Maine's Vote in Honor of a Veteran program offers us a unique way to commemorate those who served in our armed forces. Below are exerpts from my entries. If you wish to learn more, please visit the Maine.gov site Vote in Honor of a Veteran
Haskell accept Lt. Proctor's Bronze Star
I am voting in honor of my father, Lt. M. Dewing Proctor, who was strafed while stationed on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. It was Christmas Eve 1944, and his men were playing cards. He went out to check the refueling tanks so they could finish their game. He died the next day. In his letters home to my mother, he wrote often about why he was there and how he wanted his baby daughter (me) to grow up in a free country. My mother learned how to be a single parent. Neighbors and relatives filled in all the empty spots in my life, as so many Americans did for those left behind. Voting in my father's name, serving in public life, and respecting the government he fought to save are ways I honor his sacrifice and the gifts others gave to me and my mother.
Anne Haskell, Portland
from the Secretary of War in her
purse until her death in 1999
The Western Union telegram reads as follows:
"THE SECRETARY OF WAR ASKS THAT I ASSURE YOU OF HIS DEEP SYMPATHY IN THE LOSS OF YOUR HUSBAND SECOND LIEUTENANT MORRIS D PROCTOR REPORT RECEIVED STATES HE DIED TWENTY FIVE DECEMBER ON MINDORO AS RESULT OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION CONFIRMING LETTER FOLLOWS. DUNLOP ACTING THE ADJUTANT GENERAL."
