FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — When Fort Fairfield High School’s Class of 1967 held its 50th reunion in 2017, class members realized just how many of their former classmates — 45 out of the 108 graduates — had served in various branches of the U.S. military.
To honor all those veterans, 15 of whom have died since 1967, several members of the class have spearheaded a book project that tells their stories and shares a local perspective of the Vietnam War era, the town of Fort Fairfield and the town’s school system.
That book — “Honoring Their Service: Stories of Fort Fairfield High School Class of 1967 Military Veterans” — will be published in November and sent to veterans, their families and anyone who completes an order form by Sept. 15.
The book is dedicated to David Cox, a Class of 1967 member who was killed in action in May 1968 while serving in Vietnam.
The veterans served in numerous states and countries after graduating from high school and leaving their hometown, including Alaska, Georgia, Texas, Korea, Japan, Guatemala and, most notably, Vietnam. Twenty-three of the 45 veterans fought in the Vietnam War. The highest number of 1967 graduates to serve in Vietnam at any time during the war was 13 in 1968.
Peter McKenney, who served at the U.S. Army’s Tropic Test Center in the Panama Canal from 1972 to 1974, has been interviewing veterans and surviving family members since 2018.
He has been collecting historical and personal information to either help veterans write their own stories or to aid in his own retelling of deceased veterans’ stories.
Among the Vietnam veterans he interviewed, many spoke of horrific scenes they had witnessed during the war but rarely, if ever, talked about with others due to post traumatic stress disorder.
“Some of them had very tough experiences that to this day are difficult for them to talk about,” McKenney said. “I never asked specific questions about those things. I just let them talk and sometimes they opened up.”
McKenney’s classmate James Tinkham served in the military for 40 years. He was a college student in southern Maine in May 1968 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army to avoid being drafted. He served one year in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. As part of his duties, he helped insert troops into combat zones, bring food and supplies and fly wounded service members to the nearest Army hospital.
Though his duties as a pilot presented many challenges, the experiences of flying influenced Tinkham’s decision to remain in the military.
“During flight school it didn’t take me long to figure out what I enjoyed. I flew for 31 out of the 40 years I was in the military,” Tinkham said. “On one hand it was fun, but it was also very challenging. You were always under a lot of pressure while flying in combat zones.”
After 16 years of active duty in the Army, for which he served in various U.S. states, Tinkham joined the Maine National Guard. He flew more than 50 rescue missions that successfully rescued children and adults who had gotten lost on Mount Katahdin, the Maine sections of the Appalachian Trail and other remote areas of wilderness.
Tinkham ended his career in 2008 at the National Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., and moved with his wife Becky to Sunset Beach, North Carolina, where they still live today.
When the book project came about, Tinkham found the process of sorting through his military memories — both good and bad — especially challenging. But he knew he wanted to be part of efforts to honor his fellow high school graduates, especially those who dealt with the trauma of returning to civilian life after combat duty.
“They would walk right out of combat and into civilian life. There was no real transition period,” Tinkham said. “The V.A. was around, but they weren’t as local as they are today.”
Unlike many of his classmates, McKenney served in the military for only a brief time and never fought in combat zones. He explained that during the Vietnam era the U.S. military targeted men between the ages of 18 and 26 for the draft who were considered physically fit. But if an individual was a full-time college student and had earned enough credits, they were exempt from the draft unless they graduated or withdrew from their classes.
McKenney entered the University of Maine right after high school in 1967 and graduated four years later with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was drafted into the Army soon afterward and would go on to serve in the Canal Zone, where he helped test the efficiency of military equipment for tropical environments.
He later attended law school and established himself in Portland as a tax attorney and later a manager of strategic planning for Spectrum Medical Group, now Spectrum Healthcare Partners. He and his wife Susan still live in Portland.
Writing his own story and those of other veterans in the tribute book has reconnected McKenney with the classmates he had lost touch with over the years.
“Some people I hardly knew because we were in different classes and activities,” McKenney said. “We’ve become very good friends now, even more so than when we were in school together.”
The book has become phase two of the Class of 1967’s efforts to honor their military veterans. In July 2018, class representative Mary Rochard Hunter helped organize a ceremony at the Paul-Lockhart VFW Post 6187 in Fort Fairfield during the Maine Potato Blossom Festival.
The ceremony honored all veterans in the class and featured speeches from U.S. Sen. Angus King and Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, adjutant general for the Maine National Guard.
Those who wish to order a copy of the veterans tribute book must contact Hunter before Sept. 15 at 207-764-1550 or lhunter31154@roadrunner.com. Hardcover editions of the book cost $50 while softcover versions are $35.
Aside from being part of the Class of 1967, Hunter has a personal connection to military service. Her father was a member of the National Guard and her brother served in Germany for the U.S. Army. She hopes that anyone who reads the book recognizes the many sacrifices veterans have made in service to their country.
“Many veterans said how good it was to talk about their experiences after all these years,” Hunter said. “They see a purpose in what they’ve done — to help other veterans share their stories.”
