Former WHS Assistant Principal Honored as Vet of Month
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
World War II veteran and former Warsaw High School Assistant Principal Charles Garner was named Veteran of the Month during this morning’s Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting.
Commissioners and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer recalled being students of Garner’s, but after hearing his story of service, agreed that any trouble they put him through was small in comparison.
Garner, 89, Syracuse, enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1942 while attending college in Indianapolis. He was activated the next year and sent to England.
Garner was a replacement for Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings and served in a mortor battalion. He saw months of combat in that time and recalled once digging five foxholes in one day.
He also recalled being surrounded by German forces in a small town in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944, then moving on to Czechoslovakia and Japan.
The war ended while he was waiting to see action in the Pacific Theater.
“This is the kind of thing we’re here for, and want to continue to say thank you,” said Rich Maron, county veterans affairs officer. “To me they’re the salt of the earth, guys like Charles Garner.”
Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a speed limit change from 40 mph to 30 mph on CR West 700S from Ind. 15 to Claypool, to match the speed limit at the edge of town; and received a $11,134 reimbursement for the unofficial detour during Ind. 15 Claypool overpass construction from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Commissioners also approved a no-parking ordinance for North Elwood Avenue from East Louie Street south to the canal on Lake Wawasee. They previously approved the change at the Sept. 25 meeting.
And commission members approved a $2,000 contract with WTH Technology Inc. for mapping software for emergency services.
Commissioners also learned that County Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden will conduct a semi truck traffic study on Ferguson Road to determine if additional signage is needed.
