Stuart Kestenbaum is the Interim President of the Maine College of Art. Previously, he served as the director of the Haystack, a crafts school in Deer Isle, Maine, where he established innovative programs for 27 years that combined craft, writing, and new technologies. Prior to that he worked at the Maine Arts Commission and the Children’s Museum of Maine. He remains active in the field of craft as an honorary fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the Distinguished Educator’s Award from the James Renwick Alliance. He is also Maine’s fifth poet laureate, a five-year post created by Maine’s Legislature in 1995, which he was awarded in March of 2016.

He is the author of four collections of poems: Pilgrimage (Coyote Love Press), House of Thanksgiving (Deerbrook Editions), Prayers and Run-on Sentences (Deerbrook Editions), and Only Now (Deerbrook Editions), as well as a collection of essays entitled "The View From Here" (Brynmorgen Press). He has written and spoken widely on craft making and creativity, and his poems and writing have appeared in numerous small press publications and magazines, including Tikkun, the Sun, the Beloit Poetry Journal, and Northeast Corridor and on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac. 

Former United States Poet Laureate Ted Kooser said, “Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life. No hidden agendas here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love.”
 

Bob Martin introduced our speaker, Ambassador Laurence Pope, using material from his favorite source, Ambrose Bierce’s, 'The Devil’s Dictionary.'   

The last time Laurence spoke to Rotary, it was a club in San Angelo, Texas. Ambassador Pope, who is a retired American diplomat and author, told us he was not speaking of diplomacy, but rather a story close to his heart. Starting out, the ambassador acknowledged the contributions to World War II by members Bob Trail and Earl Leavitt.

Laurence began the story about his father by telling us he grew up listening to dramatized recorded stories about all the Medal of Honor winners, and his dad’s story was one of them. Everett Pope, nicknamed "Two Ton," died at 90-years old in 2009 on his birthday. He would describe his life as happy and successful, but Laurence would not describe his father as happy.

The battle on Peleliu Island is described as the forgotten battle. The 2015 documentaries "Revisiting a Forgotten Battlefield - Peleliu Island," and the book "Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan" by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard have informed many people about that battle.Lawrence gave us practically a minute-by-minute account of the action at Peleliu. It was a depiction that helped us all understand more about the horrors of war and the bravery of our fighting men. Peleliu Island, an island in the Pacific, was needed to secure the US Navy flank. It was predicted to be a 3-day battle (short shot battle), but the aerial photography did not show the mountains and caves. These caves were expertly used by Japanese, who dug a highly developed cave system. The Japanese on Peleliu were untouched by pre-invasion Navy bombardment. 

Landing on Sept 15, 1944, the Marines proceeded slowly and on Sept 19 were pinned down in a swamp. Charlie Company was assigned Hill 100 as its target and they took it, but of the 230 assaulting Marines, only 95 were left after 3 days. The following day all 95 returned to the hill, held it overnight, then were ordered down, as the position could not be supported. Only 25 made it back down. Then they were ordered back into the assault again, but before they could start, the attack order was rescinded. The Marines experienced a 79% loss rate on the island’s assaults. 69 Navy Crosses and 8 Medals of Honor were awarded, 5 of which were for soldiers who fell on explosives to protect others.

The Japanese defense was so hardened that in March 1947, 33 Japanese soldiers surrendered, 2 ½ years after the battle.

Laurence told us that his experience as a diplomat was based on understanding what his father had done. He has a profound reverence for those who bear the battle on our behalf. Ambassador Pope has travelled extensively with armed forces, and each time has developed more respect for the military.

For more information on the Medal of Honor citation for Captain Everett P. Pope, United States Marine Corps. to to: www.marinemedals.com/popeeverett.htm

(Photo L-R: Bob Martin, President Laura Young, Ambassador Laurence Pope, Earle Leavitt, and Bob Traill.)