Veterans to be honored at Dover church service

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • October 29, 2012
  • 453
                        
Summary: A special service is being offered at St. John’s United Church of Christ at Dover to honor veterans of the armed services, especially those from WWII. Letters written by soldiers found in an attic closet at the church will be displayed for the public to view. Lunch will follow the 10:30 a.m. service on Nov. 11. Veterans Day falls on a Sunday this year and St. John’s United Church of Christ at Dover will celebrate and honor all the men and women who served in the armed forces with a very special service beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11. The public is invited to attend. Parishioners and guests are encouraged to arrive early in order to view a collection of WWII letters found earlier this year in a church closet by parishioner and amateur genealogist Sue Dummermuth. “I was looking for old records. Churches usually have many,” said Dummermuth. “It was almost by accident the perfectly preserved letters were found in an upstairs closet.” The letters are from servicemen serving in various regions of the world between 1943 and 1946. St. John’s then pastor the Rev. Reinherd Krause had reached out to the 192 servicemen that were church parishioners as they were called to serve in WWII. Some never returned home again. “Rev. Krause was just a young man and was new to the church,” said Dummermuth. “He had written letters to the servicemen and many of them had written back. He had put together a committee to organize the sending of gift boxes at Christmas and on birthdays and many of the letters were in response to having received the gift boxes.” Many of the letters include their original envelopes and most are in near perfect condition. Some are typed but most are penned in the servicemen’s hands and contain misspellings and grammatical errors. “The typos are enduring,” said Dummermuth. “The mistakes make them human.” “Our goal is to eventually get the letters back to their families,” said Dummermuth. We are in the process of electronically preserving them so they can be read by future generations. They tell a story that can’t be learned by reading a text book. They are personal and meaningful in so many ways and it is important to give these soldiers a legacy.” St. John’s veteran’s service will include a special message from brother and sister parishioners Bill and Karen McIlvane, Jane Gingrich, Chad McGlothlin and a responsive reading by Barb Lengler. Corey and Kyle Swinderman will play Taps. Lunch will follow the service in the social hall which has been decorated in a 1940’s theme to further honor WWII veterans and their families, including parishioner Robert Barnes, a highly decorated WWII vet that in his 90’s continues to attend church every Sunday. “I grew up in East Cleveland and I remember the end of the war,” said Dummermuth. “We ran from our home on a side street to the main street in the neighborhood. Toilet paper was thrown over the power lines and everyone was so excited. Attitudes were different back then. When the soldiers returned home they were expected to simply get back to work, to get over the war and get on with life.” St. John’s United Church of Christ is located at 409 N. Wooster Ave., Dover. For more information about the Veterans Day service or to find out if any of the letters were written by a friend or family member call Sue Dummermuth at 330-343-9935. Names of letter writers: Abrecht, Jim Alpeter, A.J. USNR Sp. (R) lc Ammiller, Carl. E. USNRB Div. 6I Ammiller, Robert C., Army 20500087 Ayers, Thomas Ayers, Virginia (Jamison) Bair, Lloyd E. Lt., Navy 0-701854 Bair, Oliver R., MM1c Navy Bair, Ronald H., Pvt. Army 35509714 Baker, Robert, Cpl. USMC Baum, Harold A., Lt., Army Bomb Squad, 0567232 Barcus, Robert, S.Sgt Becker, Dennis C., Corp. 35009553 Beitzel, Robert Don, USN F 1/c Bittiker, Wilbur W., USNAD , Co. 7Blaser, Russell W. T/5, 801st Army Marine ship, 35230617 Border, Arthur, Pvt.35590637 Burky, Clayton, PFC 35601017 Byer, Raymond H, PFC 35606825 Buehler, Ralph Carnahan, W. R., Sgt. 35933861 Catcott, Kenneth Conaway, Rex (VA Hospital) Curren, Donald M., Pvt. 39591511 Connor, Thomas, Pvt. 35929258 Ellwood, William, Pvt. - 35858486 Emig, Jack Enck, Robert P., Sgt. Espenschied, Robert D. Espenschied, Walter V., Army, 6988148 Evans, Charles W., T. Sgt. 35304141 Evans, David L. 15374670 Funk, Wilford J., Fleet Radio Unit Navy 136 Gallagher, David Geib, Robert A., Sgt. 35397419 Graef, Wayne, Pvt. 35926692 Graiser, Mrs. Richard G., ARC Hadorn, Clarence Haglock, Art, Cpl., USAF 35602797 Haglock, Robert, Cpl. 35014447 Hanni, Arthur 35926699 Hartman, Albert Hawks, Hubert, 35594228 Herman, C. L. Herman Paul K., USN Herman, Woodrow Herzig, Richard J., USN Hinig, William, Sgt. Holdsworth, Harold E. Horn, D. J., Lt., 0-697280 Javens, Ralph L., Pfc. 35594455 Kerch, James A., Pvt. ECC 64, 16th Co., 35852275 Kraus, William C., Jr., USNR, ARM 2/c Lab, Paul J. Lahm, Raymond H., Sgt. 35866755 Lentz, Donald Lieser, William E., Pfc. Army, 35232920 Marburger, Morris, Sgt. Marks, Don, Pvt. 45001559 Marsh, Reese Mason, Walter R., USMC Maurer, Russell E. Meese, George E., Sp. USN Megert, Arthur, Sgt. Miller, Harold L., Lt. USAF 01639718 Miller, Robert James S1/c Navy Newton, Joseph R., S. Sgt., Bomb Squad, Army 16045519 Plunk, Marion R., USN, S/2/c Richard, Lee, Lt., RN Richard, William J., Lt., 0-836541 Richardson, T. W., AMM 24 Bks. 46 NATTC Riggenbach, Lt. Frank 0-2076741 Rausch, Edgar Rausch, Eugene F., T/Sgt 35378466 Army Rausch, Richard H., Pvt.35837443 Schafer,Glen E. Scherer, Paul and Kay Schide,Dale Schneiter, Cpl. Donald H., Army Schumacher, E. J. USN Schumacher, Howard E. Army Schumacher, Robert P. Seibert, Harry A., Pfc. - USMC Shaw, Harry, Pfc. 33119741 Smith, Leroy E., Tech. Sgt. Stalder, Dalton, Cpl. 35385067 Army Steitz, John E., S. Sgt. Stemple, Vernon, Sgt. 35587401 Army Stout, H. F., Capt. - USS Smith; USS Claxton; USS Dewey Stucky, John F., Sgt.35026117 Bomb Squad - Army Stull, Gerald L., RM 3/c, USCGC Gentian Theiss, H. E., Capt. Thompson, Alva E., S. Sgt. Thompson, Dueber Valentine, Robert, TSgt. 35230625 Vance, James Vernizzi , Isidoro ("Izzy")T/S 35861233 VonAllman, John W., Crp. 35280214 Vorherr, Alfred E., Sgt. 35393108 Army Waldick, Harman J., T/S Walters, Wilmer W., MME 3/C USS Ajax Wertz , Gerald W. 35388976 Wertz, LaVerne 35047458 Wherley, Eugene R., Pvt. 20516716 Winkler, Thurman Eugene, US Navy Wohlers, Art and Lois (not sure if "W" is correct --- very difficult to read) Youngen, J. R. (Red), S. Sgt, Army 35385069 Youngen,Wilbur 35852291 Zollar, Maurice, USS Casablanca, USNR Zollar, Norm (and Iva Faye, Kay and Michael)


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