From Hampden Sidney Lodge #67, Millbrook, Al
We had an amazing Past Master Dinner on Saturday the 6th of Nov. 2021 where we were fortunate enough to Celebrate nine of our living Past Masters, as well as a few of our remembered Past Masters who are no longer with us.
In addition, we were able to Celebrate the Lives of two of our remaining Living Master Masons who are WWII veterans.
It was a true Honor to celebrate all of these AMAZING men for their dedication to our craft as well as the incredible amount of knowledge gathered in one room.
Each Past Master present was presented with a Past Master Lapel Pin
Thank you to our Secretary Larry Spears, and especially our Past Master Dinner Committee Members Barry Spink, Sean Collins and James Brooks for the amazing organization and job in making this event go off so smoothly.
The Veterans honored for their WWII service are Eugene Thomas Beasley and Carl Edwards.
Bro. Eugene Thomas Beasley is a WWII Veteran of the U.S. Navy who served from 1941-1944. Bro. Beasley served as a Signalman aboard the USS North Carolina BB-55 in the Pacific Theatre.
On September 15th, 1942 he received severe injuries to both eyes when a Japanese Torpedo the USS North Carolina, which resulted in blindness in one eye.
Bro. Beasley volunteered for service in the US Navy and attended Boot Camp in Norfolk, VA before being one of the first crew members to be assigned to the newly commissioned USS North Carolina, the fastest Battleship of its kind, having been commissioned on the 9th of April, 1941. It carried a crew of 2,379 including 444 commissioned officers and 100 soldiers of the US Marines.
Bro. Beasley sailed through the Panama Canal where the USS North Carolina was used to strengthen the forces of the Guadalcanal Campaign.
He also took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons near Papua New Guinea in the Coral Sea where the ship screened aircraft carriers and shot down several Japanese aircraft. The USS North Carolina was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine known as I-19. This torpedo did not severely damage the USS North Carolina apart from the shock of the blast that disabled the forward gun turret. However this attack left 5 of Bro. Beasley’s shipmates dead and several with many injuries, including Bro. Beasley.
Bro. Beasley was treated for his eye injuries both on Honolulu after the ship returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs as well as on the Mainland. Bro. Beasley was Honorably Discharged in 1944 due to his injuries at the rank of Seaman Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Bro. Eugene Beasley reflects on his WWII military service by saying “I feel like I did my duty. I was young, and I enjoyed it.”.
Bro. Carl Edwards is a Retired Veteran who served 20 distinguished years in the U.S. Navy, Naval Reserves and Air Force Reserves who served actively in both WWII and the Korean War. Among his Duty Stations were the USS Sepulga AO-20, a Fleet Oiler in WWII, USS Delta AR-9 a Repair Ship in the Korean War and the USS Holder DD-819.
Carl volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1942 at the age of 17. His time on the USS Sepulga saw him serve in the areas of the Panama Canal to the Southeastern Pacific during WWII including his introduction to Enemy Fire during Air Raids at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands by the Japanese Air Force, witnessing the sinking multiple US vessels by Japanese Kamikazes.
Carl Edwards reflects on his military service saying “I think I did what I was supposed to do. Serving in the Navy was a learning process, and until then, I had not been anywhere.”.
Carl’s favorite saying is “If we meet, and you forget me, you’ve lost nothing. If you meet Jesus Christ, and you forget him, you’ve lost everything.”.
In 2012, Carl Edwards was awarded the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s WWII Southern Cross Medal of Honor by the Jefferson Davis Chapter of Mobile.
