Have you ever noticed the bronze plaques in the cafeteria? Following World War I, the company installed the first plaque showing all the names of people who left the company to directly enter the military. National Life kept good records covering the story of those who left. They all survived the war, and many returned to the company following the Armistice. The largest of the three plaques covers World War II and lists every employee who joined during that conflict. There is a gold star next to the name of Ensign A. Robert Crathorne, an attorney in the Law Department, who was lost when his destroyer was sunk off the coast of Sicily. The Korean War plaque lists those employees who served, several of whom later returned to continue their employment. We don’t have a Vietnam plaque because no records were kept of who was leaving the company to enter the military. Due to the passage of time, we can no longer recreate even a partially accurate list.
In 1996 National Life hosted the widow of Ensign Crathorne. All employees gathered on the front lawn to attend a ceremony in honor of our lost employee and every employee who had served. Vermont’s Adjutant General, Major-General Donald Edwards, was the keynote speaker. The Vermont Air National Guard did a low fly-by of F-16 Fighting Falcons above the assembled crowd. In attendance were most of our Vermont-based employees who served in the military during Desert Storm.
National Life has supported our veterans to a greater degree than is often expected of any employer. Following Desert Storm, the Secretary of Defense, William Perry, presented National Life with the National Freedom Award at a ceremony in the Pentagon. This was to recognize how extraordinarily well the company supported its employees who had been called up in the National Guard and Reserve. Former CEO Fred Bertrand founded the Employer Support Group of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) in Vermont and the company later supported Brian Lindner as State Chair of ESGR to use company time in support of that Department of Defense office here in Vermont.
In 2005 National Life provided $10,000 as seed money to create the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation. The company has made donations in subsequent years as the fund has continued to grow. This fund supports people in the Vermont National Guard with a wide variety of services.
Thank you to all who’ve served and for the difference you make. Happy Veterans Day.
WWII Field Force Heroes
