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COMMUNITY COMPASS: Benton students would benefit if school renamed for town hero

I attended Lawrence High School and was in Brian Buker’s class during the 1960s. We were good friends, and I will always remember him for the warm, sincere and yet mischievious grin. He had a special gift, the ability to make any one he met up with believe he was delighted to see him.

He was a wonderful young man, and I will always be grateful I came to know him and have him as a friend.

Sgt. Brian Buker received the Medal of Honor and died in combat in Vietnam.

Though I now live in Longwood, Fla., I have been keeping track of the discussions regarding the possible naming of Benton Elementary School after Brian through Morning Sentinel articles and a friend, Maurice Morrisseau, who was also in Brian’s class in school.

I am very respectful of those in Benton who are not excited about the possibility of renaming the school, for change is never easy and is rarely preferred. At the same time, I strongly endorse the naming of the school after Brian and wanted to offer my perspective as to why.

First, Brian was a young man from the community who gave the ultimate sacrifice — his life — for this country and the preservation of our values and freedom.

He also did it for the people of Benton, a great town within our nation.

Brian died while fighting with the full knowledge that he would likely lose his life in order to protect the lives of the other members of his company and to accomplish their mission. He is an American hero for having done this.

The people of Benton also are honored by his service and sacrifice because Brian came from you and was one of you. I believe the phrase, “It takes a community to raise a child” and am proud of what Benton accomplished as represented in this young man’s life and contribution to our country.

My second reason for supporting the naming of the school after Brian is that this act will create a special opportunity for learning and pride among the students who attend the school in the coming years.

Teachers will be motivated and able to use Brian’s life story to educate every student who goes thorugh the school about the reality of a war hero who went to the same school as a child.

As an example, let me briefly tell the story about another elementary school that was named after a former student who did something special for our country.

Jonathan Daniels grew up in a small town near Keene, N.H. He was a young white man who dropped out of Harvard University to work in the civil rights movement in Alabama at the call of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He was murdered by a white store owner for what he was doing to help our nation’s black citizens.

The people of Keene keep his name and sacrifice visible before them because the school was renamed the Jonathan Daniels Elementary School. The teachers make a point of teaching all students who Jonathan Daniels was and why their school was named after him.

My final reason for hoping the Benton School Board will name the school after Brian is that my mother was a teacher at Benton’s elementary school for many years, and I believe strongly she would love to have this done. She loved the children of Benton and gave many years of her life helping them learn and grow. She would see this as a wonderful tribute.



Jonathan C. McIntire, formerly of Benton, is a doctor of philosophy who lives in Longwood, Fla.         

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