Christmas Eve, 1966 is a day Ron Sprague will never forget. As his mother grabbed the mail that afternoon, she opened a letter no parent ever wanted to receive. Her son, Ron, had been drafted to serve in Vietnam, with a mandatory report date less than two weeks later. This 1964 grad's life was about to take a major turn.
Sprague would go onto serve three years as a member of the United States Army in Nha Trang, Vietnam, just two years after graduating high school. He'd eventually return home, landing a job at IBM. Five other Spartans, including a classmate of Sprague, would have a much different, tragic story.
Jerry Zimmer, Thomas Gregory, Patrick O'Brien, Craig Swagler, and Howard Snitchler would not return home.
Decades later, Maine-Endwell High School faculty and leadership developed a monument in their honor, complete with a stone marker. A celebration was held with families, honoring these brave men for their sacrifices.
Later this year, the village of Endicott would begin a project, allowing the public to purchase banners in honor of loved ones who had served in the military. Sprague, a proud Veteran, wanted to celebrate his fellow classmates, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. He reached out to the community, asking for donations to help cover the cost.
Then something happened.
Hoping to raise a little more than $600, he'd receive nearly double. These banners now hang in honor of these five men, but Sprague had a bit of a dilemma. What does he do with the rest of the donations?
The goal was simple - create a scholarship in their honor - allowing current Maine-Endwell seniors to apply. Thanks to support and a donation from Post 1700 in Endicott, the scholarship now sits at $1,500, and currently has 10 applicants. Sprague, and members of the Post, hope to continue this scholarship for years to come. The only requirement being that the applicant has a family member who served.
But Sprague's service to those who never returned home didn't stop there. He recently reached out to the district, asking for permission to take over maintenance of the memorial outside the high school.
Spending a couple of hours cleaning the stone by hand, re-applying mulch, and sprucing it up with new flowers, the memorial looks better than ever, all thanks to a fellow Vietnam Veteran.
"When we were fighting and when we came home, there wasn't a lot of recognition or goodwill towards us. I see the sense of that changing a little, and I thought the memorial was really important. These five guys gave all and they deserve to be remembered and honored," said Sprague.
This following memorial hangs in the hall of the high school:
Jerry Zimmer
Thomas Gregory
Patrick O'Brien
Craig Swagler
Howard Snitchler
We thank these men, and all of the men and women who have served, this Memorial Day.