Soldier's Son

14. "Masontown Officer Killed in Germany"

"HlflSOflTOnifl OFFICER KILLED III 6ERfflHOV Masontown, Pennsylvania December 1954 In Pop's drawer I found a yellowed newspaper clipping. The five-inch-high picture showed mydad in hisformal dress uniform. The headline read, "Masontown Officer Killed in Germany." I leaned on the freshly made bed and started to read the article out loud. "Read it to yourself. I already read it." Pete fingered the pearl sides of apenknife. {206} 1 1 "MASONTOWN OFFICER KILLED IN GERMANY" { 207 } First Lieutenant Ewing R. McClelland, one of Masontown ^ best known men, was killed in action in Germany, December 23, the War Department has notified his widow, Mrs. Marianna Wright McClelland, teacher in the Masontown borough schools. Leaving for overseas in October, 1944, the 28-year-old officer had seen action in France, Belgium, and Germany. He was with the 589th Field Artillery Battalion, io6th Division. Enlisting before Pearl Harbor, he was commissioned second lieutenant and trained in Camp Lee, Va., Camp Pickett, Va., Fort Sill, Okla., and Fort Bragg, N.C. Lt. McClelland was a graduate of Masontown High school, where he starred on the gridiron, and later attended the University of Southern California. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Masontown and also a member of the Valley Lodge, No. 459, Free and Accepted Masons. In addition to his widow, he is survived by three children, Ewing, Benjamin, and Mary Jane; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ewing McClelland, of Masontown; one sister, Mrs. Anna Dailey, wife of Ted Dailey, former Pitt star, of Coatesville; two brothers, Sgt. James in France, and Lester, at home. Two brothers-in-law serve overseas, FirstLieutenant Ben E Wright with the paratroopers in Belgium, and First Lieutenant Thomas H. Wright with the Ordnance Division in France.They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. R. K.Wright, of Masontown. { 208 } "MASONTOWN OFFICER KILLED IN GERMANY" Such information about Dad was a rare find. Even though some things were incorrect, such as dad's age and the university he attended, certain details made indelible impressions on me. "[H]e starred on thegridiron ..."I knew that Uncle Les, the youngest in my dad's family, was also an AilAmerican high school tackle. In college he starred at Syracuse University and had a brief pro career before distinguishing himself in the air force, eventually as a long-time captain of Air Force One. Les always credited football for launching him out of little Masontown into a world of opportunities. But I had never thought that my dad was a star athlete, too. No wonder people thought Pete and I would be good at sports. Wenever lived up to the expectations. What would growing up with a jock dad have done for our game? *[T]he 28-year-old-officer..." The age stuckwith me, even though, for the longest time, I couldn't reallyfigure out whatbeing twenty-eight waslike. But the closer I got to that age myself, the more palpable became my vision of my dad as a vigorous young man. When I turned twenty-eight, it felt momentous. I thought, "So, it was now. This is as long as he lived. Now I feel some of the same things he did." AsI sustained this vicarious "MASONTOWN OFFICER KILLED IN GERMANY" { 209 } sensation, my recurring thought was,"I wouldn't want to die now. I haven't achieved enough, seen enough, felt enough—lived enough." Believing that my dad must have had the same thought made me miserably sad. For a time I took some solacein A.E.Housman's sentiments on the wisdom of an athlete dyingyoung: Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay, And early though the laurelgrows It withers quicker than the rose. Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. However, my dad had walked away from his glory days at least six years before his death. He had left his studies and his plans for a career in optometry, returned home, eloped with my mom, and joined the army.As the years passed, I began thinking more about his loss, not just mine. The family milestones he never attended. The current events he never witnessed. The daily com- { 210 } "MASONTOWN OFFICER KILLED IN GERMANY" forts...