Photo Caption:
Centenarian Leroy D. Day, of Jackson-Silver Post 68, Locke Mills, Maine, being
congratulated on attaining 100 years of a worthy life, by Harry G. Orcutt, Post 68 & District 5 Adjutant, with Eldon Bartlett, Post 68 IT/PR Chairman & Master of Jefferson Masonic Lodge 100.

Article:
Years before the United States entered WWI, Leroy D. Day was born. He served in the U.S. Army in WWII, being present at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on June 3, 1942, when the Japanese Light Aircraft Carriers Junyo and Ryujo paid an unfriendly visit. The planes of Junyo got lost and had to return to their ship; about a dozen planes of the Ryujo inflicted heavy damage in bombing our installation. Ultimately, the Japanese Imperial Navy lost the Pacific War on June 4, thousands of miles to the south and west, at Midway Island where four of Admiral Nagumo’s Fast Carrier Task Force, all of which had precipitated the war in attacking Pearl Harbor, were destroyed by American Naval Carrier Aircraft.
Possessed of a sharp mind and relaxed in his demeanor, Legionnaire Day recalled the attack on Dutch Harbor in detail. He also remembered that during his year-plus of service in Alaska, it rained almost constantly, there being but four or five days of sunshine. At the end of the war he was assigned as an Army supervisor on a Philippine road clearing crew; he recalled that when his crew encountered unexploded ordinance, they would hold up and await Army engineers to clear them.
Returning to Maine in 1946, 70 years ago, he became a member of both The American Legion and Jefferson Masonic Lodge. Both Legionnaires and Masons (Orcutt is a member of Bethel Lodge #30), were invited by the Day family to participate in his birthday celebration, under the shade of a large tree at his home.
Post 68 draws its membership primarily from the towns of Greenwood (with its village of Locke Mills) and Woodstock. Greenwood, a township largely founded by 19 Revolutionary War soldiers, is celebrating its bicentennial this year; Woodstock celebrated its bicentennial last year. Having seen half of both towns' existences, Legionnaire Day is looking forward to celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The American Legion in 2019.