June 6, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Allendale Brookside Class of 1938: 13 grads served in WWII by John Koster Allendale’s Brookside School had 13 male graduates in the Class of 1938, and all 13 grew up to serve in World War II. On Memorial Day, Stiles Thomas – whose was one of them – spoke in honor of his classmates and their service to America. Thomas, a World War II paratrooper who negotiated an early high school graduation so he could volunteer, was one of three veterans at this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony. Two other veterans: Daniel Kaplan, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge; and Richard Van Houten, the only commissioned officer, were also present. Kaplan, a combat veteran of the bloodiest U.S. battle of the war in Europe, was called forward to receive the Battle of the Bulge Commemorative Medal. Only one of the Allendale boys was killed while in the service. Edward Hamilton died as a result of a combat-related accident in the Pacific. Two of the other veterans are still alive, but were unable to attend. Thomas, Allendale’s first marsh warden and a nationally recognized conservationist, ticked down the list of veterans produced by his own research to honor the Brookside School Class of 1938 boys for their perfect attendance in World War II. In addition to Thomas, Kaplan, Van Houten, and Hamilton, the list included James Allen, Raymond Arlt, William Christian, David Colburn, James Deaver, John Kelly, Memories of 1928 Clifford Mahoney, Thomas Mahoney, and Herman Schoenheiter. Details were not available for each serviceman, but Thomas was able to gather the following information about several of his classmates. Allen served with the 12th Air Force in the Mediterranean in twin-engine B25 bombers. He won the Bronze Star for valor and the Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters for continuous combat service that totaled 69 missions. He is now living in Ohio. Colburn served as a gunner’s mate on Liberty Ships – mass produced armed transports and freighters -- in the South Pacific. He received three battle stars for combat duty and his ship, survived several kamikaze suicide attacks by Japanese aircraft. He died in 1995. Hamilton, a staff sergeant in the Army Air Force, was working as an aviation mechanic in February of 1945 in the Pacific when a damaged aircraft crashed near his work station and exploded in flames. He died of burns the following day. Kaplan saw action with the 87th Infantry Division in France, Belgium, and Germany after D-Day in Europe. He received the Combat Infantry Badge and two battle (continued on page 21) Sam Brower took this photo of Allendale’s World War I veterans near the firehouse. Seated are John Hubbard, J. Parnell Thomas, Arthur Faulk, John Kelly, John Borger, Edward Hamilton, Marcey Rivers, and Russell Mallinson. Standing are Archie Farrell, Arthur Mohan, Jacob Kaplan, Gene Megnin, Ing Roswell, and George Wilson. The men were members of American Legion Post #204. The firehouse, a portion of which can be seen on the left, faced West Allendale Avenue and burned down in the 1960s. (Photo courtesy of Stiles Thomas.)