Memorial Day 2023

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Memorial Day was declared a national holiday through an act of Congress in 1971, and its roots date back to the Civil War era, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Unlike Veterans Day, Memorial Day honors all military members who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. 

For the last couple of years, I have created a video to remember our classmates who died while on active duty with the military of the United States. This year I feature an edited version of a previous video, and while working on it I realized there should not be any additional classmates featured in the future unless someone comes up with the name of someone we have failed to recognize. It is a simple truth. We are at an age where we no longer have any classmates who are actively serving in the military. With that in mind, I draw your attention to the names of those who we do recognize on Memorial Day and hope you can remember and be thankful for the times we were allowed to spend with these fallen warriors. It would be wonderful if there are never any new names of Lee High graduates who are added to this list.

Once again as we honor the members of our Armed Services who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country, I remind you we only had one classmate from the Classes of '64, '65, or '66, who was killed while serving on active duty. That classmate was Capt. Dennis Faber of the Class of '65. Dennis was serving as the navigator, when he and seven other crewmen were killed during a C-130 training mission near Little Rock, Arkansas, on Sept. 8, 1978. The crew departed Little Rock-Jacksonville AFB for a training mission. While flying by night in poor weather conditions, the four-engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near Conway, about 20 miles northwest of the airbase. All eight crew members were killed. Dennis was married to Cherri Polly, LHS '66 at the time. 

The Second Lee High School Sweetheart Pageant

Tommy Towery (Rainer Klauss)

LHS '64

The question came up last week about the timing of the first Lee High School Sweetheart Pageant, and when looking through all the stuff I saved from high school I could find nothing mentioning the first Sweetheart Pageant. Judging from the date of the second one, I had already graduated and left when it took place. I have a complete set of the 1965 Lee's Traveller and nothing was published about the event. There was nothing about it in the 1965 Silver Sabre yearbook.  Perhaps that was because it was a Key Club event and not school-sponsored.  In the text of the program it states, "Miss Linda Meeler was chosen the Lee High Sweetheart at the first Pageant. Tonight she will crown her successor." It is odd that although it is listed as the Second Pageant, in the newspaper text accompanying the photo of the sweethearts it is stated, "This is the first of what Lee students think will become a long series of Beauty Pageants and lovely Sweethearts."

That said, 20 years ago I was gifted some pictures and other items by Rainer Klauss, LHS '64, featuring the Second Annual Lee High School Sweetheart Pageant which I now share with you. But first, here is a photo of a heart that Rainer also sent, and when looking at the photos of the hearts in the second pageant, I think this is a heart worn by his wife, Gudrun Wagner, LHS '65, in the first pageant.

Below is a copy (followed by some blow up copies) of the photo of the pageant which appeared in the Huntsville News on March 30, 1965.

The Wayback Machine

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

I continue to ask Mr. Peabody (a.k.a. Amazon Alexa) to play me a song from 1966 this week and collect your thoughts about the song. So...Mr. Peabody, take us way back. What is the first 1966 song you will play?

"Paint It Black" is a song recorded in 1966 by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences and lyrics about grief and loss. London Records released the song as a single on 7 May 1966 in the United States, and Decca Records released it on 13 May in the United Kingdom.

"Paint It Black" has unconventional instrumentation, including a prominent sitar, the Hammond organ and castanets. It was a major chart success for the Rolling Stones, remaining 11 weeks (including two at number one) on the US Billboard Hot 100, and 10 weeks (including one atop the chart) on the Record Retailer chart in the UK. Upon a reissue in 2007, it reentered the UK Singles Chart for 11 weeks. It was the band's third number-one single in the US and sixth in the UK.

Using color-based metaphors, the song's lyrics describe the grief suffered by someone stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss of a partner.

Editor's Comments: This is not a high school song for the classes of '64 and '65. It belongs to the younger group of  '66 students. I almost skipped this one when I asked Alexa to play a song from 1966, because it is so dark. This song sounds like it should be a soundtrack to the Vietnam War. I don't know if it was used in a movie about Vietnam or not, but if it was not, it missed its calling. However, we were still in the midst of the British Invasion and songs of The Rolling Stones were very popular - no matter what the subject was.

I wish at least one member of the Class of '66 would comment on this song. Did any of the local bands ever play it at dances? I just wonder how it was received in Huntsville.

On Memorial Day this year I will be attending a ceremony at our local Veteran's Park to honor our fallen service members. As I have done in the past I will be wearing my Air Force uniform - since I can still get in it. I am not wearing it to show off, but rather to show support for those who died while on active duty. It is an annual ceremony and usually draws 100 to 200 people, accompanied by military music performed by a local school band and the laying of a wreath at a monument dedicated to a local Medal of Honor recipient. I hope some of you also have an opportunity to honor those we lost. If you do, please take a photo and send it to me so I can share it with your classmates.

Some More Prom Photos

Ricky Simmons, LHS '64,  transferred before he graduated from Lee, but posted a prom picture of him in his new school on Facebook with this caption, "Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown New Orleans following Riverdale High School senior prom. I can identify only me and Vicki Utterback in front with Jim Baker beside her."

Last Week's Questions, Answers, and Comments

Joel Weinbaum, LHS '64, "Many great memories from Lee HS! And the Reunions!"

Craig Bannecke, LHS ‘65, "Tommy I noted when you posted my 1965 Senior Prom Picture that you put LHS66 rather than '65 - no big deal. (Corrected now!) But, then I looked down at Barbara Bauknecht Brown's, LHS ‘66, comments: "Do you have a picture of the Sweetheart Pageant? It was the first one Lee had in '65 or '66." She was not sure if the Pageant was first held in 1965 or 1966.  The Sweetheart Pageant's first year was 1965. I looked in my annual and also Jennifer's 1966 Annual and noticed that neither annual had ever displayed the event. They just showed the Key Club members and officers and nothing else. That was a pretty big event at Lee and I'm not sure for how many years they held it.  But next to being crowned the Homecoming Queen, I would think that would have been a pretty significant accomplishment and honor to have won that pageant. Anyway, it was a great event and I wish now we had some pictures to look back on. I know as a member we had a great time putting it on.