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The Sacrifice for Freedom

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Deb Abraham Spalding

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Freedom isn’t free,” especially around Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independence Day, as a reminder of the sacrifice others have made to protect our freedom. This past Memorial Day, the official dedication ceremony of the Moser Road bridge and Trolley Trail foot bridge in Thurmont to two Thurmont Marines who were killed in action in Vietnam reminded those in attendance that there is a price for freedom.

The Moser Road bridge was dedicated, and signage unveiled, to honor SGT Woodrow Franklin “Frank” Carbaugh USMC. The Trolley Trail foot bridge was dedicated, and signage unveiled, to honor PFC Charles R. Pittinger USMC. These two young men were raised in Thurmont, and upon graduating from Thurmont High School in the 1960s, each enlisted or was drafted into the United States Marine Corps.

They were both killed in action by wounds received from hostile forces in Vietnam. They gave their lives in service to our nation, for our freedom.

The signage that is visible from both directions as you approach the bridges will serve as an on-going opportunity for travelers to remember and give thanks.

At a luncheon hosted by the volunteers at the Edwin C. Creeger, Jr. American Legion on Park Lane in Thurmont, dedication ceremony host Gary Spegal, Frederick County Commander and Thurmont American Legion Honor Guard OIC, gave the official welcome to the dual dedication of the Trolley Trail foot bridge and the Moser Road bridge spanning over Big Hunting Creek in Thurmont.

Commander Spegal said, “Read the names, reflect, and consider the sacrifice for the values that these two men fought for and died for. They inspire all of us to pray for our country’s leaders to seek peaceful settlements to our disputes.” He added, “One of the things our nation could have done better is welcoming home our Veterans who fought in Southeast Asia. It’s been half a century and their legacy has faded.” Locally, the bridge dedication will be a reminder to those who pass.

Thurmont’s Mayor John Kinnaird said, “The memory of the day when news arrived about the deaths of both Charlie and Woodie sticks clearly in my mind. I think it is appropriate that these bridges be dedicated in their names today. Bridges physically transport us from one point to another, but these bridges will now take us back in time. Each time we cross these bridges, we will remember Charlie and Woody…as the local boys we knew as family, neighbors, and friends…and the sacrifices these young men made for our community and our nation.”

On the bridge site, Ella Renner, the American Auxiliary Jr. Unit 168’s Poppy Princess, assisted Unit 168 Poppy Chairperson Angela Spegal to install red poppy flowers on each of the sign posts. The red flower of the poppy represents the blood of our fallen.

Deacon John Hawkins provided the blessing of the bridges. “Chewy,” a Veteran memorial vehicle, sounded the guns in salute.

Attendees moved from the official dedication location at the bridges to the ceremony location at the Edwin C. Creeger, Jr. American Legion on Park Lane in Thurmont.

Here, Scouts of Troop 270 Color Guard performed the Presentation of Colors.

During this touching ceremony, music was enjoyed, attendees sang the Marine Corps Hymn, and several people shared fond memories.

Sandy Seidel, mother of 1st Lt. Robert Seidel, presented a print of Robert’s poem “War” that was written in honor of Charles Pittinger to the Pittinger family. As an elementary-aged boy in Emmitsburg in the 1990s, young Robbie Seidel, learned from his uncle Larry Pittinger, about another uncle, Charles Pittinger, who had lost his life in Vietnam. He wrote the poem “War” in Charles’ honor. Little Robbie later became 1st Lt. Robert Seidel, who was killed in action while serving our country in Iraqi Freedom in May 2006.

Sgt. David Carter USMC traveled from Morristown, Tennessee, to the ceremony to talk about his tour with Sgt. Woodrow Franklin “Frank” Carbaugh. He said, “His tour of duty ran parallel with mine. I met Frank in January 1967. We received orders together. I will never forget him. He was the most Christian man I have ever known. A man of great character.”

Larry Pittinger, representing his brother John and sister Ann, spoke about their brother PFC Charles R. Pittinger. He shared that in preparation, American Legion Cmdr. Gary Spegal gave him a project to locate photos and memorabilia to display at the event.

Larry said, “For me, this request is the most rewarding part of the past eight months. Because of this request, photos that were packed away were unpacked and enjoyed again. Letters written more than 50 years ago were re-read. Through these letters, I learned of Charlie’s plans to buy a Corvette when he returned home. In a follow-up letter, he said that he may have to switch to his plan B, which was getting his ’57 Chevy on the road because of a change in the State of Maryland’s insurance rates.”

Larry continued, “He wrote of his frustration of walking through about four inches of mud to return to the base camp while carrying the M79 that was nicknamed the “Blooper” and carrying other gear that almost weighed as much as himself. Next, I found a website for Lima 35. Some of these Vets called me and shared their personal experiences. I am not a military Veteran, but after talking to these four Marine Vets, I have a deeper understanding of the kinship and the bond Veterans have for one another. To all Veterans, thank you for your service.”

“Thank you all for honoring my brother PFC Charles Robert Pittinger.”

The ceremony closed with the Benediction by Deacon John Hawkins and the Retirement of Colors by Scouts of Troop 270.

Photos by Deb Abraham Spalding

The Moser Road Bridge named in honor of Sgt. Carbaugh.

Honoring Our Veterans on Veterans Day

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On Veterans Day 2020, Grace Eyler with The Catoctin Banner had the honor of joining the Hoke Family in the Church of Incarnation in Emmitsburg to honor our Veterans. Becky Hoke diligently rang the church’s bell for over three minutes while family helped by keeping a timer and prompting her pulls on the bell rope. The bell is rung annually at five minutes before 11:00 a.m. in honor of the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I at 11:00 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

Becky’s father, Tom Hoke, recalled being 13 years old when his father had taken over as the ringer. Since then, the Hoke family has performed this tradition at this church for over one hundred years (except while Tom was in service in WWII, then Fred Wolf did it). Tom celebrated his 97th birthday in November!

Photo by Grace Eyler

Our Neighborhood Veterans

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by Jim Houck, Jr.

Veterans Day

November 11

Veterans Day is a celebrated holiday that honors all persons that served or are serving in the United States Armed Forces. It dates back to World War I and when the Armistice with Germany ended the hostilities on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson expressed what he felt that day meant to all Americans. Exactly one year later, Wilson’s Address to Fellow Countrymen on November 11, 1919, from the White House read as follows:

A year ago today, our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and juster set of international relations. The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to uphold the barrier of civilization against the aggression of armed force. We ourselves had been in the conflict something more than a year and a half. With splendid forgetfulness of mere personal concerns, we remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased our agricultural output, and assembled a great army, so at the last our power was a decisive factor in the victory. We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people, to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which we fought. Out of this victory, there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interest of men. To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the council of nations.

On June 4, 1926, the United States Congress adopted a resolution requesting then President Calvin Coolidge to issue an annual proclamation calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. Approved May 13, 1938, by a congressional act, November 11 would be a day dedicated each year as a legal holiday and, thereafter, known as Armistice Day.

Raymond Weeks, from Birmingham, Alabama, a World War II Veteran, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all Veterans, those alive as well as those who died in World War I. In 1945, Weeks led a delegation to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who supported the idea. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama, and led it annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982, as the driving force for the national holiday.

I know a lot of people get confused trying to figure out the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Memorial Day is held in May and honors those who have died while in military service. Veterans Day is held on the eleventh day of the eleventh month and celebrates both those who died while in service and those who have served and are still living.

Sons of AMVETS Squadron 7 Thurmont will be holding a breakfast for Veterans and their families on Sunday, November 12, 2017. The breakfast is buffet-style and will be held from 7:00-11:00 a.m. All Veterans eat free. The breakfast is open to the public; non-veterans pay $5.00. November 11 falls on a Saturday this year, so National observance will be November 10.

God Bless the United States of America, God Bless the American Veteran, and God Bless You.

Our Neighborhood Veterans

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by Jim Houck, Jr.

The American Legion and VFW Combined Color Guard Veterans Day Activities

This Veterans Day, November 11, 2016, was a beautiful day to continue with our traditional program of visiting all of our cemeteries in and around Emmitsburg, where we pay tribute to our local Veterans buried there.

The Color Guard was brought to attention at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, in front of Francis X. Elder’s grave site, for the first volley of firing of rifles, the bugler playing taps. The next firing was in front of the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War monuments, located in front of the Francis X. Elder Post 121 American Legion. The Lutheran Church Cemetery was the next site of the Color Guard rifle volley and taps. The Doughboy, our World War I Monument on West Main Street, was the next setting for our Color Guard tribute to Veterans. We left the Doughboy and, next, fell in at attention at the Emmitsburg Memorial Cemetery, on the hill, for our fifth rifle volley of the morning. The New St. Joseph’s Cemetery was the next sacred stop where our Color Guard paid tribute.

The next cemetery we visit is located at The Grotto of the Lourdes, where the Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery is located. We performed another ceremony there. The cemetery we visited last is located on Welty Road at the Methodist Cemetery, at which the rifle volley and taps take place.

The people that followed us from cemetery to cemetery were invited back to Francis X. Elder Post 121 to an open house, where there was food and socializing. The Color Guard rested for the final program that took place at St. Joseph’s Ministries, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

The Color Guard arrived at St. Joseph’s Ministries at 1:45 p.m. and ran through a quick practice of exchanging the National Flag on the flag pole. Details of the program were discussed with Annie Wantz, who coordinates all activities for the residents, and at 2:00 p.m., Annie made the announcement and the Color Guard came to attention and began their march to the flag pole. The old flag was brought down and retired, and the new flag was run up to replace it. While this was being done, a voice was heard singing the National Anthem. When the song was done, the bugler immediately played Taps. It was so beautiful and inspiring that I even saw one of the resident Veterans, who was confined to a wheelchair, pull himself to his feet to salute the flag while the National Anthem was being sung.

Everyone went into the activity room after the flag ceremony ended, and a program was held; certificates of appreciation and fruit baskets were given to the Veteran residents. The Color Guard presented colors for the ceremony, and the Ladies Auxiliary Unit 121 handed out the fruit baskets and certificates. Everyone was invited by Annie, and her wonderful staff, to stick around after the program and have snacks and socialize with the residents.

It is events like these that make me glad I accepted being Captain of The Color Guard; the members have helped me when asked, and I am proud of them all.

God Bless the United States of America, God Bless the American Veteran, and God Bless You.

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The Color Guard is shown entering the flag area at St. Joseph’s Ministries.

Photo by Emmitsburg Cares

 

our neighborhood veterans

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by Jim Houck, Jr.

Francis X. Elder Gets a New Head Stone

Roger Melton, president of the Board of Directors Francis X. Elder American Legion Post 121 Emmitsburg, said that while he was at the 2014 Veterans Day volley by our American Legion and VFW combined Color Guard, over the grave of Francis X. Elder, he noticed that the scrolling and letters on the headstone marking the grave were barely legible. Francis X. Elder, for those that don’t know, was the first soldier from World War I from Emmitsburg to be killed in action.

Melton was very concerned, because Francis X. Elder was a hero and the namesake of our post, so he decided that this was something that needed to be brought up and discussed by members at our regular meeting (held the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.) to discuss what needs to be done. Meeting night, Roger brought it to the attention of the membership and everyone was in agreement that the headstone needed to be replaced. Funds were appropriated for the project and it was put out for bid. Jeff Zumbrun, the owner of  Zumbrun’s Funeral Home, won the bid.

Roger called me and asked if I would like to do a story on the replacement and what was happening to the original headstone and I said I certainly would like that. I, after all, had done a few stories on Francis X. Elder and even had one of them go national on the National Sons of AMVETS Website and National Sons of AMVETS Newsletter. I have a collection of newspaper articles given to me by Ralph Ireland from a collection his mother left when she passed away. I am very interested in anything about Francis X. Elder.  I followed the replacement from the beginning and I even took several photos of the entire replacement which will follow this article.

I met Jeff Zumbrun and his son Jim on the day they came to start the replacement project. They are both gentlemen who work very hard at what they do and are not afraid of hard work, and believe me what they do is hard work. They do not use machines to move these monuments around, just manual labor and levers, the old fashioned ways. Jeff’s son Jim, is taking classes to become an undertaker and said that he is doing this to help his dad and plans on continuing the family business.

I interviewed Jeff after all was completed and he said, “My name is Jeff Zumbrun and I have a funeral home in Eldersburg, Carroll County Maryland and I am here with my son, Jim, who is hopefully going to take up the business. We got into the monument business when we first started to plan for the funeral home because it was much easier to get started. We got this connection in Emmitsburg when we bid on the headstone replacement when Roger Melton called and said we won the bid. I initially put in the bid because my brother was killed in Vietnam and I somehow felt it would be sort of a tribute to him by doing this.”

Jeff said that next year will be their twentieth anniversary of starting the business. He said they started their business from scratch and that it wasn’t an old guy that retired or anything like that. They just decided to go into business for themselves and he said by the Grace of God and community support they have been able to continue the business for going on twenty years.

The original headstone has been placed beside the World War II Memorial in front of the Francis X. Elder American Legion Post and looks very nice with the Korean War and Vietnam War Monuments and the Cannon.

God Bless America, God Bless the American Veteran, and God Bless You.

vets-column-2-(2)

Pictured are Jeff Zumbrun and his son, Jim.