OHS class ensures fallen vets are remembered
Members of the Moonlighters Exchange Club gathered with Owatonna resident Jon Simon last week to accept a Veterans Memorial donation of $2,150 on behalf of the Owatonna High School Class of 1963. Pictured with Simon are club members Karen Hale, Katie Smith, Nicole Wacek, Liz Bratsch, and Rhonda Guthier. Staff photo by Joni Hubred
The idea came to Owatonna resident Jon Simon during last fall’s dedication of the Owatonna Veterans Memorial, at the corner of Austin Road and 18th Street SE.
While looking through the plaques honoring those who’ve served in the military, he saw one for classmate Larry Kelm, Army private first class, who was killed on Aug. 25, 1966, in an attack on a Viet Cong bunker-and-tunnel system during the Vietnam War.
Simon knew two more Class of 1963 members had been lost in the war but didn’t find plaques for them. After contacting the families of Sgt. Curtis Ringhofer and Spc. Warren Robinson, and a long search for the required military records, he reached out to classmates about collecting donations to add plaques for the two men.
“The response was amazing,” Simon said.
Their goal was to raise $600, the cost of two plaques. Last week, Simon handed a check for $2,150 to the Moonlighters Exchange Club, which has overseen the project.
“The Class of ‘63 are proud of all our classmates who served, especially those who were killed in action,” he said. “This project represents the heart and soul of the class and the bond we shared. To me, this is our greatest moment.”
The plaques for Ringhofer, killed on May 13, 1970, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, and Robinson, 23, killed in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, on April 13, 1968, will go up in the spring.
Simon said he hopes other OHS classes that have lost classmates who served in the military will also take up the challenge of ensuring they are remembered on the memorial. It has a special place in his heart for more than one reason: His neighbor, Mike Pierce, was a driving force behind it.
Pierce worked tirelessly on the project for years; he passed away in July of 2023, just months before the memorial was dedicated.
“I want to thank the Moonlighters Exchange Club for their community service and for helping my friend bring this vision of the Veterans Memorial to fruition,” Simon said.