Local servicemen honored by Flyers for Veterans Day

PHILADELPHIA - Ralph Herman basically lived through World War II twice.

The Camden-born infantryman sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Queen Mary in February 1945. He crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, where the Nazis had captured the Ludendorff Bridge.

In one of the battles he fought — the Purple Heart and Bronze Star winner was in a few — he was injured. A nearby explosive sent shrapnel into his right leg, landing him in a hospital in Paris, France for a month.

By the time he was healthy enough to leave, the war in Europe was over but he didn’t have enough service to return home.

He had to find others instead, who were buried in enemy territory, and see for himself all that he missed while he was in the hospital.

“I would go to the cemetery caretaker, the head of the church, the mayor of the town and ask them if they knew if there were any Americans buried anywhere in their area,” Herman said. “If they said yes, we would go out and find these sites. Usually there would be some type of a little cross where perhaps a fighter plane had crashed and the pilot was buried near the crash. Other times it would be a bomber and the men would be buried in various areas around the bomber. Sometimes they would be buried in German cemeteries, very nicely taken care of.”

Herman, 90, calls his time working for the Graves Registration “interesting,” when most people would use “terrifying” or “haunting” or “chilling” as a more apt description.

Perhaps that’s why the Flyers chose to honor him for his service Tuesday night during a stoppage in play against the Colorado Avalanche. Typically Herman will go to a restaurant on Veterans Day and partake in a free meal provided to those who have served.

Waving to a crowd in a building that holds nearly 20,000 people is a greater thrill.

“I just can’t imagine,” Herman said a few hours before the game. “I’m sitting here on pins and needles.”

Herman now lives in Sewell, but before he went into the service he lived in Camden. He was the captain of the 1943 Camden High School football team and captained the 1944 baseball team. He enjoyed being an athlete, but now has trouble watching sporting events due to macular degeneration.

He was touched that his nephew told the Flyers about his story. Some people, especially those who have seen combat, prefer to keep their memories of war private. Herman is an open book and doesn’t mind sharing his story, but doesn’t think back on it too often.

“I was a combat infantryman, although I was also the assistant bazooka man, so I carried the bazooka shells," he said. "No, I don’t remember it very much. It’s been a long time. I remember a few things, but I do not dwell on it, no.”

Neither does U.S.Marine company commander captain Stephen Maro, who dropped the puck for a ceremonial face-off before Tuesday’s game, the first serviceman to hold the honor at a Flyers game.

The harrier pilot by trade just came home at the beginning of October. He had been working in a aviation ground support service on the Isa Air Base in Bahrain. Maro, who played four years of hockey for Bishop Eustace High School, had spent the last six months supporting an F/A-18C squadron that was dropping bombs on ISIS.

“All the trucks, all the fuel, all the firefighters, all the ground support stuff, I was in charge of,” the Cherry Hill native said.

“It was very safe there in Bahrain. We never went off the base, but the base never even came close to feeling like we were under attack or anything. It was a friendly place. You were just away from home.”

Maro’s girlfriend, Caitlin Stopper, of Cherry Hill, reached out to the Flyers as the team saluted the armed forces with Military Appreciation Night.

“What’s unique about today is it’s the Marine Corps’ birthday,” Maro said. “It was founded on the 10th of November 1775 in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. We were founded in a bar in this great city, so to come out in uniform right before Veterans Day and drop the puck, it’s a huge honor for me.”

The lifelong Flyers fan got a reprieve from his typical 12-hour workday on the tarmac at the air base.

“It was very safe there in Bahrain,” Maro said. “We never went off the base, but the base never even came close to feeling like we were under attack or anything. It was a friendly place. You were just away from home.”

When he learned he was part of a night that was honoring Herman and what the Purple Heart and Bronze Star winners credentials were, he was touched.

“It’s a lot easier these days to be a veteran than it was back then,” Maro said. “The world is just a different place.”

Both felt lucky to be home safe, with smiles on their faces and welcoming cheers from a crowd for their service.

“It’s very exciting. It sure is,” Herman said. “It’s been a long time and once in a great while somebody recognizes that there’s only a few of us (World War II veterans) left.”

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479; disaac@gannettnj.com .