The "Historical Discovery at Manheim Township High School" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Date was March 19, 2003 and one of the secretaries at Manheim Township High School had just made a remarkable discovery.  For years the space under the concrete wall that held the seating for the Convocation Hall in the high school served as a space for storage of just about anything.  Old records were stored there.  Cases and cases of old continuous-feed computer paper with the holes punched along the side were stored there.  Empty boxes were stored there.  Just about anything imaginable was stored there.  And then, more space was needed for some reason or another and Darlene Walton was asked to start to get rid of stuff that was no longer used.  I had retired four years earlier, but still did in-house printing for the school district.  She called me and asked me to stop and pick up all the computer paper, take it home and trim the holes off the sides and trim the perforation marks off and pad it into tablets for the high school office.  She worked a few hours a week at this job and then one day, March 19th to be exact, she made a precious find.  On that day she found a heavy object wrapped in a roll of kraft paper.  

Carolyn Weidman on the left and Darlene Walton hold
the banner that Darlene discovered in storage at the
Manheim Township High School in Lancaster, PA.

After opening it she discovered it was a banner about six feet long and 2 1/2 feet wide.  Neither she nor Marlene or Carolyn, co-workers, knew the significance of the banner.  They asked an art teacher if she could use it for scraps or for a class project.  Then, luckily, another teacher walking by the secretaries mentioned that it was a war banner.  Shock set in!  It turned out to be an original banner or service flag, hand-sewn in 1943 and sometime after that placed in the kraft paper and found it's way into the storage room.  Probably was in storage for some 50 years.  They shared it with me one day when I stopped in the office to visit with everyone.  Pretty neat banner.  The high school principal, Dave Hanna, suggested that, "The banner expresses the dedication, the patriotism, the willingness to sacrifice.  Actually the total commitment to sacrifice that happens in war."  The banner was made to commemorate Manheim Township soldiers who served in World War II.  On it were listed the number who served - 274 - and the number who died - 11 - in the war.  According to Carolyn Weidman, office manager, records were found that said the banner was first dedicated in a school assembly on January 27, 1943.  It was rededicated twice more to update it as the two numbers changed.  

The banner now hangs in a hall
of the high school.

Records showed that a 1939 graduate, Norman Diehm, was the first casualty while fighting the Japanese on the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands.  The 1944 "Neffvue", the school yearbook, was dedicated to his memory.  The banner shows the heroes of WWII and the sacrifices that Manheim Township graduates made for their country.  What was such a coincidence about the timing of the banner surfacing was the date.  The following day, March 20, 2003 was the start of the war in  Iraq.  Mr. Hanna wondered if the timing of the discovery was more than a coincidence.  He said, "It was perfect, not only to help remind people of the sacrifices made by troops during World War II, but also now, in Iraq.  The banner now hangs in a hallway of the high school that has a wall covered with photos of past members of Township classes, men and women, who have served in the armed forces of our country.  I recently wrote a story about one of my classmates, Norm Billipp, whose photo is on the wall.  Norm died during the Vietnam War.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.