Master Sergeant Stuart Lord

“History – teaching history and learning history, is nothing more than so many dates and events, without the human element. Studying the people that made history – that’s what makes history interesting and come alive,” said Stuart Lord, retired Army medic, NH National Guard retention NCO, high school history teacher, Civil War aficionado, and NH Veterans’ Cemetery education advocate.

Stuart Lord was born on December 9, 1945, in Charleston, Maine, just northeast of Bangor. He attended local schools, including the Higgins Classical Institute. This was a private high school, which he was able to attend as the town paid for tuition for Charleston residents. 

At 17, on October 31, 1963, Lord enlisted in the Army and was promptly shipped to Fort Dix in New Jersey for basic training. Then it was time for each new recruit to figure out what their MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) was going to be. Lord remembered, “I wanted to go into armor or infantry. I wore glasses and didn’t bring them with me on the day we took our qualifying tests. My eyes, without glasses, weren’t good enough for my preferred job. But they were good enough to be a medic. So that’s what I became.” With that, it was off to Fort Sam Houston outside San Antonio to train as a medic.

Upon graduating from medic school, Lord was assigned to a missile artillery battery; specifically, HQ Battery, 3rd Missile Battalion, 5th Artillery. He was stationed just outside of Boston, near the towns of Winthrop and Danvers. He said, “I don’t remember the names of these installations, but just as well. They are probably no longer there.”

Then, it was time for some adventure. Lord received orders to go overseas – to Germany, where he served with the 4th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army). Lord explains, “During the Korean War, this was called a MASH unit. Everyone knows what that is. But by 1964, the Army decided to give it a fancier name. We had 19 deuce-and-a-half trucks with trailers, some smaller trucks and jeeps and a bunch of tents. We were part of the NATO Defense Forces guarding against Soviet invasion.” Just before leaving for Germany, Lord married his sweetheart, Karen, on Valentine’s Day, 1965.

Lord continues, “Because I had a security clearance from being with the missile artillery, each month, I had a week of courier duty. I was given a jeep and a .45 automatic and carried dispatches to different units in the area. I never knew what was in the packets that I carried.”

In October 1966, Lord received his orders to be “separated” from his unit. His active-duty time was at an end. Lord explains, “During that time, you signed up for a six-year commitment; three years of active duty and three years inactive. Being inactive, there were no meetings or training to attend. You were essentially a civilian. But if you were needed, you were the first one Uncle Sam called.”

Arriving back in Maine, Lord worked construction for a time. Then, moved on to NH to establish state residency, enabling him to attend Plymouth State College. He worked one year in Bristol, NH for the International Packings Corporation, a place that made rubber moldings, gaskets, and the like. Then, Lord decided to take advantage of the GI Bill and go to college. Lord remembers, “I went to Plymouth State College in Plymouth, NH, because they had a good history department. I took little time off, and went to school through the summer, so I was able to get my bachelor’s degree in history and the better part of a master’s degree in education in four years.”

Lord then got a job teaching Social Studies (which is another way of saying “American History studies”) in Groveton, NH, and finished his master’s degree, attending classes part-time. He taught at Groveton from September 1972 to June 1974, then moved on to Berlin High School.

The Berlin teaching job lasted from September 1974 to February 1982. While in Groveton, Lord had joined the NH National Guard, A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 197th Field Artillery. Perhaps unknown to him at that time, but very appropriate in hindsight, seeing Lord’s interest in the Civil War, according to Wikipedia, the 197th was originally formed in 1861 as the Concord Volunteers and mustered into service for the Union Army. Ironically, Lord did not serve as a medic but instead was listed as a “Cannoneer,” but what he really did was work in Supply. – and continued to teach high school in Groveton and Berlin.

In his next chapter of life, Lord left teaching and went to work full-time for the NH National Guard as a “Retention NCO.” His job was to get NH National Guard members to extend their enlistment. Lord explains, “National Guard soldiers do not re-enlist – they extend their present enlistment. My job was to make sure they qualified, met certain standards, and assuming they did, get them to extend their enlistment.”

From there, Lord moved on to be a Sr. Instructor for the Army Recruiting and Retention School at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana. Later, that same school moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, so Lord went with it. Lord remembers his time there, “While in Little Rock, they were getting ready to move me again. I really didn’t want to move, and I really missed teaching. I began casting around for a teaching job. I found a spot at White Mountains Regional High School in Whitefield, NH, as an Assistant Principal. It wasn’t a teaching job, but at least I was in a school.”

The Assistant Principal job lasted way longer than he wanted to give it – from September 1989 to August 1996. But this led back to what he really wanted, a job teaching American history and teaching students about the Holocaust. Lord remembered, “The Holocaust curriculum lasted the entire school year. We started at the end of WWI with the rise of Hitler, and the social and economic events that brought him into power. We ended the class with the Nuremberg Trials. I had to create most of my own materials. That made it interesting.”

Lord eventually retired from teaching and served on the Board of Directors for the NH Veterans Cemetery Association, where he helped establish the NH Veterans Heritage Learning Center. 

Lord has penned a 187-page pamphlet about the History of the NH National Guard, another article about Adelbert Ames, a Civil War General from Maine who was the last surviving General of the Civil War, and a pamphlet about the Adjutant Generals of NH published in 1995.

Lord earned several military awards in his time including: Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Reserve Components Achievement Medal, NH National Guard Commendation Medal, NH National Guard Service Ribbon, Basic Air Crew Badge and Career Counselor Badge.

In his civilian life, Lord has been listed in the “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” in the 6th, 8th, and 9th editions. And in 2002, was an honoree for the Future Educators Experiencing Teaching (FEET).

As “Related Experience,” Lord notes that he conducted numerous professional development seminars on NH History throughout NH from 1974 to the present. He designed a “History of the NH Army National Guard” in a video presentation format. He was the Command Historian for the NH National Guard from 1985 to 1986 and again from 1990 to 1996. And Lord created and developed two Social Studies elective courses at White Mountains Regional High School: “Historical Research” and “From the Jazz Age to the Holocaust.” 

As of this writing, in January, 2026, Stuart Lord and his bride, Karen, will soon be celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary. They also have two children, a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Stephen. 

Of his military commendations and awards, Lord noted, “Being recognized by the Army and National Guard was great. But what I cherish most, what I am most proud of, are the yearbook dedications that my students gave to me. I made a difference in their lives. It was that human element that made a difference in my life.”

In a note to this author, Stuart Lord wrote, “My philosophy was best phrased by educator Chaim Ginott when he addressed his faculty on his first day as a school principal. His statement is so reflective of my beliefs that it was posted in my classroom, and copies were distributed to my fellow faculty members.”

Here is that statement:

“…I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness: Gas chambers built by learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians, infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot and buried by high school and college graduates. So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts should never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.”
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US Service Personnel Profiles
By Gary Ledoux January 12, 2026