This Memorial Day, we remember the more than 20 graduates of Eatonville High School we lost while serving their country

Story and photo by Rick Stedman, U.S. Army Veteran

As Memorial Day approaches, many of us remember friends and family members who served in the military but never made it home. Though Eatonville is a small town, it has been home to roughly two dozen individuals who served and died during various wars and conflicts.

Of the 377 Eatonville High School graduates who served during World War II, nine died in service to their country. A total of 16.1 million Americans served in the military during World War II. Just over 670,000 of them died during that war.

Eatonville High School’s north hall features a group of commemorative photos and a plaque honoring the nine graduates who died in WWII. They are: Charles Biggs, class of 1933; Rudy Jugo, 1936; John Ward, 1936; Ray Lockhart, 1937; James Battle, 1939; John Davie, 1939; Ed Norberg, 1939; Irvin Fry, 1940; and

Gordon Worden, 1942.

Back in 1946, Eatonville High School’s athletic field was lit for the very first time as a vivid memorial to those who served their country but never made it home.

This fall, EHS’s refurbished athletic field will flip its lights on once again. When viewing those lights, let them serve as a memorial to all veterans who served in war and never returned home.

Stories of the Fallen

More than 20 EHS graduates have died while serving our country. Here are a few of their stories.

Army Tech. Sgt. Charles Biggs was killed in action, along with 42 other soldiers, during the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, June 3-4, 1942. The 26-year-old had only been married for a few months.

Private First Class Paul Kreger served in Vietnam in 1972 and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. He served only three months when he died from an accidental detonation of a mine. Paul was 19 years old.

Army Spec. 5 Lawrence Gene Bangs died in Vietnam two days after Christmas in 1970. He was 21.

Another 21-year-old, David Du Wayne Knowles, died during a river assault in Vietnam. The Naval Seaman E-3 was killed instantly.

Also 21 years of age, Ronald Gay Curtis died while serving in the jungles of Vietnam in 1971. He was a sergeant with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Several reflections of Ron are shared on the Wall of Faces, a Vietnam Remembrances website, vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces. In 2022, Bill Gardner posted the following:

“Ron was an amazing guy. He was the nicest, friendliest person I ever met. Every morning, Ron would stop at each person’s hooch and, with this big smile, would ask how everyone was doing. I was there when Ron died. He had no pain; he went fast. I later visited the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., and have Ron’s name etched onto a piece of paper, not to remember Ron but to honor him. It was such an honor to know him.”

Ron also received EHS’s Award of Distinction in 2025. Ron’s nephew, John Jay, served in the Navy as a nuclear submariner. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1985

Faithful Reminder, a Poem to Remember

John Davie graduated from Eatonville High School in 1939 before serving in the Navy during World War

II. He served aboard the USS Belleau Wood, a light aircraft carrier that played a significant role in the Pacific Theater. He died in combat in October 1944, at age 23, and was laid to rest in Alder Cemetery.

John carried a Bible with him during the war. Serving as a bookmark was a poem titled “Courage.” When John’s mother, Teckla, discovered the poem, the words so moved her that she sent a copy to the weekly Dispatch newspaper, which promptly published it.

COURAGE

By Edgar A. Guest

This is courage: to remain Brave and patient under pain; Cool and calm and firm to stay In the presence of dismay; Not to ffinch when foes attack,

Even though you’re beaten back; Still to cling to what is right, When the wrong possesses might.

This is courage: to be true To the best men see in you;

To remember, tempest-tossed, Not to whimper, “All is lost!” But to battle to the end

While you still have strength to spend; Not to cry that hope is gone While you’ve life to carry on.

This is courage: to endure Hurt and loss you cannot cure; Patiently and undismayed, Facing life still unafraid;

Glad to live and glad to take Bravely for your children’s sake, Burdens they would have to bear If you ffed and ceased to care.