Mainers Sr. Chief Boatswain’s Mate Edwin Bennett, from Milford, Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Timothy Riegel, from Windham and Chief Information Systems Technician Marguerite Emmons, from Augusta, assigned to USS Gerald R. Ford, pose for a photo with Maine’s state flags to celebrate the state’s 198th birthday March 15. Maine became the 23rd state March 15, 1820, entering the union as part of the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Maine to enter the union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, to preserve the balance of slave vs. free states. the act was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which determined states could decide for themselves if they wanted to allow slavery. The repeal, of course, didn’t affect Maine’s statehood. (Connor D. Loessin photo)
