103rd Infantry vets to gather for final reunion

On May 19, when Edward Chappell stands in front of the small gathering of old Army buddies from World War II, he’ll open the program the way he always has as master of ceremonies for the last 26 reunions of the 103rd Infantry Regiment.

Chappell will begin with a prayer, then run through the list of Army units to find out how far the men and their families have traveled to be in Lewiston for this occasion. The roster of hometowns will include Biddeford, Auburn, Rumford, and Norway, Newport, Augusta, Waterville and Dexter.

Then he’ll ask each Maine veteran to stand and signify when he joined the regiment, and when he left. He’ll read the letters from the families of men who could not attend the reunion this year, a roll call of those who have finally become too old or too ill to make the trip anymore.

Then, of course, he’ll talk of those who have passed away since the last gathering.

Chappell expects that the room will be quieter than normal this year as he reads the names of the deceased. Last year, there were 17 friends on the list. This year, 16 more will be added. Where once as many as 300 to 400 men showed up to talk and laugh about the old times, the reunions have dwindled in recent years to 40 or so Maine members of that original regiment that left Portland by train some 60 years ago for the war in the Pacific.

As a result, the men have decided that this 46th reunion will have to be their last.

“Yes, I guess you could say this marks the end of an era for all of us who are left,” said Chappell, who lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife of 60 years. “Every year it’s harder to get together. Not just for the little old 103rd, either, but for veterans across the country. I suppose this year’s reunion will be very somber and respectful, being the last, and I’m not sure how I’ll feel when it’s over. It’s sad. Some of the fellas I won’t ever see again. I suppose it will hit me on the way home, in private.”

Before that happens, though, there will be the usual music and celebration. The men will talk about what they have always talked about at these reunions, which is everything but the horrible experiences they all endured 60 years ago as scared young men burdened with the gravest of responsibilities.

Instead, they will swap stories about all the good times they could never forget, about friendships that have lasted a lifetime, about all the children and grandchildren who have grown up to take their places in a world made better for the sacrifices of these old soldiers long ago.

And they will leave the war’s horror and sadness in the past, as most of their generation has always preferred to do and will until the end.

“No, we never dwell on the bad parts of the war when we get together,” said Harrington “Red” Newell, of Auburn. “None of us talk about that. It does no good to bring it all back up. The guys always say they’d never want to go through it again, but they don’t ever regret what happened. We did what we had to do and moved on.”

At this last reunion, Chappell will be reminded of old friends like Ollie Hood, who died this year at 83. The two Mainers shared foxholes together in the invasion of the Philippines, were introduced to death together, came home to become colonels together in the National Guard, and remained good friends over the decades without ever dredging up bad memories of the war.

“War can make people even closer than friends,” Chappell said. “Ollie was like a member of the family to me, and the world is never the same when you lose someone as close as that.”

Newell, who helped organize the first reunion at the Sons of Italy Hall in Lewiston a decade after the war ended, is prepared for the letdown when this final gathering ends and the friends say goodbye.

“All good things have to come to an end some day,” Newell said. “We’ve had a good long run. We can’t complain.”