Lower Macungie Township honored its veterans Nov. 9 at the community center.

Dr. Charles Peters, representing the Lower Macungie Township Historical Society, a Navy veteran himself, welcomed all in attendance.

VFW Post 9264 posted the colors.

Cub Scout Pack 431 assisted with the various duties, including leading the Pledge of Allegiance and the playing of taps. A medley of the Armed Forces songs was played and members of each branch of the service stood when their song was played.

Retired Lt. Colonel Michael Deibert of the U.S. Air Force Reserves shared the story of several generations of his family who served in the Armed Forces.

Deibert's grandfather was born in Schnecksville on a farm. He had 10 siblings. George Deibert graduated from Keystone Normal School now Kutztown University. He became a teacher, later worked on the railroad then went into a pre-med program at Temple. The farm was sold to General Trexler and became the Trexler Game Preserve.

George became a sanitation officer in the Panama Canal zone. It was there he developed yellow fever and almost died.

As a member of the Air Force, George was then stationed at Fort Sam Houston in Texas in 1919. He later earned his medical doctorate from Temple University.

Continuing with his military career, he was deployed to Europe during the war but never went as the war ended. He left the military in August 1919. He began his medical career in Wescosville at 32 E. Main St. His office is no longer there due to turnpike construction. Office visits were 50 cents which included medicine. House calls were $1.50. Payment received was often in the form of eggs, chickens or ducks. George also was the attending physician at Cedarbrook. He also attended every Memorial Day parade.

When asked if he had won the war, he answered "I didn't win the war. It was all of us working together."

Lt. Colonel Deibert's father was raised in Wescosville and attended a two-room school house in Wescosville. This building housed students in first through eighth grades. Deibert's father then attended Raub Junior High School and graduated from high school in 1946. He was drafted into the Army in 1950.

His basic military training was completed at Fort Jackson in North Carolina. He was sent to Tokyo in Signal Corps. Specialty training. He earned a Certificate of Proficiency which earned him a ticket to Korea. He worked for the communication line crew and learned the Korean language.

In 1952, Deibert's father returned to the United States. His most difficult adjustment was the "rudeness of American people."

Michael Deibert, himself, joined.the New Jersey Air National Guard. In 1987, he became a captain and was part of the Dover Reserve. He became a part of the Mortuary Unit and was involved with the Khobar Towers bombing in June of 1996. Deibert dealt with the remains from the bombing.

In 2000, he was assigned active duty at McGuire Air Force Base. Deibert told the story of the Candy Bomber, Lt. Gail Halvorsen who was in- volved in rescuing people in Berlin three years after World War II. He brought transport planes filled with water, fuel and supplies to the area. As he did these transports, he began to notice children lined up near the flight line, They appeared shabbily dressed. Halvorsen brought them some gum of which they had never had.

So began a candy drop for them. The children were told they would know it was him because "he would wiggle his wings." He became known as Uncle Wiggly Wings.

This project was against military regulations but was realized to have won the hearts of the Berlin people. This was told since it was the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Deibert's talk ended with reciting the famous poem "In Flander's Field." This poem was written in 20 minutes by Dr. John McCrae. It is the story behind the poppies worn on Veterans Day.