Drama to portray WWII correspondent
More than 100 veterans will have the chance to see a oneman drama that commemorates World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle.
Rick Plummer of Scottville, Michigan, a Vietnam War veteran and actor, will portray Pyle in “Live from the Front: Byline Ernie Pyle” at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Proctors GE Theatre, 432 State St., Schenectady.
The play was originally to be staged two years ago but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Tickets cost $25 each and can be purchased at Capitalregionveteransmemorial.org. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Capital Regions Veterans Memorial Legacy Project, a planned 6-acre memorial park in Glenville that will serve as a tribute to Capital Region veterans and an educational resource center for youth. The park will include a welcome center, memorials and monuments, a pond and pavilion. It will also include a veterans café and military museum, which is intended to be a place where veterans, their families and the public can relax, make friends and obtain information.
To sponsor a veteran and/or contribute the memorial project, make checks payable to “Capital Regions Veterans Memorial” and send to CRVM, c/o Ginny Barr, 1 Tryon Ave., Building 26-2, Scotia, NY 12302.
Donations from businesses and the public will also allow the Capital Regions Veterans Memorial Legacy Project to offer free tickets to veterans, according to Ginny Barr of Scotia, a project board member.
“The Capital Region Veterans Memorial project wants to give back to our veterans by sponsoring this play,” Barr said.
Call Barr at 518-441-4904 for tickets and information.
Plummer’s performance will celebrate Pyle’s description of our troops’ heroism in the war. Pyle depicted the experiences and the feelings of soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors in combat as they fought German and Japanese troops. Pyle’s columns were read by more than 40 million people in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers across the United States.
Plummer wrote the play while he was a performing arts director and professor at West Shore Community College, Scottville, Michigan.
The real-life Pyle, a World War I Navy veteran, was a civilian when he interviewed and observed troops on battlefields in Europe and the Pacific and wrote syndicated columns for Scripps Howard. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist was killed by Japanese machine gunfire on the island of Iejima, previously referred to as Ie Shima, during the Battle of Okinawa.
“No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as fighting men wanted it to be told,” President Harry Truman said.
Today’s U.S. troops in war zones can thank Pyle for their monthly tax-free $225 combat pay. Pyle had written a column that encouraged Congress to give combat troops “fight pay” just as pilots earned “flight pay.” Congress passed it in 1944, and it became known as the “Ernie Pyle bill.”
“The mission of the Capital Region Veterans Memorial is to create a respite in which all veterans, their families and the public can experience a place of welcome, camaraderie, remembrance and even vindication,” Barr said. “We will provide a safe place for those most affected by military service and who may be suffering from PTSD. … We are losing over 25 veterans a day (to suicide) through this neglected affliction.”
Upon completion, guided informational tours and opportunities for children to speak directly with veterans will be available, Barr said. “History teachers have already approached us to encourage our project so that they may bring their students to this amazing destination.”
The Capital Region Veterans Memorial will also be a hub where veterans in need can find resources for food, clothing, shelter, a job or counseling. Monuments commemorating fallen troops from 11 counties are also planned. For more information on the project, visit Capitalregionveteransmemorial.org.
Naval Militia leader
Lawrence Weill of Walworth, Wayne County, was promoted to rear admiral as he became commander of the New York Naval Militia during a ceremony at the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters in Latham. Weill leads more than 2,700 men and women of the state’s naval force. The New York Naval Militia force includes 1,348 Navy reservists, 1,194 Marine reservists and 97 Coast Guard reservists. Another 85 members are non-drilling federal reserve members and 38 are non-reservists.
Weill replaces outgoing commander Rear Admiral Warren Smith. New York National Army Guard Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, state adjutant general and commander of the states military forces, promoted Weill. The New York Naval Militia is one of six state maritime forces in the United States. The Naval Militia was organized in 1891 as a seagoing National Guard before the Navy Reserve was created. During the Spanish-american War, the New York Naval Militia manned two patrol ships.
Members of the New York Naval Militia volunteer to serve on state active duty when called by the governor, while continuing to serve as members of the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve. They have supported the New York National Guard responses to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hurricane Sandy and COVID -19.
Weill earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College and a master’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology. He was commissioned into the Navy in June 1982 after graduating from Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island. He served aboard the USS Concord. His additional Navy Reserve experience included assignments in the command liaison office and as a Navy Reserve officer in charge, for four ships. He served as the commanding officer of Assault Craft Unit Two, commanding officer of Naval Surface Group Mediterranean 105, and as the deputy commander of Task Group 63 in Naples, Italy.
He retired from Xerox Corp. as a senior logistics analyst.