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| Cpl. James C. Albertini, US Army |
Jimmy Albertini, you see, was Mansfield's only casualty in the Vietnam War. He was a member of the Class of 1965 at Mansfield High, a three-sport athlete, handsome and popular, and one of 10 children from one of the most beloved families in the town. His dad, whom we all knew as "Peppy," was the long-time superintendent of the Mansfield Water Department, and today, the town's operating headquarters for the water system is named for him. One of Jim's brothers, Eddie, worked a part-time after-school job at my father's clothing store for many years before becoming a teacher at Mansfield High -- and becoming my homeroom teacher in the process.
In 1967, Jimmy and his twin brother John enlisted in the US Army together, and in January 1968, Jimmy was deployed to Vietnam and was assigned as an infantry scout to Company B, First Battalion of the Fifth Cavalry.
Less than four weeks later, on Feb. 13, 1968 (exactly 54 years ago as I write this), Jimmy was killed in action in Quảng Tri Province. He was promoted posthumously to the rank of corporal and returned home to his grieving family to be laid to rest in St. Mary's Cemetery.
Not long after, with the opening of a new Mansfield High School in the late winter of 1969, the decision was made to dedicate the gymnasium in Albertini's memory.
It is a Mansfield tradition of sorts; about 14 years earlier, when the first high school on East Street (now the Qualters Middle School) was opened, its gymnasium was named for Don Currivan, an outstanding athlete at Mansfield High and Boston College who went on to play seven years in the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals, the Boston Yanks and the Los Angeles Rams before returning home to open an insurance agency that had offices in Mansfield and Foxboro. He had two children (I attended elementary school with his daughter, Nancy, at the former Dominican Academy in Plainville), but he died suddenly and tragically of a cerebral hemorrhage while playing golf on Cape Cod in 1956.
But in the context of the times, in the midst of an unpopular conflict overseas that fostered great division at home, I think the loss of Jimmy Albertini struck a deeper emotional chord in the community. And since the new gymnasium was truly a magnificent edifice -- although it would take many years for the school to produce teams fully worthy of their surroundings -- it was only fitting that people be reminded of a good kid that represented the town with honor before his tragic death overseas.
There is a bronze plaque next to the entry door of the gymnasium that reminds those who enter of James Albertini's sacrifice. But as all things change with time, the folks at Mansfield High feel that additional honors are needed to educate today's students about why their gymnasium carries a name. Mike Redding, the athletic director, told me late last week that a new memorial will be put in place inside the gymnasium to tell Albertini's story.
It's fitting. I always made a point of either typing "the James Albertini Memorial Gymnasium" in my past stories about games played within it, and now, as a broadcaster, I mention his name proudly and frequently in every game I announce.
So, imagine what I was thinking when I read a story in last Thursday's edition of The Sun Chronicle, my former newspaper, in which it was written that the Hornet girls' basketball team welcomed Stoughton for a game in "the Ken Pickering Gymnasium" for the first time in two years.
The Ken Pickering Gymnasium. Which is in North Attleboro.
Under no circumstances should a daily newspaper that has been part of the community in one form or another for more than a century make that mistake.
Yes, I know that the sports department over there is in a state of upheaval with the sudden departure of Peter Gobis, the veteran of 49 years, who formally retired on Jan. 31. Along with my tenure at the newspaper, we offered our readers 90 years' worth of local journalism experience, and I can guarantee you, we never would have made that mistake. I'm not saying that we never made mistakes, but in a situation like this one, if one guy made the mistake, the other one surely would have caught it before it went into print.
Not so at the "Sun Comical" these days, where budget-slashing carpetbagger ownership has laid waste to what was once one of the most talented newsroom staffs in New England. The sports department is a mere shadow of itself and is prone to errors -- some through unfamiliarity with the area, others through a callous disregard for accuracy.
I'm not that angry at the poor part-time intern that made the mistake in the first place. I know what it's like to be unfamiliar with someplace -- I was dropped into the newsroom of the Binghamton (N.Y.) Evening Press in January 1974 and told to start working that very same day. My only knowledge of Binghamton was that the commanding officer on "McHale's Navy" bore that surname.
But the individual doing the bulk of the editing in Attleboro has been under the employ of the Dinky Daily since the days when the Patriots had only three Super Bowl championships. You'd think that a certain level of familiarity would follow. Apparently not.
"So, what's the big deal," you might ask. "It's just a gym."
Maybe that's what you think. Others would not. And the error was actually a slap in the face to two rival communities.
Ken Pickering, of course, was the long-time boys' basketball coach at North Attleboro High for whom the current gymnasium there is named. A 1959 grad of NAHS, "Pick" worked in the town's school system for 36 years in various roles, including a successful tenure as athletic director. But folks my age will recall him an entertaining sideline presence in an era in which coaches could let if all hang out. Along with Oliver Ames' Val Muscato, Mansfield's John Dunn, Canton's Marty Badoian, Stoughton's Don Edmonston and Sharon's Dudley Davenport, Pickering's energetic coaching style (which probably wouldn't fly in today's over-officiated game) lent further excitement to the games between traditional Hockomock League rivals. The gymnasium was named in his honor in 2011, at the time of his retirement and not long before his passing.
It's a fitting honor to an individual that gave his life's work to the betterment of North Attleboro children. And it's pretty amazing that a newspaper that was created by the merger of the Attleboro Sun and the North Attleboro Chronicle would relocate that gymnasium to Mansfield in a news story.
Amazing, and just plain stupid.
I'm not sure many people in Mansfield read the paper anymore. I spent 42 years there, but I'm finding that fewer and fewer people whose kids are involved in sports are aware of my past profession. They just don't buy the paper. And that was a problem even when we had one of the best newspaper staffs in New England. People aren't reading newspapers, and maybe that's why we're in the mess we're in as a nation these days.
But there is an older segment of the population that is still reading -- seniors, like me or older, that still prefer the actual hard-copy product in their hands. They are the ones that are most likely to remember the Albertini family and their loss, and they might be wondering why in the world The Sun Chronicle would insult them in that manner.
It wasn't intentional. It was just callous, sloppy and stupid.
I emailed them, asking rather pointedly for a correction. I did not buy the paper at the stands the next day to see if they complied. But I also never heard from anyone at the paper, either. I guess I'm just regarded as a disgruntled former employee -- not entirely true, but if that's how they want to feel, so be it. I prefer to think of myself as a reader that's severely disappointed with the product, and I wish they would be equally disappointed with their own performance.
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