the decommissioned ship broke free of its moorings in the New Orleans Inner Harbor, but caused little or no damage while adrift.
Hunley had the distinction of being the first ship designed and built from the keel up to service and maintain the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered Ballistic Missile Submarine Fleet. She had complete facilities for servicing the complex Polaris Weapons Systems and for accomplishing any submarine repair other than a major shipyard overhaul. The hull was laid down in by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia and sponsored by Mrs. J. Palmer Gaillard, wife of the Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. The ship was named in honor of Horace Lawson Hunley, the designer of the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in naval history, the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley.
Credit UPI Photo by Jeff Taylor 4/19/72
Yes, I was there, along with a thousand other young boys…rather, men! I saw, I did, and I’ve seen it all. It’s hard for some people to visualize what it’s like to see a man die right in front of you. For me, it will be forever in my mind. For the veterans, war will always be a figment of their mind ‘til the end. I’m reminded every month, every year of Vietnam, in one way or another. Never to forget to see your fellow comrade fall in battle. I’ve seen it all and hope never again. Yes, I’ve been there, and seen it all. My thoughts and prayers are with the future vets who will fight in all these next wars. I know what they face!
Gerald A. Boulette was a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam from December 1966 through December 1967.
Clinton Hayward with his dog, Joy, at his home in South China on Three Mile Pond. (Photo by Eric Austin)
“The war was so unpopular, you couldn’t go anywhere in public in uniform,” says Vietnam veteran Clinton Hayward. “You would be berated, assaulted, threatened. It was frightening.”
We’re sitting in the living room of his home in South China, looking out over Three Mile Pond. He pauses a moment, leans forward and says, “To be honest about it, I hadn’t talked about my military experience with anybody at all until about a year ago.”
In 1966, after a duty tour in Vietnam of more than 12 months, Hayward, just 24 years old, returned to the United States. It wasn’t the welcome he expected.
“I flew into Boston,” he remembers, “and I had to take a bus to Calais to get home. I was still in uniform. I went into the bus station in Boston to get a bus to go to Calais, and everybody was swearing at me and cursing at me. It was the most humiliating” – he pauses, doesn’t finish. “And I had just come from a war zone the day before, thinking I had accomplished something important, that I had done something good.
“I never wore a uniform after that in public,” he says. “It was just too stressful.”
Born in Vanceboro, Maine, a tiny town on the Canadian border, Hayward grew up in nearby Calais and joined the U.S. Air Force right out of high school.
On his father’s side, Hayward came from a deeply military family, so joining the U.S. military was a no-brainer – although he admits he enlisted over the objections of his mother, who had hoped to see her son enroll in college instead. The year was 1961.
Hayward would find his first test the following year when, in the fall of 1962, newly-elected President John F. Kennedy informed the American public of a Soviet plan to install nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba, leading to a tense 13-day standoff that brought the United States to the brink of nuclear war.
“We all thought it was going to be the Third World War – they were already preparing teams to deploy,” says Hayward. “It was a great relief when it was over, because we just thought it was a done deal: [Soviet President Nikita] Khrushchev was not going to back down, and John Kennedy certainly wasn’t going to back down – he was a man that you really didn’t want to mess with.”
Although the whole episode lasted less than two weeks, the standoff was intense, with U.S. military forces going to DEFCON 2 – the highest military alert ever given in the post-WWII era. Everyone prepared for all-out war against the Soviet Union. Hayward, just out of basic training, slept at his duty station with his fellow recruits, only taking short breaks to shower, grab some chow or a change of clothes.
Once the Cuban Missile Crisis had passed, Hayward settled into life on an American military base, first in Oklahoma, and then in Newfoundland and New Hampshire. He initially trained as a carpenter, although he later cross-trained in a number of specialties as he took night and evening classes in addition to his daily work on the base. Early on in his career he developed an aptitude for a particular skill called “packing and crating,” and it was this skill that he would be called on to employ in his first tour of duty in Vietnam.
It was now 1965, and the war in Vietnam was heating up. The U.S. Air Force sent Hayward to a naval and airbase being constructed at Cam Ranh Bay in western Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea. The location would become a significant strategic base for American forces. Given little more than 30-days’ notice, 23-year old Clinton Hayward left a new wife and a three month-old daughter with his parents and headed for Southeast Asia.
Accommodations at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, in 1966.
When Hayward arrived, the base was still under construction. “They had these giant inflatable buildings,” he recalls. “They had these big air compressors, and they would pump them up, and then if you’d lose power, they would just collapse on themselves.”
As Cam Ranh was a strategic air base, construction of runways was a top priority. “The runways at that time – most of them – weren’t even cement,” Hayward explains. Instead, they were formed of more than two million square feet of aluminum matting, manufactured in the U.S. and then shipped to Vietnam where they were snapped together like floor tiles.
“I would say that 75 percent of the sorties that were flying over North Vietnam were coming from Cam Ranh Bay,” Hayward says, “so [planes] were going off every few minutes and they were coming back every few minutes.”
Hayward worked out of a hangar on the edge of one of the runways. His job was to disassemble shot-up planes, “pack” those parts into “crates” and ship them back to the United States where they were repaired before being returned to Cam Ranh Bay and put to use once again.
“In order to do that kind of work,” says Hayward, “we had to work right on the flight line, so planes were coming and going right in front of the building where we worked.”
Coming and going…and crashing. Crashes were nearly a daily occurrence at Cam Ranh. “The ones that were coming back were usually shot up,” he says. “They were on fire, or crashing – trying to make a landing but the landing gear would be shot up, so there were aircraft crashes there almost every day.”
Hayward pauses, his eyes growing distant and for a moment I see that young man, only 23 years old, with a wife and young daughter back home in America, but with death a part of his daily experience in Vietnam. “Sometimes the pilots would be able to eject, and save themselves, but more often than not they would perish in those crashes,” he continues. “And I was seeing those crashes. That was pretty traumatic.”
Clinton Hayward, right, enjoying a beverage with Air Force squad mates at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, in 1965.
Something else sticks in his mind all these years later as well. “I grew up in a middle class family,” he tells me. “Not rich by any means – somewhat meager means, I guess – but I had never seen third world poverty [like that].”
His eyes take on a bit of that haunted look again. “These people in Vietnam – the natives – were such wonderful people, but they had nothing. And what little they did have, the war had destroyed.”
He remembers dinner time on the base. The military gave you plenty of food, he says, but it wasn’t very good food and many of the American soldiers did not eat everything on their plates. “After you ate, you would walk by a number of trash cans lined up outside the [mess] tent,” he recalls. “You would dump your food into those [cans], and there were dozens of small children lined up to dive into that food that you were dumping out of your tray into a trash can.”
The scene prompted the young Hayward to write an article about his experience and send it back home. He thinks it was published in the Bangor Daily News sometime in 1966. “That was the most striking image…it’s basically seared into my mind,” he says. “I still have – I wouldn’t say nightmares, but I still have dreams about going through that chow line and having kids fightin’ over the food I was dumping.”
President Lyndon B. Johnson (top left) and General William Westmoreland visit the troops at Cam Ranh Bay for Christmas in 1965.
One of the positive highlights of Hayward’s time in Vietnam was when President Lyndon B. Johnson flew into Cam Ranh Bay with entertainer Bob Hope and General William Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, during the Christmas of 1965.
Clinton Hayward finished up his service in Vietnam in October 1966. He likely would have stayed in the Air Force for life, but after only a few weeks at home, he was told he was being sent back to the war zone. “I had eight years in at that point,” he says. “I was prepared to be a lifer. I had just gotten back – 30 days, maybe? – and I was told I was going to be redeployed to Vietnam. It was the same month that my enlistment was up, so I just got out.”
Outside of his military experience, Hayward is most proud of his conservation work with the nonprofit organization Ducks Unlimited. “If it wasn’t for the work Ducks Unlimited does in North America,” he says, “there wouldn’t be any water fowl left.” Hayward has started Ducks Unlimited chapters all across Maine, including Calais, Machias, Waterville/Winslow, Farmington and in the Western Mountains region.
Although some of the time he spent in Vietnam was difficult, Hayward sees his military experience as immensely valuable and positive. “Going into the military was one of the most important things I ever did,” he tells me. “I am a strong advocate for military service, and I would encourage any young person, female or male, to do their part.”
Contact the author at ericwaustin@gmail.com.
Margaret Williams at the 286th Battalion, in Augusta, in 1978.
Not having gone to college as originally planned, Margaret Williams, 64, of Clinton, decided it was time to do something.
So, at the age of 22, she enlisted in the Army National Guard. Thus began a long military career for the 1974 Winthrop High School graduate. At the time of her enlistment, she lived in Mt. Vernon.
She would eventually attain a bachelors degree from the University of Maine at Augusta in 1992, and a master of education degree from the University of Maine at Orono in 2007.
“The education program in the Army is what helped pay for my bachelors degree,” she points out.
She spent 26 years working for the military of which seven were active duty. Following her military service she pursued a career in teaching.
However, she attributes most of her life goals because of the military.
“My military career had helped me with time management, leadership, organization, self-discipline, a can-do spirit and always getting back to people when they request assistance,” she emphasized “I have had several volunteer positions where meeting management came in handy.”
Because the military began using computers in the 1980s, far ahead of the public sector, she had a leg up on others from her military time of service.
She completed her basic training at Fort Jackson, in South Carolina, and advanced individual training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, in Indiana.
Once having completed her training, she was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters 286th Service and Support Battalion, in Augusta.
Her time in the military also took her to some training in Germany and Guatemala, where she spent six months improving roads, building a school, building hospitals and digging wells, among other humanitarian acts.
“My greatest military schooling accomplishment was to complete the Army Sergeants Major Academy, at Fort Bliss, Texas.”
Margaret Williams at the 240th Engineering Group, in Waterville, in the 1990s.
Once back home, she served as the Family Program Specialist for the state of Maine, and this was rewarding as she helped families who had their soldiers deployed. As a Personnel Noncommissioned Officer, she assisted units and soldiers by ensuring their records were up to date and they were ready for deployment.
She also served as Personnel NCO for the 240th Engineering Group, in Waterville, where she reviewed personnel actions on more than 1,500 soldiers before forwarding them to the state headquarters.
Following her separation from the National Guard, she was presented with what she described as her highest award, the Meritorious Service Medal for her 26 years of service. She also received the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and other awards.
“I was privileged to have the opportunity to serve,” she concluded. “I recommend the military to young people who are searching for a career. As one of 12 children growing up in rural Maine, I wouldn’t have believed that I would have been able to travel to many states and overseas.”
She cites other rewards and benefits: “In retirement I am reaping the benefits of discounts for veterans, good medical insurance and care with the VA health care system.”