Remember the Brave: Larry Maxam, BHS '66 (1948-1968)

1965 Ceralbus 11th grade photo

Larry Leonard Maxam
January 9, 1948 – February 2, 1968

FIND A GRAVE Links:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7794330/larry-leonard-maxam (Cemetery in Hawaii)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228396953/larry-leonard-maxam (Mounument in DC)

"The North Vietnamese attack on the Cam Lo District Headquarters on February 2, 1968 quickly destroyed nearly half of the base’s defensive perimeter. As enemy troops prepared to pour through the breach, Marine Corporal Larry Maxam dashed to an abandoned machine gun position. Despite being severely wounded by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade, he steadily fired on advancing North Vietnamese troops. When his bleeding left him too weak to reload the machine gun, he fired his rifle. He continued to be hit by grenade fragments and small arms fire. After fighting off the enemy for nearly two hours, Corporal Maxam bled to death. He was one month past his twentieth birthday."
source: http://blogs.cfr.org/lindsay/2012/05/28/twe-remembers-memorial-day/

MAY 29, 2012 UPDATE

Facebook comments:
May 28, 2012
"Larry was honored today in a beautiful ceremony at McCambridge Park in Burbank. His brother, Robyn and his wife, were there for the Ceremony. They had flown all the way from Austrialia. It's so wonderful that Burbank honors their fallen in such an honorable and respectible way. To all those who have served... We salute you!!!"
Cathy Nicholls Coyle, BHS '67

May 29, 2012
"Hat's off to Greg Alaimo on his involvement and contribution to this ceremony. The Marines that took part from Camp Pendleton were the doing of Greg, and they added so much to this moving ceremony. Many Burbank grads were in attendance, including Dona and I. It was great to see so many old friends and to honor Larry's memory."
Scott Bruckner, BHS '66

"My pleasure. Just one correction Larry was in the class of 1966. He left BHS when he turned 17, his Jr year in 1965. He did not graduate but if he did not leave school he would have graduated in 1966. When he enlisted he indicated he was 18, when in fact he was 17. He signed his mothers name. Went home and told everyone he had enlisted. They had no prior knowledge. It was a good day sitting with Robin and his wife talking about Larry. We had stories each one never had heard before... Thanks for all your help for you got the word out. I think we had a good Alumni due to your help. It truely was am amazing day. The 21 Gun Salute with the Marine issued M-16's was amazing. To have Larry's 1-4 Mari...nes participate was a great honor to Larry. All the Marines involved were volunteers. They were there because they wanted to honor their fallen brother and MOH hero. Robin, Larry's brother, was very happy knowing so many of his classmates attended. I tried to introduce him to as many classmates as possible. He and his wife was touched. It was a day full of pride !! Good friends !!!"
Greg Alaimo, BHS '66

FLY OVER





Cathy Coyle holds her granddaughter Catheryn, 4, with sister, Joan Dempsey, as they put a rose on the WWII Memorial in memory of their Uncle Thomas Hunter at the City of Burbank's Memorial Day ceremony at the War Memorial at McCambridge Park in Burbank on Monday, May 28, 2012. (Tim Berger/Staff Photographer)
source: http://www.lacanadaonline.com/news/blr-0530-memorialday-pg,0,6566295.photogallery

 

Larry Maxam receiving his Eagle Scout Award. He is one of less than 20 Eagle Scouts to have been awarded the Medal of Honor.

MORE ABOUT LARRY

 

Where Are They Now? Update from Ken Peterson, BHS '67

Received this wonderful email today and Ken said I could post it - Thanks Ken!

Dear Cathy,

It has been a long time since I corresponded with you, and I am writing now to thank you for your tireless efforts to keep our Class of '67 together. My wife, Linda, and I will attend the reunion and I am looking forward to it very much.

Do you happen to know if any of our classmates live in or near Portland, Oregon? If so, I would like to try to contact them. I retired from being a presiding judge in May, 2009, and moved to Portland where my son, daughter-in-law, and 6 year old grandson have lived for several years. It has been an interesting adventure, with considerable remodeling of our 80 year old tudor house, accompanied by a house fire that nearly destroyed it, and caused us to remodel a second time! I will attach a photo, so you can see the end result. The fire is starting to be a distant memory, fortunately. By the way, that gray sky is quite an anomaly, as it almost never rains here (right!).

I often ride my bike with an attached trailer bike to pick up my grandson at his school, and then back home. It is only about 8 miles round trip, so not a big deal, but at least I get a little exercise. I regret that my frequent bicycling efforts have done little to diminish my girth, but at least I am trying. I continue to work almost full time as a consultant, legal editor and writer, and home handyman when I am not in front of the computer. I have gotten pretty good at tracking down antique house parts and getting things to fit and work again. Linda continues to work full time, and our son, Ben, has joined her business, so I see him almost every day, along with his feisty young border collie, who aggravates and delights my dalmatian.

I look forward to seeing you at the reunion, and thanks again for all you do.

Ken Peterson

Christine Davies @ Rainbow Girls Installation 1966

Love this pic of Christine Davies with Bob and Tom Holst as ushers at the 1966 Rainbow Girls Installation!

Old Photos of Burbank

Received this email today with link to Wes Clark's amazing website... Thanks Buffy!

Hi Cathy,

Some cool old shots of Burbank to share...

Best wishes,

Buffy Francuz (Barbara Wood 1967)

www.wesclark.com/burbank/photos

1968 Laugh-In with Eve Arden

Thanks to Wes Clark (Burbankia) for posting this quaint little video of our favorite city :)

"Here come da judge. Eve Arden Celebrates Burbank's Vacant Lots. I lived in Burbank in 1968 and she's dead on; Burbank had unsightly vacant lots everywhere. It was a real blight." - Wes



And again at Burbank's Centennial last year, yours truly with Gary Owens!

Garry Marshall Talks About His Life

Garry Marshall recalls happy and not-so-happy days

By Susan King, Los Angeles Times
May 7, 2012

Director-producer Garry Marshall in April 2012. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times / May 07, 2012)

It was the opposite of the carefree set of "Happy Days," the ABC series about the Cunningham family and leather-jacket clad Fonzie (Henry Winkler). Marshall produced, directed and wrote episodes of the series, which aired from 1974 to 1984.

"Laverne & Shirley," a spinoff of "Happy Days" that starred Marshall's younger sister Penny and Cindy Williams, wasn't nearly as pleasant. Marshall, 77, recalls that he brought one writer, Arthur Silver, over from "Happy Days" to try to work with the headstrong actresses.

"There are two kinds of writers," explained Marshall. "There are feisty writers and there are calm writers." Silver was a calm one until he worked on the series. One night driving out of the lot in his car, he saw the cast walking out of the soundstage. "He said, 'I almost put my foot on the gas. I don't like that. It's time to get out.' I took him off."

He and Penny, though, overcame their differences. "We're family," he said. "We worked it out. That was a long time ago. We got through it."

Marshall, who will be speaking at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica on May 23, has had a successful Hollywood career for more than 50 years, including writing gigs with then-partner Jerry Belson on "The Joey Bishop Show" and "'The Dick Van Dyke Show," and becoming one of the top TV producer-writer-directors with such popular ABC series as "The Odd Couple" with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley" and "Mork & Mindy." He's also helmed such hit films as "Pretty Woman," "The Princess Diaries" and "Valentine's Day." His last film, 2011's "New Year's Eve," just came out on DVD.

He's been married to Barbara, a nurse, since 1963; they have three kids, all of whom have worked with their father. Barbara was a pillar of strength during his battle two years ago with throat cancer in which he endured radiation and chemotherapy concurrently.

"The cure is so hard you can't eat," he said. "I went from 206 to 164 pounds. They said you have to have a pump feed you through your stomach. My wife said, 'I don't think so. I'll make him eat.' It wasn't easy … but you can do anything."

Marshall's mother, Marjorie, was a tap dancer who had a tap school; his father, Tony, was an industrial filmmaker who became a producer and executive producer on his son's TV shows.

"In the book I said a strange thing happened to me when I was getting out of high school — my father noticed me," said Marshall, laughing. "My father was very good at trying to get us out of the Bronx and getting out in the world but he didn't say hello much until we were ready to do that. My mother was in her own world. She was unique and funny."

Marshall even used one of her comments as an inspiration for an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" he penned with Belson. "I was 11 years old," said Marshall. "I have moles on my back. We were on the beach and she said, 'You know you have so many moles on your back I could connect it with a pencil and get a picture.' I didn't take my shirt off at the beach anymore."

He learned life lessons from his mentor, the Rat Pack comic Joey Bishop. "He was never so happy [as a person] but he taught me a lot. He taught me the most important lesson and that is about loyalty. He never stopped you from advancing."

Marshall has been incredibly loyal to Hector Elizondo, who has appeared in every one of Marshall's films since his 1982 feature directorial debut "Young Doctors in Love."

He considers Elizondo to be a good-luck charm because "the process becomes twice as easy with Hector. Whenever I have trouble on a picture I said, 'Hector, help me out here.' With Hector it is like having another director not so much to direct but to calm down the actor. I love to laugh. My mother taught me to laugh. Hector and I laugh together no matter how bad things are."

susan.king@latimes.com
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-classic-hollywood-20120507,0,7229820.story

--- end ---

Gary Marshall & Cathy Palmer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Marshall
Beautiful Downtown Burbank 100th Birthday
July 8, 2011

More Centennial Photos