Haines Family Association, Inc.

          Veterans in Greene County celebrated Armed Forces Day Saturday with a ceremony at the Greene County Office Building to remember those who fell in battle in air, on land and at sea.
          Navy Lt. Richard Alexander Haines, of Haines Falls, who lost his life during the night of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 1942 in the Battle of Tassafaronga, was singled out from the more than 155 men and women from Greene County who have been killed in conflicts since that war as the deceased veteran honored during Saturday’s event.
          Haines was aboard the Navy heavy cruiser USS New Orleans in the Pacific Ocean when it was struck by a torpedo, according to his nephew Richard A. Haines Showers, who attended the ceremony with his sister Sara-Jane Chrispell, brother Peter, wife Linda and son Thomas.
          The ship’s bow broke off, Showers said, and bounced twice off different parts of the ship’s body and propeller, creating more holes. Showers said his uncle was a member of the damage control crew and helped several other seamen escape the ship. But noxious gases claimed Haines’ life, Showers said. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy’s highest honor, the Navy Cross.
          Haines’ children, Richard A. Haines Jr., Barbara and Mary Jane, lived with their mother, Mary, in California at the time of his death. Haines is buried in California.
          Showers said his uncle was originally interred on the island of Tulagi, where the New Orleans was repaired and fitted with a wooden bow following the attack.
          Sara-Jane Crispell said the crew hid the cruiser with palm fronds before repairs were made.
          Showers said Haines’ brother Jack traveled to the island and collected pieces of white coral from the beach for his mother, who was still living in a house on North Lake Road, in Haines Falls. “They still sit on a desk, in the house, two rooms away from where he was born,” Showers said of the coral.
          In December 1943, the destroyer escort USS Haines, named for the fallen lieutenant, was commissioned in Texas.
          Haines was born on April 28, 1903, attended the Tenessee Military Institute and the Naval Academy and served in the Coast Guard before being commissioned Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in July of 1941, Amanda Boomhower, a representative of U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, read from a biography of Haines. She presented the Haines family with a flag that once flew over the Capitol in Washington, D.C. as a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace,” after which a salute was fired and “Taps” was played.
          State Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R,C,I-Schoharie, told the audience about the many patriotic events scheduled Saturday across his assembly district to illustrate that the spirit respect for sacrifice is alive in New York. “There are people who are engaged, who understand the importance of citizenship, who understand that the sacrifices made by these veterans were not in vain,” he said.
          Chairman of the Greene County Legislature Wayne Speenburg, R-Coxsackie, along with legislators Larry Gardner, D-Hunter, Chris Pfister, D-Athens, and Joseph Izzo, R-Catskill presented the Haines family with a proclamation. Jack Van Loan, director of the County Veteran’s Service Agency, and Dr. Kathleen Farrell, superintendent of the Catskill Central School District, also addressed the crowd.
          American Legions from Cairo, Catskill, Greenville, Prattsville and Tannersville, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of Windham and the Mountaintop Marine Corps League were among the veterans groups who participated in the event; Cairo Boy Scout Troop 43 partook, as well.
          Rev. Richard Snowden, of the First Baptist Church in Catskill gave an invocation and a benediction.

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