My View of the Honor Guard and Why I Am Proud to be a Part of It by Jim Houck, Jr. I am a member of the Sons of AMVETS Squadron 7 Thurmont, and I really enjoy the welcoming feeling the people at the post have conveyed to me since I joined. I consider myself…

by Jim Houck, Jr. Specialist 4th Class Thomas Eugene Joy 173rd Airborne Brigade Tom Joy was born on December 5, 1948, at Annie M Warner Hospital Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Austin L. and Catherine E. (Walter) Joy, and was taken home to live with them on East Main Street in Emmitsburg. Tom is the youngest member…

Lyman Stambaugh Spec 4 U.S. Army, Co. A 2nd Battle Group 28th Inf., 24th Div. by Jim Houck, Jr. Born December 15, 1936, in Thurmont in the old Rouzer Home Place (still standing today) to Maurice Melvin and Ethel Favorite Stambaugh, was a son they named Lyman. Lyman had four sisters: Francis, Doris, Lois, and…

Remembering Jim Spalding by Jim Houck, Jr. James Irvin Spalding, life-long resident of Thurmont, passed away peacefully in his home on May 19, 2014, at the age of seventy-five. He was the loving husband of Ellen L. Sutton Spalding for twenty-three years. Born January 23, 1939, in Thurmont, he was the son of the late…

by Jim Houck, Jr. Veterans and Why They Mean So Much To Me I was born in 1943. My father, James A. Houck Sr., was somewhere in Germany serving our country. I hadn’t met him yet, because he was deployed before I was born. I was three years old when I finally got to meet…

by James Rada, Jr. The Living History of Chuck Caldwell Chuck Caldwell and his father, George, came to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the last day of June 1938 for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The town decorated with banners, bunting, and lights, and was so crowded that the Caldwells couldn’t find a room to…

by Jim Houck, Jr. TINA MARIE REEVES E-3 UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS Tina was born and raised in the Emmitsburg-Thurmont area until she was seventeen years old, then she joined the Marine Corps. She met her husband, Keith, who was also a marine at the time, and they went on to have a daughter they…

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…

by Jim Houck, Jr. VFW Auxiliary 6658 Celebrates 70th Year VFW Memorial Post 6658 was chartered in 1946. Harold Hoke was one of the organizers and a charter member. The following year (1947), Harold’s wife, Mary Higbee Hoke, said she would like to start an Auxiliary to Post 6658. Mrs. Hoke went to South Seton…

by Andrea Myers Mannix – A Thurmont native, who resides in New Paltz, New York Hudson Valley Honor Flight – Honoring America’s Military Veterans In Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 8, 2017, it was a beautiful, early spring day with clear blue skies. This was the day that I served as a guardian to accompany ninety-one-year-old…

Sons of AMVETS Squadron 7 “Golden Son Awards” by Jim Houck, Jr. Friday, July 14, 2017, 6:00 p.m., AMVETS Post 7, Thurmont, was the date, time, and place set to hold the annual “Golden Son Awards” program. I, being the public relations officer for I don’t remember how many years now, was there to take…

by Jim Houck, Jr. Richard (Dick) Fleagle Sons of AMVETS Richard (Dick) Fleagle is AMVETS Post 7 Thurmont’s AMVETS Son of the YEAR 2013. Neighbors, I am honored to have him as a friend and comrade, and one of the most respected men I have had the privilege of knowing. Dick Fleagle—known by many in…