Distinguished Citizen Award

(Individual)

to

Edwin W. Gaston, Jr.

In appreciation and gratitude for meritorious service in the interests of the

United States of America, the State of Texas, and City of Nacogdoches.

Awarded this 8th day of November, 2007

 

Citation
Marine Corps League Distinguished Citizen Award
for
Edwin W. Gaston, Jr.

          Ed Gaston was a native of Nacogdoches, graduating with honors from Nacogdoches High School in 1942. On 25 November 1942, while a student at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, he enlisted in a Navy-Marine Corps officer candidate training program. When he reported to Louisiana Tech College at Ruston, it was discovered that he was color blind, and ineligible for an officer commission. He was returned to standby for assignment to basic training and finally reported to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego on 7 October 1943. His color blindness would later serve him well as a field artillery spotter who could see through the Japanese camouflage during combat.

          A year later, he was on the island of Leyte as part of General MacArthur's famous return to the Philippine Islands. His service to the Corps was not remarkable, as compared to the many heroes of World War II, but he wrote hundreds of letters home to friends and family with the skill of a journalist and the mind of a philosopher. From Guam, on 1 April 1945, Gaston wrote to his parents, "This is a grim game, the worst there is; and we have to be alert at all times. But if we allow fear to govern our alertness, we won't last two seconds. Just as in a football game, a player can't stop to entertain fears of injury from a block or tackle. If he does, the game passes him by. Of course, in combat, it is impossible to keep fear repressed all the time. But about the time you get a little frightened, something happens which makes you so mad you forget about fear."

          After the war, Gaston married Martha Middlebrook, of Nacogdoches, on 16 February 1946. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in 1947 with the highest honors at Stephen F. Austin. He took graduate courses in journalism at the University of Texas, then completed his Master of Arts degree at SFASU and a Ph. D. degree at Texas Tech University.

          He served as the news editor and sportscaster for Nacogdoches' first radio station, news editor of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, and editor and publisher of the Garrison weekly News. He edited the Texas Music Educator magazine and did extensive freelance writing.

          Ed Gaston joined the faculty at SFASU, where he both taught and served in a variety of administrative positions. He progressed through the academic teaching ranks from instructor to professor of English and journalism, and he held various administrative posts such as information director; director of student publications; chairman of English, journalism, and philosophy; dean of the graduate school; and vice president for academic affairs, the position from which he retired in 1986. Ed Gaston passed away in October at 82 years of age.