Two heroes, two wars: Patten community center to honor local fallen servicemen

PATTEN, Maine (WABI) - This Veterans Day, the town of Patten is celebrating an incoming addition dedicated to two hometown heroes.

A planned community center and library will bear the names of two Patten servicemen killed in action nearly four decades apart.

The Dickinson-Harris Community Center will honor Leslie “Dickie” Dickinson, who was 23 when he died in Vietnam in 1968, and Dustin Harris, who was 21 when he died in Iraq in 2006.

Patten’s previous community center and library closed in 2020, leaving residents without a gathering place and forcing the library to move into the kitchen of the Lumbermen’s Museum.

“The select board said ‘The town does not have the money to put in a new building, but if you feel you can do that, as we had seen some libraries in our region do, then feel free.’ So, that’s how our friends group started. We formed a non-profit,” said Rae Bates, chair of the Friends of the Veterans’ Memorial Library and Community Center.

Bates said the project is $220,000 shy of reaching its $5.7 million fundraising goal.

But before breaking ground in the spring, the group had to think of a name.

“We thought we would do best going through records of residents of Patten who have fought for their country and died for their country, that we would do well to recognize someone from the Vietnam War and somebody from the wars that have been taking place in the Middle East,” Bate explained. “That led us, obviously, to Dickie Dickinson and Dustin Harris.”

Lorna Harris, Dustin’s mother, described her late son as “your everyday kid,” who loved playing Army as a child and read every children’s book at the Veterans’ Memorial Library.

It was the 9/11 terrorist attacks that inspired Harris to enlist, which he did after attending community college a few years later.

“He loved it,” Harris said of her son’s service. “He loved to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. He was the lead gunner in the turret position for over 60 of the most dangerous missions.”

Frank Rogers, president of the Lumbermen’s Museum, grew up with Dickinson in Shin Pond. Dickinson left Colby College to enlist in the Marine Corps.

Known as a poet and a “smart as a whip” academic, Dickinson wanted to join the service to gain experience to supplement his writing, Rogers said, “à la Ernest Hemingway.”

“The entire town mourned,” Roger recalled of Dickinson’s death. “And I almost think half of Colby College was here for his memorial.”

As Bates explained, the dedication honors the ultimate sacrifice of two young men across generations.

“We look at the distance that we’ve come as a country from Vietnam, where service members were not recognized in the same fashion that they are today. Thankfully, that whole tenor of the country has changed,” Bates said.

For Harris and Rogers, it reflects the tight-knit community’s commitment to honoring veterans and keeping their memories alive.

“Since day one, this community has helped hold us up. And obviously the community will still continue to honor and remember both Dustin and Dickie,” described Harris. “It’s said you die twice, once when your heart stops beating, and a second time when your name is said for the very last time. So these men will be remembered.”

Bates credited a $3.9 million grant from Sen. Susan Collins’ office, as well as $606,000 from the Northern Border Regional Commission, for helping fund the project. The rest of the money has been raised through a combination of smaller grants and private donations.

To learn more or contribute, visit the Friends’ of the Veterans’ Memorial Library and Community Center’s website.