Purple Heart

A 28-year-old man who died early Sunday after he was shot in the parking lot of a Berkeley County sports bar was a Purple Heart recipient who served in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard, according to a National Guard spokesman. Samson Edmond of Columbus, Miss., was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest at The Brickhouse Bar & Grill along Mid-Atlantic Parkway, according to police. The shooting was reported at 2:55 a.m., police said.

Holding the Purple Heart he received Tuesday, Gene Mayer said, “It took 46 years to get here.” U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's office helped Mayer, 71, of Hagerstown, get nine medals he earned through military service. Bartlett presented the medals to Mayer before holding a town hall meeting at the Funkstown fire hall. During an interview after the meeting, Mayer said he served from 1959 to 1968 in Germany, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Lisa Wright, an aide to Bartlett, said by phone earlier Tuesday that Bartlett's office is still trying to see if Mayer also will get a Bronze Star.

At best, history books can offer only a sanitized glimpse of war. It's the words and memories of those who fought on the battlefields that truly tell the story. Some of those stories are more difficult to hear than others. But Leslie Allen listened. The 18-year-old from Hagerstown has been visiting her great-uncle, William James Allen, since she was a little girl. She always loved spending time at his home in Brandywine, Md., she said, because he owned a few horses and allowed her to ride them.

The owner of a sports bar where a 28-year-old man was fatally shot in the parking lot early Sunday surrendered her liquor license Wednesday and will not reopen, her attorney said. “Because of this incident, they've just decided they don't want to be in the nightclub business anymore,” said attorney Floyd M. “Kin” Sayre III. Samson Edmond was pronounced dead Sunday at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest outside The Brick House Bar & Grill at 214 Mid Atlantic Parkway near Martinsburg, according to police who are still investigating the homicide.

Spc. Jeffrey Reedy, son of Don and Nancy Reedy of Hagerstown, recently was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded March 18 in Iraq. What made the medal ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky., particularly special was that Reedy's medal was pinned on him by his grandfather. Yale L. Hanks, 90, is a World War II veteran and former Hagerstown resident who lives in York, Pa. According to a story in The York (Pa.) Dispatch, Reedy, serving with a Pennsylvania National Guard unit assigned to the 28th Infantry Division, was shot in the hand while patrolling an Iraqi town near Camp Habeneya.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Two members of a local West Virginia Air National Guard unit injured by an explosive device in Iraq in June were presented Sunday with Purple Heart awards. Staff Sgt. Brad Runkles and Staff Sgt. Derek J. Brown were among five members of the 167th Airlift Wing honored during a ceremony at the base Sunday afternoon. Runkles and Brown were injured when the vehicle in which they were riding came in contact with an improvised explosive device June 28, said Lt. Col. Roger Sencindiver.

Angels came Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, and carried George Fiery Shinham to his heavenly home. Born Feb. 23, 1924, in Clear Spring, Md., he was the son of the late Ralph and Anna Margaret Fiery-Shinham. He was formerly of Cearfoss Pike and a resident of Somerford Assisted Living.   He was a 1942 graduate of Clear Spring High School, attended Drexel Institute of Technology, before being drafted into the Army Air Corps assigned to the 15th Air Force Squadron during World War II. He was a POW survivor after his B24 bomber was shot down, during bombing missions over the Romanian oil fields.

World War II veteran Vern Brintzehofe will be honored 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, 901 Dual Highway, Hagerstown. Brintzenhofe served on Saipan and Iwo Jima, where he sustained injuries and received a Purple Heart. Cost is $20; WWII veterans eat for free. There will be a cash bar. Reservation deadline is Friday, April 15. For more information, contact Jim Mills at 301-331-2683 or jmills@medtrends.net .

Richard Joseph McEvoy, 87, died peacefully Sunday, April 28, 2013, at his Hagerstown home surrounded by family. Born Aug. 19, 1925, in Plainfield, N.J., he was the son of Joseph A. McEvoy and Ann M. McEvoy. He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Dorothy Hallad McEvoy; daughter, Patricia and husband, Charles Bossler, of Richmond, Va.; daughter, Jeanette and husband, Steven MacNamara, of Sicklerville, N.J.; son, Miles McEvoy and wife, Ami Greenberg, of Washington, D.C.; sisters, Jean Mercready of Ashburn, Va., and Nancy Wroten of North Olmstead, Ohio; and seven grandchildren.

NEWBURG, Pa. - Wayne L. Diehl, 66, of 8686 Newburg Road, died Wednesday, March 5, 2003, in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He was a supervisor at Letterkenny Army Depot. He served in the U.S. Army, retiring in 1989 as a Major. He served in Vietnam and received the Purple Heart. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Elaine M. Diehl; three daughters, Kim Quartucci of Greencastle, Pa., Kelly Garman of Newburg and Kerri Gerberich of Scotland, Pa.; one son, Daniel Diehl of Lewistown, Pa.; one sister, Wanda Foor of Manns Choice, Pa.; one brother, Garvin Diehl of Manns Choice; and six grandchildren.

Richard Joseph McEvoy, 87, died peacefully Sunday, April 28, 2013, at his Hagerstown home surrounded by family. Born Aug. 19, 1925, in Plainfield, N.J., he was the son of Joseph A. McEvoy and Ann M. McEvoy. He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Dorothy Hallad McEvoy; daughter, Patricia and husband, Charles Bossler, of Richmond, Va.; daughter, Jeanette and husband, Steven MacNamara, of Sicklerville, N.J.; son, Miles McEvoy and wife, Ami Greenberg, of Washington, D.C.; sisters, Jean Mercready of Ashburn, Va., and Nancy Wroten of North Olmstead, Ohio; and seven grandchildren.

Donald Burr Kisner, 85, of Martinsburg, W.Va., passed away Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, under the care of hospice, at Countryside Assisted Living in Martinsburg. Born Sept. 22, 1927, in Martinsburg, he was the son of the late David and Mary Virginia Kisner. He retired from the West Virginia Department of Labor, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and was a member of Equality Lodge 44 A.F. & A.M. He was a lifelong member of Calvary United Methodist Church. Donald loved his family, his church, his kind caregivers and playing tennis.

Angels came Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, and carried George Fiery Shinham to his heavenly home. Born Feb. 23, 1924, in Clear Spring, Md., he was the son of the late Ralph and Anna Margaret Fiery-Shinham. He was formerly of Cearfoss Pike and a resident of Somerford Assisted Living.   He was a 1942 graduate of Clear Spring High School, attended Drexel Institute of Technology, before being drafted into the Army Air Corps assigned to the 15th Air Force Squadron during World War II. He was a POW survivor after his B24 bomber was shot down, during bombing missions over the Romanian oil fields.

Kent Pine Hedges, 68, of Martinsburg, W.Va., passed away Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. Born May 27, 1944, in Martinsburg, he was the son of the late Cecil "Snooks" Hedges and Dorothy Viola "Vi" Pine Hedges. Mr. Hedges was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He had retired from the Washington Health Department in Hagerstown as a sanitarian. He had a Bachelor of Science Degree from Shepherd College and his master's degree from Shippensburg, Pa. He is survived by his daughter, Jennell R. Hedges of Carroll County, Md.; and one brother, Scott M. Hedges and wife, Mary, of Martinsburg.

The owner of a sports bar where a 28-year-old man was fatally shot in the parking lot early Sunday surrendered her liquor license Wednesday and will not reopen, her attorney said. “Because of this incident, they've just decided they don't want to be in the nightclub business anymore,” said attorney Floyd M. “Kin” Sayre III. Samson Edmond was pronounced dead Sunday at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest outside The Brick House Bar & Grill at 214 Mid Atlantic Parkway near Martinsburg, according to police who are still investigating the homicide.

A 28-year-old man who died early Sunday after he was shot in the parking lot of a Berkeley County sports bar was a Purple Heart recipient who served in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard, according to a National Guard spokesman. Samson Edmond of Columbus, Miss., was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg after being shot once in the chest at The Brickhouse Bar & Grill along Mid-Atlantic Parkway, according to police. The shooting was reported at 2:55 a.m., police said.

Holding the Purple Heart he received Tuesday, Gene Mayer said, “It took 46 years to get here.” U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's office helped Mayer, 71, of Hagerstown, get nine medals he earned through military service. Bartlett presented the medals to Mayer before holding a town hall meeting at the Funkstown fire hall. During an interview after the meeting, Mayer said he served from 1959 to 1968 in Germany, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Lisa Wright, an aide to Bartlett, said by phone earlier Tuesday that Bartlett's office is still trying to see if Mayer also will get a Bronze Star.

David Paul Russell, 90, of Hagerstown, passed away Thursday, June 14, 2012, at Homewood of Williamsport. Born Jan. 10, 1922, in Hagerstown, he was the son of the late Frank Keifer and Lena Mary (Winters) Russell. Mr. Russell retired from the state of Maryland prison system with 33 years of service as an accountant auditor. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and received many medals, including two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with Bronze Arrowhead.

May God bless all who have served this country To the editor: It is commendable that The Herald-Mail remembers local veterans by printing their stories to honor their service in wartimes. Their recollections of combat and situations in the throes of death and the horrors of war illustrate the debt of gratitude we owe them. I missed the draft for the Korean conflict due to a 4F physical classification, but I spent my college years with many returning vets of that war. During WWII, my father was busy processing soldiers through Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania.

Eugene Edward Stout, 89, of 18510 Orchard Hills Parkway, Hagerstown, Md., passed away March 26, 2012, at his home. Born Nov. 17, 1922, in Berwick, Pa., he was the son of the late Paul Stout and Pearl Avery Stout. He was a graduate of Berwick High School, Class of '41, in Berwick. He was a Purple Heart veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army, Company I, 262nd Infantry, 66th Division. He was a survivor of the sinking of the S.S. Leopoldville on Dec. 24, 1944, en route to the Battle of the Bulge.