The "Honoring Our Veteran's Wall" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the wall of men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces after graduating from Manheim Township High School.  Counted 33 individual photos as well as another one or two who have been memorialized in another larger framed tribute panel.  When Manheim Township planned an expansion of the high school, they planned to have a wall of veterans included in the building.  The wall that used to be between the guidance department and convocation hall seemed like the perfect spot.  I was asked to shop for wood frames that could be used to hold the photos.  Purchased a dozen and in no time I was back for more.  Most of the photos are from students who graduated in the last 20 or so years, but there are a few from the middle of the 1900s.  

Sue with her photo of Jerry from 1963.

On a recent trip to State College for a visit, I was telling my friend Jerry, who was my classmate and 1962 graduate at Manheim Township, about the wall and suggested he have his photo added to it.  His wife Sue dug through her scrapbooks from the early 60s and found a photo that had been taken at Burford Portraits in Norfolk, VA.  Photo was probably taken in black and white, but over time has turned a sepia color.  Neat photo of Jerry in his Navy uniform with a youthful expression on his face.  

Photo as it appeared in the school's hallway.

The photo was a 5X7 so I told them I would take it to a photo kiosk and have it made into an 8x10 so it would display better on the wall.  Talked to Jerry a little about his service time in the Navy.  He joined the reserves when he was a senior in high school, but didn't report for active duty until January of 1963.  His boot camp was held at the Great Lake, Ill base, then he was assigned to Norfolk, VA  During this time he made weekend trips back to Lancaster to see his new wife, Sue.  Most of his sea duty was in the Caribbean with visits to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Bermuda and time in Key West.  He was part of the Dominican Republic Haiti Clash of '63 as well as being on constant standby because of the Cuban Crisis of '62.  Jerry and Sue are Carol and My traveling companions and we talk often of his tour of the Caribbean and some of the same ports we travel to for pleasure.  He was telling us about his ship firing strikes at Culebra, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, for practice.  The same Culebra that is now a major tourist spot in the Caribbean.  Jerry was a boilerman on the USS Holder and left the Navy with a rank of P.O. 3rd Class.  Well, I had the photo enlarged and turned it into the high school office a few weeks ago.  

Photo of my friend Jerry (right) and me when we had longer hair.

Today, as I walked past the veterans wall, I noticed his photo had been hung on the top row.  Grabbed my camera and took a few photos to share with him as well as you.  Pretty neat honor to be included on the wall.  We all should be proud of the service men and women who helped preserve our freedom and having a photo hanging for others to see is the least that can be done.  Thanks, Jerry for your service to the USA.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.