World War II Veteran Bob Gast Turns 100World War II veteran Bob Gast turned 100 on Monday, and Warsaw Community Schools proclaimed March 28, 2022, as Bob Gast Day during a special celebration.
Kicking off the event at the WCS Central Administration building, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said, “I have never had the privilege of creating a ‘day’ in Warsaw Community Schools. There’s a lot of things that happen, but the mayor, the city, the governor usually gets those honors of creating a special day for someone.”
He said he asked the Warsaw School Board last week if he could create a day for someone. The Board asked him what brings about that day.
“I said, ‘Well, he was a World War II vet. He was a Silver Star recipient. He was a Purple Heart recipient. He’s a 1940 Warsaw graduate and he’s turning 100 years old.’ The School Board looked at me and said that’s a pretty high bar,” Hoffert stated.
The Board gave Hoffert their official approval to create the first “day” in WCS. “So today is Bob Gast Day in Warsaw Community Schools,” Hoffert said.
Warsaw Community High School JROTC presented a special proclamation for Gast, read by Cadet Lt. Michael Shilling.
“Whereas, we are pleased and honored that for those who have joined together to pay tribute on this day to dedicated veteran Mr. Bob Gast, who has served this great nation with such distinction, both in peace time and in war; and whereas our community has a continuing sense of gratitude to those who have given so much in the defense of the freedoms which we all continue to enjoy; and whereas, in honor of this dedicated man, we pledge our continued support to him and our nation so that his sacrifice will stand before our community as a tribute to the spirit and determination of a people dedicated to the principles of freedom and democracy; and whereas, on this patriotic occasion, let us all commit ourselves to the great need of fostering a spirit of rededication to the ideals that have served as the foundation of this great country - ‘One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ Now, therefore, I, Cadet Lt. Michael Shilling of Warsaw Community Schools, on behalf of the Administration and School Board, do hereby proclaim Monday, March 28, 2022, as Captain Bob Gast Day,” the proclamation reads.
Everyone in attendance at the celebration gathered around Gast for a group photo, including a bunch of students from Washington STEM Academy.
After the photos were taken, Hoffert explained to Gast that, “These students, and a whole bunch of other students, from Warsaw Community Schools, wanted to do something special. I sent out an email seeing if some people wanted to write some birthday cards, thinking maybe we could get to 100 birthday cards. Guess what? We got way over 100.”
The Washington students presented Gast with a large envelopes of the approximately 350 cards.
Everyone then proceeded to sing “Happy Birthday” to Gast.
“Couldn’t have had a better one,” Gast said after the song.
Hoffert asked Gast if he had any words of wisdom to give to the Washington students before they went back to class. Gast told them, “Just enjoy your school years, they’re some of the best.” He also told them to just be good.
Before Gast cut his birthday cake, John W. Peyton explained how and why his daughter-in-law Sarah Peyton decorated it the way she did.
“Bob was in the 4th Division, 1st or 2nd Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Platoon. You fought in Hürtgen Forest, which is where I believe you got your Silver Star. And you were a captain at the time,” Peyton explained to Gast. “So what we have on the cake is his rank and the 4th Division, which is the four shamrocks. Now your division, if I’m not mistaken, won the Croix de Guerre, which is a French award ... The decoration around the edge of the cake is made from the colors of that Croix de Guerre, and at the bottom you see it looped and turned. That is actually how it was structured. So, Sarah Peyton, my daughter-in-law, was kind enough to do that for us today.”
After everyone enjoyed birthday cake, cookies and apple juice, Gast inspected the uniforms of the WCHS JROTC and found them to be perfect.
Monday’s celebration came about from a group of local veterans and history lovers who meet regularly for coffee monthly to talk about topics like World War II.
One of the group members, Dave Kintzel, said he got Gast involved after he told the others that he knew someone who served in World War II. Gast came to the group meeting on Kintzel’s invitation and ended up talking about his experience in WWII for about an hour.
“A couple different times during it, he looked over at me and said, ‘Am I talking too much?’ I said, ‘Not at all, Bob, everyone loves this.’ Pretty soon, he asked me again, ‘Am I talking too much?’ I said, ‘Bob, I’m going to be a hero for bringing you. This is real interesting. This is real WWII stuff,’” Kintzel said.
Peyton and Hoffert, both members of the group, asked Gast at some point how old he was and when his birthday was. He was 99 at the time. When Gast wasn’t there, the group decided they needed to make a big deal out of his 100th birthday.
Gast served in the Army infantry from 1943 to 1946. Serving in Germany, he said, “As an infantry small unit commander, the infantry was a pretty tough job. The casualties for a rifle platoon leader were about 500%. In other words, you came and you went pretty fast. I was a replacement when the 4th Division was still in Normandy. I managed to survive and we were the first troops into Paris.”
He said it was tough, but figured most people know about his history.
After WWII, he said he was pretty much like everyone else and “just sat on my duff for a while. Then my father said, ‘What’s the matter with you, son? Better get to work!”
Gast worked for a time as a laborer just to please his father, who was a bit of a taskmaster. He worked for his father in his construction company until it disbanded.
Kintzel said Gast worked for the city of Warsaw for four years for Dale Tucker, who had administered the HUD program. When Mike Hodges got re-elected, he fired Gast. Kintzel read Gast’s letter in the newspaper and called him up and hired him. Kintzel and Gast worked together for 23 years, selling industrial lubricants.
“That was some of the happiest years of my life,” Gast said.
Gast served 11 years on the Warsaw City Council, from about 1984 to 1995. During that time, he also sat on the Board of Public Works and Safety.
His wife, Marge, died 10 years ago. Gast said that changed everything for him.
“She was a wonderful woman,” he said.
As for Monday’s celebration for his 100th birthday, Gast said it was “unbelieveable. I don’t think I deserve it really.”
