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Thursday, November 10, 2016
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Volume 82 • Issue 45
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News From a Neighbor
Thursday, November 10, 2016
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
The “Forgotten War” still recalled by Belmont veteran By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Korean Conflict (1950-1953) has often been called the “Forgotten War” but to Belmont's 84-year-old Max Robinson, the things he saw and did while serving with the US Air Force at Miho Air Base in Japan during that time are still fresh in his mind. Robinson and 15 other Belmont High School seniors enlisted in the military in April, 1951 even before they were handed a diploma. The next thing he knew, Robinson was on the troop ship USNS Meigs leaving San Francisco and headed for Occupied Japan, a staging area for the combat raging on the Korean peninsula. On his way to Japan, Robinson kept a diary and excerpts from it were published in the Dec. 19, 1951 Belmont Banner. On Oct. 30, 1951 Robinson wrote: “At 6pm I went up on deck and could see the beautiful lights of San Francisco blinking off in the distance. I stayed on the deck until I couldn't see the lights anymore and that was the last time I saw the good ole USA. I went below and went to bed.” Once at Miho Air Base, Robinson assumed duties in the supply department. He was put in charge of two warehouses. “I was just a private but the sergeant had gotten in trouble for selling things on the black market,” Robinson said. According to Robinson, the types of aircraft that were at Miho included Douglas C47 and C54 cargo planes as well as Martin B-26 fighter bombers. The B-26s flew from Miho across the Sea of Japan to attack trains and other targets in Korea. Proving it's a small world, Robinson ran into a Belmont boy on the base. “A good friend of mine, Ted Crunkleton, was the crew chief on a B-26,” Robinson said. “He was later a baseball coach at Belmont Abbey.” See VETERAN page 2
Belmont's Max Robinson, 84, wearing the medal he received from the President of South Korea in 2002 for serving in the Korean War. Photo by Alan Hodge
Ida Rankin student builds planters for Stanley Total Living Center By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Call it a daughter/father project. Call it recycling an old jungle gym. Call it team work for a good cause. Call it making senior citizens feel good. However you want to spin it, the recent task that Mt. Holly's Lauren Fox, 10, and her father Mike took on to build three wooden planter boxes for the residents at Stanley Total Living Center was a winning proposition for everyone. “Lauren was doing some volunteer work during the summer at Stanley Total Living Center,” said her mom Melissa. “In conversation with the activities director there, we learned that the center was in need of some planters that were wheelchair accessible for the rehabilitation therapy program. Lauren had a slide that was not Lauren Fox recently built and installed several wooden planters for Stanley being used so the idea of Total Living Center with the help of her father Mike. See PLANTERS page 3 Photos provided
Max as a 20 year old US Air Force Private. Photo courtesy of Max Robinson
Construction progresses on schools in Stanley and Gastonia By Gaston Schools Gaston County’s two new schools are starting to take shape. Foundations have been poured and concrete walls are rising from the dirt. Both the elementary school in Gastonia and the middle school in Stanley are on track to be completed late next summer, according to project architects who presented reports recently to the Gaston County Board of Education. When ready, the modern school campuses will serve the Gastonia and Stanley communities for many years to come. The new elementary school is well underway behind the current site of Pleasant Ridge Elementary School, said Rick Brown from Boomerang Design, an architecture firm with offices in Charlotte, Raleigh and Shelby. He shared photos of classrooms taking shape on the work site as well as
a 500-foot-long, 15-foot-high retaining wall. Plumbing and electrical work is already underway, and steel beams will be added to the building within the next few weeks. Brown also explained how the new school building will change the layout of the Pleasant Ridge campus. The public entrance will be from the north of the new building on Floyd Street, and the existing south entrance will be reserved for bus traffic. “It will greatly improve traffic flow,” he said. The two-story building will accommodate 800 students and feature an inner courtyard with a southern exposure, which Brown said will allow students to have outdoor learning time even in the winter. The project is currently under budget and on time, he said. “Things are really moving along,” he said. “We’ve had really good participation and teamSee SCHOOLS page 3
Belmont sets Veterans Day event Belmont will hold its annual Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11 at 11am in front of the “Fighting Yank” statue at Stowe Park. The event is sponsored by American Legion Posts 144 and 180. The public is invited.
Thank you to our United States Military Veterans for your service.