By reporter Steven Smalley
The fallen are remembered, or not.
Near the front door of Catherine Blaine K-8 School and adjacent to the Magnolia Community Center is an out-of-the-way ground level marker memorializing the names of nine boys who attended Blaine Junior High School from 1954-1965. Erected in 1970 and rededicated in 2000 following refurbishment as a Boy Scout Eagle Project, this stone monument lists the names of Magnolia boys who died in the Vietnam war in service to their country.
Even though the names are carved in stone just a few steps from government buildings, the marker remains largely unnoticed, left to atrophy, with perhaps just a glance by pedestrians as they cut through to the parking lot. Only on Memorial Day weekend do the names get a bit of scrubbing to resurrect them from the profusion of fragrant roses surrounding the plaque.
Today we salute these boys and remember their sacrifice.
George M. Hightower
Rolf W. Jorgensen
John L. Stewart
Donald K. McNeil
John S. Kraabel
Robert R. Leisy
Christopher J. Gray
Garrett E. Eddy
Eric G. Herold