Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:
WWII Army Veteran Private 1st Class Ernest French Jr, Age 85 of Ladoga, IN.
Died Feb. 15, 2013 in Indiana and is burried in Ladoga, IN. in his home town.
Dad was born in Ladoga, Indiana. He was drafted into the Army on July 30, 1945. He served 1 year and 5months.
He was assigned to the 2101st area service unit. He was a Private First Class and was assigned to the Seperation Center at Fort George G Meade, MD.
His Military Occupational Specialty was Finance Clerk and he was qualified on the MKM M-1 Rifle. His awards included the World War II Victory Ribbon and Lapel Button issued for no days lost under AW 107.
When dad got out of the Army he worked in the oil fields in California for a little while before coming back home to Ladoga, Indiana to work on the farm with is dad. He worked in a factory (Detroit Diesel Allisons) in Indianapolis, IN for 30 years.
After retirement he moved to Crossville, TN. Lived there for several years before moving back to Thorntown, Indiana.
Dad loved to grow fruit trees and he loved his garden. When we lived in Colfax, Indiana he had a big garden the size of three city lots. He supplied vegetables to a lot of the older folks in the area who could not get out.
We had a great 17.58 mile walk today. We started out by walking by Lake Holiday and then we stopped and visited some of our fallen brothers in the Crossville City Cemetery. We then stopped in the Hyder Cemetery and visited a few of our fallen brothers. Walked on out to Peavine road and turned onto Firetower Road and then turned onto Foxcreek road and walked to where my dad use to live. The whole area looks a lot different then when he use to live their. I can remember 30 – 35 years ago when I use to come to Tennessee to visit him we would walk up and down Foxcreek road. It’s a beautiful area with two big lakes. We then headed back to town and we stopped at the War Memorial Park and then headed home. I want to thank everyone who honked, waved, and saluted. We had 305 honks today. It was amazing. Thank you
WWII Army Veteran PFC Ernest French Jr will not be forgotten !
