By Matt de Simone
Students in Bruce Ingram’s English 10 Advanced Studies classes at Lord Botetourt High School honored three local World War II veterans during two programs that combined student presentations with firsthand accounts of military service.
The programs examined major events of the war while giving students an opportunity to hear from men who served in Europe and the Pacific and experienced the transition from wartime to postwar life.
During the first program, Brookelyn Fadia and Landon Sharp presented “What Our Three Veterans Experienced.” Aaliyah Johnson introduced the Rev. Ed Burton, Sophia Wolfe introduced George Alcon Hubbard, and Karis Edwards introduced Marion Noel, with each student sharing a biography of the veteran.
The second program, “WW II Major Events,” was presented by Gianna Pitzer, Jesse Caldwell and Noah Patterson. Veronica Helms introduced Hubbard, Rana Atayi introduced Noel, and Makinleigh Lee introduced Burton.
The student presentations traced the conflict from Japan’s expansion in Asia and the attack on Pearl Harbor through the Allied advance across Europe and the Pacific, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan’s surrender in September 1945.
But the programs also offered something beyond a history lesson: the opportunity to hear directly from men whose lives were shaped by the war.
Hubbard was born in Union Hall, Va., on Jan. 25, 1926. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January 1943 at age 17 and served as a coxswain’s mate, a 40-millimeter gunner, and a driver of a Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft operated by a four-man crew.
During the war in Europe, Hubbard’s boat transported troops and equipment across the English Channel to Utah Beach during the Normandy campaign. His unit also delivered more than 600 trucks associated with the Red Ball Express, the Allied supply operation that provided fuel and other essential supplies to advancing forces on the Western Front.
The journey was not without danger. Hubbard’s boat nearly sank in a storm in the North Atlantic while traveling to Norfolk.
In November 1944, the vessel left Norfolk for the Pacific, where it participated in the invasion of Okinawa from April through June 1945.
Hubbard recalled a close call involving anti-aircraft fire from Allied ships attempting to shoot down Japanese kamikaze aircraft.
“It was exploding and falling everywhere,” he recalled.
On May 12, 1945, Hubbard witnessed two kamikaze aircraft strike the battleship USS New Mexico, putting the vessel out of commission for the remainder of the war.
After Okinawa, Hubbard’s unit traveled to the Philippines, where it was present for Japan’s formal surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. His group and much of its crew subsequently served occupation duties throughout Japan.
During the assembly, Hubbard reflected on how the atomic bombings affected his own fate. He was in the Philippines preparing for the planned invasion of Japan when the bombs were dropped.
Hubbard credited the atomic bombings with saving his life, explaining that he likely would have participated in the invasion had the war continued.
Noel was born in Eagle Rock on Columbus Day in 1925 and attended Eagle Rock Elementary School before graduating from Eagle Rock High School in 1942.
On his 18th birthday in 1943, Noel traveled by train to Sampson, N.Y., for Navy boot camp. He subsequently attended diesel engine school in Richmond, trained at Camp Bradford in Norfolk, and continued his service as a crewman aboard an amphibious vessel.
Noel remained in the Navy until 1946, advancing through several ranks, including petty officer third class.
His ship became part of Task Force 58, a seagoing force that included U.S. Marines and arrived at Iwo Jima in February 1945. The flat-bottomed vessel measured approximately 350 feet long and 50 feet wide.
Noel’s ship also had a connection to one of the most recognizable photographs of World War II. The vessel supplied the American flag used in the flag-raising ceremony atop Mount Suribachi, an extinct volcano and the highest point on Iwo Jima.
For Noel, the flag was more than a symbol in a photograph. He had seen it aboard his ship before it became part of an image that would be remembered for generations.
During the assembly, Noel explained that he and other sailors did not immediately see the photographs of the flag-raising and learned about the images later.
After receiving an honorable discharge in 1946, Noel returned to civilian life. He worked at an auto parts store and held several other jobs before joining the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked for 35 years before retiring in 1985.
He married Beveline Martin, a William Byrd High School graduate from Vinton, in 1947 and raised two sons, Donnie and Tony, in Roanoke County. Noel later attended an Iwo Jima memorial reunion, where he was among eight veterans of the battle in attendance.
Burton served in the U.S. Army’s 15th Army band near the end of World War II and was stationed in Kobe, Japan, during the American occupation. His duties also included camp security.
During the assembly, Burton recounted an incident from his time on guard duty. While patrolling the fence around his encampment, he encountered Japanese individuals who approached the perimeter. He ordered them to move back, although he had no ammunition in his rifle.
The encounters happened three times before a sergeant brought him ammunition.
Burton used the experience to illustrate the difference between appearing threatening and being prepared, joking that some people have more mouth than bullets.
His service also unfolded during a period when the U.S. military remained segregated. Burton discussed the restrictions Black service members encountered during training and while traveling, particularly in the South, where Jim Crow laws barred them from eating at white restaurants.
President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order in July 1948 to desegregate the armed forces, several years after Burton’s wartime service.
Following the war, Burton spent much of his life as a minister in Roanoke.
The veterans also answered students’ questions about growing up during the Great Depression, forming friendships during wartime, and the possibility of losing close friends in combat.
Burton, who told students he had recently celebrated his 99th birthday, reflected on growing up without many of the conveniences that later generations would take for granted.
His family did not have a telephone or central heating, and he did not see television until later in life. Despite having little money, Burton explained, his family managed because goods were less expensive at the time.
He also recalled his father’s Model E Ford, which did not have a self-starter and required a hand crank to get the engine running. Burton remembered taking pride in being able to start the car himself, a small but memorable accomplishment from his childhood.
The student presentations provided historical context for those personal stories, examining the Allied invasion of Normandy, the Battle of Midway, the island-hopping strategy in the Pacific, and the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Students also discussed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent American occupation, which brought major political and social changes to Japan.
Together, the two programs offered students an opportunity to connect defining moments in history with the experiences of three men who lived through the war.
