News

Civil engineers honor veteran

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Veteran's Day is a day to honor those who served their country; it is a day of honoring those who came before and those who serve now.

One veteran, Fred Martin, United States Postal Service, served as a combat engineer in the United States Marine Corps, was wounded twice and received two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War.

Mr. Martin has displayed his ribbons on counter at the base post office to remind him of years past. One day, the first sergeant for the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron asked to take the old ribbon rack, but didn't tell Mr. Martin her purpose. Hesitating, Mr. Martin agreed to let the first sergeant take his ribbons, telling her he knew where to find her.

"This all started during a conversation I had during a mentoring session with Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Gilpin and Senior Master Sgt. Eric Allain," said Master Sgt. Terrie Chesney, 436 CES first sergeant. "We were talking about veterans and Purple Heart recipients. During the conversation Chief Gilpin said, 'You know Fred at the post office has received two Purple Hearts? Have you seen how he has them displayed?' A few days after that conversation the idea came to me, so I went to the post office to secure Fred's ribbons."

After three weeks of waiting, Mr. Martin was reunited with his ribbons. There is only one difference, now they are stored in a protective case crafted by the 436 CES.

The box was produced with donated materials and took about 30 hours to build, according to Tech. Sgt. Earl Burgess, 436 CES. He built the case with Erik Thompson and Airman 1st Class Adam Monoski, both with 436 CES. Together, they constructed the box during off-hours.

"The first sergeant asked if we wanted to help and we jumped right on it," said Sergeant Burgess. "We had a lot of the materials lying around from old builds, so we were able to build the box out of completely donated materials. The only part of the new case that didn't get donated was the ribbons, and we had to track those down at the Army Navy store. It was an honor to build it."

The surprise arrival of his ribbons and their new rack definitely had an effect on Mr. Martin when the group of 43 CES members presented him with his new display case.

"It caught me by surprise," said Mr. Martin. "When I asked 'Top' (Sergeant Chesney) a few weeks after she had taken my ribbons, why she was interested in them, she told me she wanted to honor and respect my sacrifices to this country."

Mr. Martin's old rack has its own special place in the display case as well. In the back of the case is a hidden compartment, so Mr. Martin can access his old ribbons at any time.

"I was speechless," said Mr. Martin. "There were a lot of emotions going through me all at once when they handed it back to me. It hadn't been there for awhile, and the feeling is something you really can't explain."

The new display case now sits where the old ribbon rack made its home, on the front of Mr. Martin's customer service counter in the post office.

"It was nice they did it," said Mr. Martin. "It's a good feeling knowing somewhere down the line you're not forgotten."