Local Legends - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Local Legends

Hope all you Fish Report readers are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It is an especially poignant time for me because of the flags mounted along Ft. Loramie streets honoring two of my living uncles who both served valiantly in the military; Pat and Linus Hoying (Linus aka Lindy is grandfather to pro baseball player Jared Hoying). In addition, a deceased relative, Richard Barhorst, is also honored with a legends flag as shown in the photo below with his descendants including his son Doug (in the yellow shirt who's a high school classmate of mine - '66).

They and many other veterans are similarly honored at the Ft. Loramie Veterans Monument in Canal Park. Eagle Scout Nathan Hausfeld conceived the idea of a monument and made it’s creation and dedication in 2016 the theme of his Eagle Scout project. This Community Post article describes the accomplishment.

My uncles had 5 other brothers who served in the armed forces, as described in this previous blogpost. Uncle Pat served as a guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

And my Godfather, uncle Hank, was likely involved in the transport of atomic bomb materials or personnel to the South Pacific’s Tinian Island from where B29’s took off to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945 to the end WWII. Check out this blog for more details.

My uncle Ralph landed at Normandy on D-Day. I recall my Dad telling the story about how my uncle returned home on leave after the landings, arriving in the middle of the night. He quietly crawled into bed which he had always shared with my Dad, then came down to the breakfast table the next morning as if nothing had ever happened to totally surprise his Mother and the rest of the family.

Another uncle Edwin worked at the White House as a Naval aid to President's Roosevelt and Truman, and attended several important conferences with Churchill and Stalin during the course of the War.

We will be forever indebted to our 13 uncles along with all of our relatives who served so courageously in the military, and are eternally thankful for the sacrifices they made to protect and preserve our freedom. God bless them all.