4 Star Mason receives missing stars

7 years ago

HOULTON, Maine — On Sept. 30, Brother Fred A. Bither, Jr. was a 4 Star Mason who was missing three stars on his Maine Masonic Veterans Medal. This oversight was corrected when M.W. Tom Pulkkinen and P.G.M.’s George Pulkkinen and A. James Ross called upon Bither at his assisted living residence in Portland.

“Each of them pinned a missing star onto his Veterans Medal and made a few appropriate remarks of appreciation for his service to his Country and Freemasonry,” said Mason Richard Rhoda. “It’s what Masons do for Masons.”

Bither joined Monument Lodge No. 96 in Houlton on May 29, 1946 after serving four years

in World War II. He served as Chief Clerk to General Willis D. Crittenberger at the time of the

planning for the D-Day Invasion. Upon returning home, he spent a career working for Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and then the Maine Central Railroad.