Specialist 4th class John Wesley Dahr

Dillsburg plans to honor fallen hero

   Dillsburg's proud history of military service to our nation is well documented. It is home to many veterans who have served their country with honor. From the Civil War through more recent conflicts in the Middle East, more than 25 Dillsburg area residents have made the ultimate sacrifice.

   One of those, specialist 4th Class John Wesley Dahr.  A graduate of Northern High School Class of 1963, was killed in action in Vietnam on January 8, 1967, three days before his 21st birthday. The community will honor his memory with a special memorial service, Saturday, October 12, at 11 a.m. on the square in Dillsburg.

   There were no traditional "front lines" in the Vietnam War. Battles and firefights could errupt at any time, in any place.

   One of these places, just southeast of Saigon, was known as the Iron Triangle.

   It was a largely Communist-controlled region from which Viet Cong forces could launch attacks against nearby Saigon and other targets in the vicinity.

   Past attempts to clear the area of Viet Cong bases had been largely unsuccessful, and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Commander General William C. Westmoreland resolved to launch a much larger effort in 1967 that would succeed where other attempts had failed. This effort became Operation Cedar Falls, the largest offensive operation of the Vietnam War before 1968.

   One of the units in Operation Cedar Falls was Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Since World War I, the 27th Infantry Regiment had been nicknamed the Wolfhounds. After being helicoptered in, C Company was walking across a flooded rice paddy when an unknown number of Viet Cong fighters opened up on them from prepared bunkers on the far tree line, a few hundred yards away. As rifle and machine gun fire burst around them, C Company was forced to the mud and water on the ground. While a few low earthen dikes offered some limited cover, C Company was caught in the open and in water that varied from ankle deep to waist deep in some places.

   The company took immediate casualties and several man were killed at the outset. Pinned down with no immediate reinforcements in the area, Specialist 4 John Dahr looked to his left and saw, several dozen yards away, a group of wounded soldiers.

   Dahr, with no apparent care for his own safety, took off down the line while under fire and reached the wounded men. He picked one of them up and carried him through the the mud and water all the way back to the slowly forming friendly perimeter. But Dahr wasn't finished. Amazingly, Dahr made the near-suicidal trek to the wounded men twice more. On all three trips, and with the aid of well-placed covering fire of his squad mates, he made it there and back safely while carrying a wounded comrade through sucking mud, whizzing bullets, and fetid water.

  By this time, four man in Company C were dead and more than a dozen were wounded. The fifth man to be killed in the rice paddy from Company C was Specialist 4 Dahr. His last act of service and sacrifice was to rush out from behind the small dike an incredible fourth time, reaching still another wounded soldier. While he attempted to hold the man's head above water on the way back, Dahr was fatally wounded. He earned the nation's second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions that day.  

    Residents, be warned, taxes may double to finance new facility

Carolyn Hoffman

   The final estimate for Monaghan Township's planned administration building ad maintenance garage is $2.03 million. If the project goes through, and it appears likely it will, the projected tax increase could be 0.7 mils, raising the current 0.9 mil to nearly double.

   Nothing is as yet set in stone, and supervisors will hold a public meeting about the building plans in conjunction with their October 14 regular meeting. All township residents will recieve a postcard invitation announcing the meeting, which is currently planned with the regular meeting to begin a 5:30 p.m., public discussion of the planned construction to begin at 6 p.m, and any unfinished township business to follow the construction discussion.

   At the September 25 supervisors' session, the updated estimate for the project, after many changed and reductions, was found to be $2.03 million down from the original $2.34 million estmate for the work. Now that supervisors know the total, they were able to roughly estimate the tax increase needed to pay for the project.

   The breakdown of the planned cost is $711,000 for the administrative building, $934,000 for the maintenance building and site preparation of $296,000, which includes demolition of the current township office.

   As even the new estimate for the building is very near the top of the township's borrowing capacity, they did discuss only building one of their two planned buildings, but seemed to reject that idea, with Supervisor John Whitehouse noting that "it won't get any cheaper if we kick the ball down the field." The architect also noted that if they build just one building, the resulting bids are likely to be higher than if the project continues with both buildings.

   Estimates, of course, are only that, and several future steps could bring a few road blocks or delays.

Polar Bears move to 4-2; Swartz tops 1,000 again

Joe Guty                                      

   Scoring six touchdowns while covering 311 rushing yards, Northern H.S. senior Kyle Swartz led the Polar Bears to another resounding victory last Friday.

   Northern contained versatile and speedy quarterback Kenyon Johnson as they blasted host West Perry 48-21 to improve to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Mid Penn Colonial Divison. The Mustangs had no answer for either the Polar Bears offensive line and Swartz, who eclipsed 1,000 yards for the fourth straight season. Since missing the first two games of the year, he has accumulated 1,127 yards and pushed his career total to 4,473.

   The senior running back had 23 carries--and the power and speed--to run rampant over the hosts who fell to 4-2 and 1-1 in the Colonial. The visitors' defensive line kept Johnosn (to 32 rushing yards) and company in check on several fourth downs as they took a 27-7 lead into half-time. Senior Tim Geiser added a 56-yard TD reception on a pass from junior QB Jordan Heisey. Three more second half TDs by Swartz put the game out of reach.

   Northern hosts Susquehannock (3-3) this Friday night in a non-league contest.

                                       Polar Bears lock down 10th victory

Andy Sandrik

  The Nothern boys soccer team had just two games last week, but each contest had a sizable impact on the Polar Bears' overall season.

   Northern exploded for a 6-0 victory over Midd-Penn Colonial Division opponent Waynesboro on Thursday to avenge an early-season tie with the Indians. Then, on Monday, the Polar Bears took a 3-0 loss to York Suburban and lost captain Spencer Siverling to injury.

   Northern (10-3-1, 7-0-1 Colonial), a team that is outscoring opponents 68-13, checks in at No. 6 in the latest District 3-3A power rankings.

   The Polar Bears return to action today for a home game against James Buchanan, then will hit the road on Tuesday for a game at Boiling Springs.

   Northern, still bitter about over serving up a 1-1 draw with Waynesboro on Spet. 5, routed the Indians on Thursday night.

   The Polar Bears, who outshot Waynesboro 27-4 and held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks, built a 3-0 halftime lead before scoring three more goals in the second half. Northern got three goals in the second half. Northern got three goals from Shep Soisson, two from Conner Swope, and one from Nate Spuler. Assists were provided by Ian Hall (2), Ashton Davies, Spencer Siverling, and Malachi Reid.