Schoeneck honors hometown heroes

Harlem and John Shirk poses for a photos at the Memorial Day service held at West Cocalico Township Park in Schoeneck, PA on May 28, 2018.

There is a Memorial Day event that takes place every year in Schoeneck, an event that speaks to the fabric of a community, and a history we must never forget. The town name is derived from the Pennsylvania Dutch phrase Schoenes Eck, which translated means “beautiful corner”.

And there is a great deal of history tucked into this beautiful corner of the world.

The event, sponsored by the Schoeneck Veterans Memorial Association, includes a parade, music and speakers. This year’s parade made its way through town with emergency personnel, the Boy Scouts, the Heidelberg Band, military vehicles and local veterans in tow. It concluded at the Schoeneck Area Veterans Memorial.

One of the organizers for the event is Elaine Bowman, who is president of the Schoeneck Veterans Memorial Association. Born, raised and now retired for the last twelve years in Schoeneck, she has traveled around the world, but she has always called this place home.

Several years ago, she began recording oral histories of World War II veterans along with fellow volunteer Donna Wenrich Albert. It is not simply a love of history, but a commitment to history that drives her.

Community is what drives the entire celebration. It is the community of veterans and volunteers, local businesses and organizations that help keep history alive. Nancy Eberly is a long time volunteer who calls it “A small town America event.” Eberly kept busy charting the parade participants on Monday while also showing first time volunteer Deb Brenneman the ropes.

Paul Carpenter is a World War II veteran who saw action in the Pacific. “I was in the Infantry before ending up in the 47th Engineers,” he said. He was overseas for thirteen months, six of which he spent on Iejima — an island which sits a few miles off the coast of Okinawa. He tells stories of having to take the trolley into Lancaster once he was called, and of coming of age on the other side of the world. The grace and humility with which he tells his story is humbling. He considers himself lucky, having recently celebrated forty four years of marriage to wife, Verna. To Carpenter, he’s just the guy who made the beans for the luncheon that followed the ceremony.

The featured speaker was Tom Shirk, who spoke of family and country and whose accounts were vivid portrayals of sacrifice and honor. Tom is a descendant of the town’s founders and a great nephew to three brothers — John, Harlan and Donald — all of whom served in World War II and would become living testimonies to what freedom truly means.

Youngest brother Donald served in Patton’s Third Army and eventually achieved the rank of Sergeant. He would go on to fight in the Korean war as well —a fact that is noted on his tombstone. Middle brother Harlan was drafted into the Army Air Force as a member of the Air Bombardier Squadron 442. He was a test pilot who trained flight crews that would eventually be sent into combat. He was also tasked with overhauling planes at all hours of the day and night to get them ready for the next run. The oldest brother, John, was drafted into the Army. He was in the 702 Tank Destroyer Batallion, part of the second armored division known as “Hell on Wheels”.

Originally a gunner, he would eventually achieve the rank of Commander. On June 9, 1944 John landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy. He would engage in heavy fighting through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany until April of 1945 and would go on to receive a Bronze Star as well as a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant. These are three of the one hundred and three stories whose names reside on the Memorial. The Memorial was moved in 2011, and when the committee entrusted with rededicating it began looking for a theme, it didn’t take long to find one. They decided to commemorate the new home with a remarkable fact: That all one hundred and three veterans who served from Schoeneck came home. “They All Came Home” thus became a theme which stretches from all the way back then to here and now.

“I think we all need to give back to people who gave so much,” Bowman said. “There are so many names on that memorial. Even though I was just a kid growing up in Schoeneck, I know these people. They’re my neighbors, friends and relatives.”

And they all come from a beautiful corner of the world called home.