Last week the committed members of the American Legion Charles S. Hatch Post #79 came together at the Veteran’s Memorial Park located in the Lord’s Cemetery in Berwick. The meet up was to hold the remembrance of a veteran and also to celebrate all the gifts that had been made in his honor.

Emily Repp, who is the widow of Richard (Dick) Repp, was part of the people who made donations. Her donation was a sum of $1,000 to be posted at 79 while another sum of $250 was made to the Ladies Auxiliary all in the memory of her husband. Her husband had been a World War II veteran and had passed on the 23^rd of August in 2014.

Jeffrey Chase who was the Post Commander talked of Repp’s service, which included the Battle of the Bulge, the D-Day and he described Repp as a prisoner of war.

Repp managed to fight his way through France later he got a posting at the Wiltz, Luxembourg (this is the location where the Battle of the Bulge started). On his 19th birthday instead of throwing a party he was in France in a foxhole. That same year his Christmas was no different as he spent in Germany as a prisoner. This was according to a historical statement released by Chase. Repp managed to get back home in St. Louis, Missouri, by the time the 1945 Thanksgiving was taking place.

When he left the service, the veteran decided to join the banking world and joined the Bank & Trust as an employee until 1957. After that he moved to the Eastern Airlines, and worked there for close to 26 years. Rupp’s wife said that it was a privilege to be invited to the group and that the group went through a lot in order to honor her husband. The celebration was held this month and Rupp had passed on the 23^rd of the month of august. Chase said that the money collected will go to a fund and help a Berwick student who is at Noble High School, continue with his study.

Emily was given a red vest together with a Blue Ribbon pin by Auxiliary President Diana Lapierre. Emily was now a new member of the Auxiliary. Lapierre said that the money given by Emily will help a lot in the works they are doing. She also said that support should be given to other veteran organizations like the Maine Wounded Warrior project, Quilts of Valor and many more.