Triumph over Tragedy: Windham family copes with devastating adversity

By Ed Pierce

Faith can provide the foundation for resilience and hope and teach us lessons about life when the future seems impossible. That’s something that a Windham family discovered over the past year while undergoing a personal ordeal that tested their faith and strengthened their resolve.

Ethan March who grew up with his parents
Brian and Kathleen March in Windham,
became paralyzed from the waist down 
when he fell off a roof in a workplace
accident a year ago. He is learning to
cope with his injury and with the help
of his parents and others he is hoping
to become a pilot someday.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Brian and Kathleen March of Windham were going about their lives last summer when their son, Ethan, 22 at the time, was working as an electrician and was installing solar panels off grid on a roof in Kingfield on July 30, 2024 when he suddenly fell 20 feet to the ground. He sustained multiple breaks in his T-11 vertebrae which smashed and put pressure on his spinal cord.

Trying to understand the seriousness of what had happened devastated the family. Ethan, who was less than a year into starting his career, was left paralyzed and struggling to cope while his parents did their best to lift his spirits and motivate him to go on.

“One of the hardest things for me is not being able to make things better for him,” said his mother, Kathleen March. “I can't heal his broken heart. I can't promise or even tell him he will get better because it's an unknown of time and faith. It's been hard to see our son who was just beginning his life in his chosen career, enjoying it and doing well to lose it all, including the possibility to be able to return to that job as he did it.”

Brian March said that the most challenging aspect of the situation for him as a father was watching his son suffer.

“Not just the struggles with getting in and out of the car and our house but thinking he may never walk again therefore not experiencing the feeling of sand under his feet or the snow under his skis or even just standing up to give me a hug,” he said.

And for Ethan, he says coming to terms with his injury and its implications was tough.

“The mental anguish of recognizing I'm going to be like this in this condition for the rest of my life is difficult,” he said.

As parishioners at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Windham, Brian and Kathleeen March prayed and placed their faith in God to help their son overcome the trauma and give them strength and hope.

Just before Thanksgiving, Ethan moved into an extended stay hotel in Portland in a handicapped suite with a tiny kitchenette.

“It’s far from ideal and there are still challenges with the layout of this suite for functioning with his wheelchair,” his mother said. “It’s difficult such as not being able to roll under the counters or the stove, not being able to reach most of the cabinet shelves, and in general just tight quarters for movement. The staff at the hotel have been great at trying to work with him to accommodate his individual needs. They treat Ethan and us like family and with kindness and generosity.”

In late December, American Legion Post Adjutant Dave Tanguay attended a coffee social after church with Kathleen March, and she updated him about Ethan.

“We were shocked to hear that Ethan had fallen earlier from a roof while installing solar panels and sustained severe back injuries requiring multiple surgeries and months of rehab,” Tanguay said. “Kathleen mentioned that Ethan was now in a handicapped-accessible hotel in Portland and was still undergoing therapy. The Windham Field-Allen Legion Post 148 had a small collection of support items for veterans including a motorized wheelchair.”

Tanguay said the equipment is normally held to support a veteran in need, but in this case, it was a local veteran family who needed support for their son.

“I asked if she might be interested in a particular chair that had the ability not only for mobility but allowed the user to stand and remain mobile,” he said. “I checked with Post Commander Tom Theriault to see if the chair was still available and the March family made plans to pick the chair up on Jan. 2. By the end of the day, Ethan had the chair and was actively checking out its capabilities with his physical therapist.”

Kathleen March said that the donation of the motorized wheelchair was provided at the perfect time.

“It was early into Ethan's time being back in Maine and being the winter season, the motorized chair helped Ethan to get through some snowy weather,” she said. “Portland is full of hills, so trying to manually wheel himself up those hills was exhausting and difficult. “The motorized chair meant he could meet up with friends at the coffee shop on his own without needing to transfer to a car and back again or need to be pushed by someone else. The motorized chair provided more independence in some ways. This chair also allowed for Ethan to rise to a somewhat standing position, which could help him reach some things up high a little easier in the hotel.”

Eventually, Ethan’s physical therapists advocated for a non-moving standing apparatus for exercise and strength development and the family returned the motorized wheelchair to the American Legion to provide the opportunity to another veteran family in need.

“It was an incredibly generous gift of kindness. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to have had such a valuable gift to be able to have the freedom of independence that it provided at a prominent point in Ethan's recovery,” Kathleen March said. “As an active 22-year-old that had only recently left his daily rehab facility to be able to feel more independent was simply amazing. There is nothing that would come close to reciprocating the value of what this gift was at the time that we received it. We are very grateful to the American Legion, and ‘Thank You’ doesn't seem big enough.”

Now a year after his accident, there has been no change regarding Ethan’s physical situation, but his spirits are unusually amazing. His parents say he does pretty good navigating the challenges of everyday life and tries not to let things get him down, although there are certainly moments that come and go.

“Spinal cord injuries affect so many aspects of how our bodies can function,” his mother said. “Unless you experience life in a wheelchair yourself or care for a person who is handicapped in this way, most people never really understand the magnitude of the situation day to day and how many obstacles there are to navigate out in public and how many limitations are set before you.”

Both Brian and Kathleen are doing OK and in a better place today.

“Life is full of ups and downs. Brian and I are people of strong faith and trust in God,” Kathleen March said. “In this difficult situation, God has already shown us his grace through our brothers and sisters in Christ and their prayers. We have seen the face of Jesus in neighbors as well as strangers through their kindness. There are still many challenges to work through both for us and especially for Ethan and we know that we are in God's hands. If we allow him, by continuing to trust in our relationship with him, God will make a way for the road to be less bumpy leading us to a beautiful place.”

She said the hardest part as parents is having patience as they navigate the critical aspects of what Ethan still needs like his adapted vehicle and their home revamped to meet all their needs as their son continues to visit with his siblings for all occasions.

“There are still so many other devices and things to navigate in his life including re-education to find a new life career and exploring his previous interests from a new perspective,” Brian March said.

Ethan says he’s grateful for everything his parents have done to help him, and that he is determined to forge a new life for himself.

“My new career plan is to do everything I can to become a commercial pilot," he said. <

Windham’s last surviving World War II veteran Carroll McDonald dies at 99

By Ed Pierce

And then there were none. Carroll McDonald, the last surviving World War II veteran living in Windham, died at the age of 99 on Nov. 14.

Carroll McDonald, the last surviving World War II veteran
in Windham, died at the age of 99 on Nov. 14. He trained
as a P-51 pilot during World War II and later served as a
postal carrier, seaplane pilot, Meals on Wheels driver and
was a former commander of American Legion Field-Allen
Post 148 in Windham. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

Born on his parents’ dairy farm in South Windham on March 1, 1925, he was the first son of Edwin and Nellie McDonald and would soon be joined by a younger brother, Kenneth. From an early age he was fascinated by airplanes, and it was a passion he never lost sight of.

“When I was about 4 years old, I heard a biplane flying near a school,” McDonald said. “The sound of it going up and down and buzzing all around stirred my interest and it never left me when I was growing up. It was doing spins and barrel rolls overhead. At first, I was scared, but the longer I watched that old biplane, the more impressed I became, and I knew from that moment that I wanted to become a pilot someday. The sound of it going up and down and buzzing all around stirred my interest and it never left me when I was growing up.”

Both McDonald brothers were so infatuated by airplanes and aviation that in 1937 when Carroll was 12 and Kenneth was 9, they rode their bicycles from Grant’s Corner in South Windham for more than 12 miles to the airport in Portland one morning. Without their parents’ knowledge, the brothers paid for and boarded a flight to Boston where it landed, and then took off again for a return flight back to Portland. Both brothers then rode their bicycles back to their farm, and neither of their parents learned about their flight until years later.

Throughout his high school years, McDonald played trumpet in a dance band and then formed his own group called the Don Carroll Orchestra and also played for the Windham Town Band. He graduated from Windham High School in 1942 and started classes at Northeastern Business College in Portland that fall, but by the next summer he decided to accept a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a pilot before being drafted and assigned any job that was needed.

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, he was sent to an Army flight school in Alabama and then for training as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. He received his flight wings in 1944 and spent the remainder of the war in Fort Myers flying P-51s, a long range, single-seat fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War.

“I joined because it was an opportunity to be well-trained and a chance to fly every single day,” McDonald said.

Upon his discharge from active duty in 1945, he attended business school using the GI Bill but in 1951 while fulfilling his military commitment in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant during the Korean War.

“Flying P-51s was the best experience I could have ever hoped for. It was a top-of-the-line aircraft and was really very fast,” he said. “Here I was just a teenager, and I was flying one of the fastest aircraft in the world and serving my country during wartime. It was simply an amazing time.”

Following his active-duty discharge in 1945, McDonald returned to Windham and attended business school using the GI Bill. He joined the U.S. Post Office as a rural postal delivery driver, a job he worked at for 32 years, delivering mail in South Windham and on River Road until retiring. He also continued to pilot aircraft while serving as a mailman and would finish his mail route by 2 p.m. in the summers and then drive to Naples where he would fly sightseeing trips for tourists around Sebago Lake.

About that time, McDonald joined American Legion’s Field-Allen Post 148 in 1951 and eventually served as Post Commander and performed many other duties for the veterans’ group through the years. He married Marjorie Steeves, and they raised a son, David, who graduated from Windham High in 1963, and a daughter, Karen.

“Carroll is surely near and dear to all of our hearts,” said Al LaRhette of South Weymouth, Massachusetts, during a 2023 reunion gathering for the Windham High School Class of 1963.

“I remember getting to play in the band with him when we performed at Fenway Park in Boston for the State of Maine Day in 1959.”

LaRhette said Carroll was known as a friend to all the class members and is beloved by everyone who knows him.

“He was just always there for us,” LaRhette said. “He had a way about him. It was like when you were with him, you were the most important person he got to speak to that day. He’s been a cherished friend to all of us throughout all these years since our graduation.”

Upon his retirement from the U.S. Post Office in 1980, McDonald volunteered for more than 20 years delivering Meals on Wheels to area seniors. He also became a member of the Presumpscot Lodge of Masons, Windham Hill Church, and Windham Historical Society.

While attending a vintage airshow in the Auburn area in 2014, he jumped at the chance to take a test flight in a restored P-51 Mustang aircraft.

“I couldn’t believe it after all these years,” he said. “I was thrilled to have that opportunity once more.”

Earlier this year he entered St. Andre’s Health Care Facility in Biddeford but insisted he would make it home in time for his 100th birthday on March 1, 2025 and a parade in his honor. His wife Marjorie died in 2007, followed his son, David in 2013, and his brother and sister-in-law Kenneth and Elizabeth McDonald in 2014. McDonald is survived by his partner Joan Esty of Windham, a daughter Karen Hopkins and her husband Blaine of Greenville, Maine, granddaughters Maureen Hopkins of Auburn, Maine and Brenda Lebo of Milford, New York, and a daughter-in-law Molly McDonald of Arcanum, Ohio.

Of everything he accomplished during his lifetime, McDonald said he would like to be remembered most as a pilot and for his military service in defense of America.

“I still think it was the right thing to do,” he said. “I am very positive about my time in the military. I enjoyed the structure, the discipline and was very pleased with the training I received. I’m lucky to have served and proud of what we accomplished.” <

Windham graduate follows in grandfather’s footsteps to become an Air Force Pilot by Matt Pascarella

Devin Pellitier

Devin Pelletier, a 2012 graduate of Windham High School and a 2016 graduate of the Air Force Academy recently finished training and officially became a pilot, receiving his wings on May 18, 2018.

Pelletier gave a speech during his high school graduation as an Honor essayist. This speech was dedicated to service members as well as to his grandfather, Edmond Theriault who was a World War II B-17 pilot and recently honored for his service at last week’s Memorial Day event in Windham.

Pelletier wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and joined the Air Force. He knew that is what he wanted to do while in his junior year of high school, never once hesitating after upon making that realization.

There are a lot of opportunities in the Air Force. Initially, Pelletier was interested in becoming an engineer, but over time, he became more interested in becoming a pilot. His grandfather was a big influence on this decision.  

To become a pilot, he took academic classes the first month; and then began flying in a T-6 Texan II plane, which is an aircraft designed specifically to assist in training pilots. Pelletier learned airspace rules, how the systems worked and eventually switched over to a T-38 C Talon, a supersonic trainer. In this aircraft he focused more on formation flying and supporting other pilots in an air-to-air type fight.

At first, Pelletier said flying an aircraft was quite stressful; there’s a lot to pay attention to such as altitude, airspeed as well as all that is around you, listening to the radio and listening to the instructor. He stated that there’s always more to learn though; once you learn one skill you move on to another.

His grandfather was very happy for his grandson but was curious as to how Pelletier navigated. “We use GPS.” His grandfather shakes his head and replies, “We had to use the stars.”

Last week, Pelletier headed to Oklahoma for further training in a KC-135 plane, a military aerial refueling aircraft. This aircraft supports fighters when they need fuel. He will later travel to Okinawa, Japan where he will be stationed for two to three years flying the KC-135 plane.

We wish Pilot Pelletier the best.