Here in New Haven Indiana I've always bought my American flags (made in the USA!) from Martin Flag shop. I knew Walter Martin before he passed. We talked about patriotism and veterans. He was one also. When he died, Julie took over. When we talk, just like her father, it's Patriotism at its finest.
No apologies. The USA is the greatest!. So i wasn't surprised when this article appeared in today's Ft. Wayne News Sentinel. The byline is by a reporter who also is the genuine article. I know him.
Thought that the VRCC might enjoy a positive post for once. Here it is. Sorry, the picture didn't come up.
NEWS SENTINEL August 30th, 2016
Day of Infamy' shrine gets local boost just in time for 75th anniversary
Julie Holle, owner of Martin Flag Shop in New Haven, will be taking this 10-inch aluminum ball and related items to Hawaii next month to restore the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial's flag pole for the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Former Fort Wayne firefighter John Hamrick is also assisting on the project. (Photo by Kevin Leininger of The News-Sentinel)
Julie Holle, owner of Martin Flag Shop in New Haven, will be taking this 10-inch aluminum ball and related items to Hawaii next month to restore the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial's flag pole for the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Former Fort Wayne firefighter John Hamrick is also assisting on the project. (Photo by Kevin Leininger of The News-Sentinel)
The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial opened in 1962 above the battleship sunk by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, killing 1,177 crew members — 1,102 of whom are still entombed in the wreckage. (Courtesy photo)
Retired Fort Wayne firefighter John Hamrick lives in Florida now, but it was jobs like repairing the cable on the flag pole atop the Lincoln Tower that attracted the attention of the National Parks Service. He'll soon install equipment donated by a New Haven business on the flag pole of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. (News-Sentinel file photo)
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By Kevin Leininger,
kleininger@news-sentinel.comTuesday, August 30, 2016 12:01 AM
When visitors gather at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Honolulu on Dec. 7 to observe the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, most will be unaware of how a retired Fort Wayne firefighter and a small-business owner from New Haven helped honor the 1,177 crew members who died on that "day of infamy."
But Julie Holle and John Hamrick will know, and when they think about their coming restoration of the 52-year-old memorial's flag pole, they can't help but get emotional about what the events means for America — and what it would have meant to their fathers.
"It's a great honor and it seems surreal, but there's just something moving about even repairing a flag. This is a total tribute to my father. He gave me good values, and you have to do the right thing," said Holle, who now runs the Martin Flag Shop begun 20 years ago by Walter Martin, an Army veteran who died eight years ago. Next month, she will board a plane for Hawaii carrying a box filled with a rope, shiny aluminum fittings and other items needed to refurbish the memorial's pole — including the 10-inch gold-colored aluminum globe for the top. If she can talk her supplier into donating a flag, she'll take that, too.
Installing all that hardware will be Hamrick's job, and if climbing to the top of a 75-foot pole in the middle of Pearl Harbor seems daring, it's all rather routine day's work for the man whose exploits high above ground attracted the National Parks Service's attention in the first place.
"About three months ago I got a call from Hawaii, and I almost didn't answer it because I didn't recognize the number," said Hamrick, who retired from the Fort Wayne Fire Department in 2011 after 20 years and now lives in Florida. "They said there was nobody there who could do the job but they had seen my YouTube video (of flag pole climbing). I got goosebumps on my neck and teared up. Dad was in the Navy and at sea during Pearl Harbor. When we visited the memorial years ago, it was one of the few times Dad was upset.
"The big part of me doing this is because of him."
When Hamrick was in Fort Wayne, earning extra money by doing things like repairing the flag pole atop Lincoln Tower, Martin Flag Shop was one of his vendors. So after he got the call from Hawaii, he called Holle in New Haven, and after researching what needed to be done "I said, 'I can make this happen,' " she said.
Although 75 feet isn't excessively tall by flag-pole standards — Holle has serviced one in Noblesville twice that tall — the Arizona Memorial offers a unique challenge. The pole is in the middle of the structure, but the openings in the roof are not large enough for a traditional lift. And because the memorial is surrounded by water and the wreckage of the battleship, using a boat is not ideal.
So Hamrick will scale the pole, attacking Holle's rope, mechanism and globe in the process. Holle said she's not certain of the dimensions of the hardware now on the pole, so Hamrick may have to shear off the top to make everything fit. But once the job is done, it will be a fitting tribute to the more than 1,000 men still entombed there beneath the waves.
Holle has already contacted the Department of Homeland Security about bringing the materials on the plane with her in order to avoid damage or shipment problems. She'll donate her time and the $2,000 worth of materials but the trip will also serve as a second honeymoon for Holle and husband Kevin, who will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in November. Hamrick has an internet site (gofundme.com/arizonamemorial) to defray some of his expenses. A friend, Le DeLaBarre of Fort Wayne, will also be there to help on the ground.
"This is the coolest thing (Martin Flag Shop) has done," said Holle, who also produces custom-made flags and is currently creating one for a kingdom in Nigeria. "I'm not one to toot my own horn, but Dad would be so proud."
But it will be more than a memory of Walter Martin accompanying Holle to Honolulu. As she ponders America's greatest naval disaster and the ultimate victory it inspired, she'll be wearing her father's Army dog tags around her neck.
