Honoring Our Friend, Lee Humiston
(1939 - 2026)
It is with heavy hearts and hollow souls that we learn of the passing of our friend and most ardent supporter, Lee Humiston. We cannot express, in any appreciable way, what Lee, his family and his ethos have meant to our organization for well over 25 years. We extend our love and support to Lee’s family and the many people to those he touched throughout his life.
Lee was what we know and hold as the best of us. From a hardscrabble upbringing in the neighborhoods of South Portland, to a life of military service to this country, for all its good and bad, defending it and us in the manner that was the core of the oath that is today, too often bandied about as a basis to plan for its use in unrelated and personal pursuits.
Even after completing his full measure of commitment to the protection of our country and freedoms in his military career, he went on to return to Maine, not only for his own next chapter, but to dedicate his life and experience to ensuring that we as a nation, would never forget the incredible sacrifices and prices paid by our servicemen and women.
His efforts and dedication serve to create and protect one of the largest collections of incredible artifacts and stories that archive the valiant military service of men and women from the Revolutionary War through today’s current conflicts that continue to ask the full measure of this country’s sons and daughters.
Lee’s efforts represented the true devotion to the protection and preservation of all of their collective stories, however none more pronounced than the story of survival, brotherhood, and commitment to a common corps than the experience of our VietNam Prisoners of War, or POWs, as well as those who returned to less than a hero’s welcome from VietNam and the Korean War veterans.
Through his efforts, Lee Humiston became the touchstone for those in a spectrum of presidents, congressional representatives, generals and GI’s. They all came to know Lee as the steward of their stories and the protector of their tangible property from their experience.
They all knew, to a person, that their stories would be kept forever in a place of honor and remembrance in which current and future generations would know their sacrifice in service, and that neither their stories or property would ever be for sale, sundry, or gain in any way other than the wealth and weight of its mark on our collective history.
It was in this herculean crusade, we at the Maine Association of Police came to know Lee Humiston, not only through our common interests honoring our veterans and military in our parallel oaths of commitment to protecting our fellow citizens and communities.
It was in our presence of this great man that he astounded us further by extending his hand in friendship and in honor of Maine Law Enforcement. Such that several years ago, this great man incredibly recognized MAP and all of Maine law enforcement by dedicating the function room of the Maine Military Museum to those who serve on the Thin Blue Line.
Being included in the breadth and scope of Lee’s grace and distinction left an indelible mark on and within our ranks as it means more than any medal or recognition from any plain of existence.
For this writer, it was fortunate to have Lee, as well as his wife, Maureen, take them under their wings as both friends and mentors, as if a part of their extended family. As one who lost their father to cancer at the age of 17, it was this good and decent man that provided context to how a single person, regardless of their stature or standing, who took on the mantle of military service, would always hold a place of honor among those who mattered, those who stood with them in service and battle, and that no veteran soldier, sailor or airman/woman, would ever marginalized or forgotten.
Lee also instilled this by accepting my father’s uniform and explaining to me the importance of an innocuous honor braid that was attached, signified that he served in the very same Marine Regiment that distinguished itself at BelleauWood in World War I, and is known as The French Fourragère. To wit;
The French Fourragère is one of the most distinctive and unique accessories for the Marine Corps uniform. It is a braided rope of intertwined green and red cords worn around the left shoulder, used to identify a unit which has twice earned the French War Cross with Palm Leaf. Only two Marine units have ever been so awarded: the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments, for their valor, courage and stoicism in the face of overwhelming odds at the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I.
Lee, taking the time to give me a piece of my father’s history means the world to me and gave me the ability to know and honor his service in Korea as well as redoubled my efforts to hold onto and maintain the integrity and commitment to service my parents worked so hard to instill in my sisters and I.
But that was Lee. It astounded the mid to see that this man could point to any single artifact, no matter how small or large and not only recall the story attached to its provenance, but the personal story of the person or family that brought it to him with the confidence that it’s story and property would never be for sale, trade or barter and have a permanent place of honor in his Maine Military Museum.
It was this solemn promise that served as the basis for thousands of veterans and their families coming from near and far to bring their stories to him in Maine. A promise that was non existent in the major museums that we have had a longstanding misunderstanding of in this light and lacked this level of personal credibility and commitment.
In my friend’s dedication to revering and remembering our collective history, Lee brought me a new and personal connection to my father’s experience that I might have never known.
Along with it, he also made a commitment that even as a single individual among hundreds of thousands, his honor and sacrifice would be honored and remembered in perpetuity well after we were gone from this earth. I can think of no better gift for my family and I than this. It was this and so many other things that up until his departure from this world, he was and will continue to be known as “Big Brother” to my little brother.
Godspeed Big Brother, and safe travels to your reward with your wonderful Maureen. Thank you for being the champion for our country’s heroes, conservator of their stories and educator to our future generations to carry on this eternal responsibility.
For Obituary Information go to;
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/19/obituaryleon-duval-humiston-jr-2/
It means more than ever for this writer to part with these words in Lee’s memory:
Stay safe, check in and watch out for each other. - PG
