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Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Story of Navy sailor killed during World War II told by Muhlenberg man
It is difficult to imagine the terror onboard the U.S.S. Tang on Oct. 24, 1944. The submarine was in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of China that day when it was struck by a circular run of its own torpedo and sunk, costing the lives of 78 men. The nine survivors were picked up by a Japanese frigate and taken prisoner. About one-third of the crew was killed instantly by the explosive hit, author Dennis Damiani said. One of them was Homer Anthony, a 21-year-old Reading man. Anthony's diary entries for the first six months of 1943 are the subject of Damiani's recently published book, 'Homer Anthony — The Diary of a Navy Sailor.' Damiani edited and annotated the diary and wrote the introduction and epilogue of the slim volume, published by Masthoff Press, Morgantown. Dennis Damiano's book, Homer Anthony - The Diary of a Navy Sailor." (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The Muhlenberg Township author presented a pre-Memorial Day program on Anthony at the Berks History Center in Reading. 'I have to thank the Philadelphia Phillies for this book,' Damiani said, only partly joking. He and his wife, Sharon, like to watch baseball games on TV, he explained. But they found one game in the summer of 2015 difficult to watch. The Phillies were losing badly, and Damiani was bored. He opened his iPad and began searching for topics of interest. A 1973 to 1978 veteran of the Air Force whose father served in World War II, Damiani said he has long been intrigued by U.S. history, particularly military history. He landed on the homepage of a website dedicated to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. submarine force. 'As I viewed pictures of the lost crew members, I was immediately struck by their youth,' he said. Homer Anthony, a World War II sailor who is the subject of a book by Dennis Damiani. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Then on the pages for the Tang, he saw the photo of Fireman First Class Anthony with his name and hometown. 'Who is this guy from Reading?' Damiani said he wondered. 'I want to know more about him.' His journey to learn more took him to the Reading Public Library, where he found a 1941 Reading High School yearbook with the young man's photograph. It also took him to the history center, through more internet research and eventually to Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, where he found the grave of Anthony's brother Socrates. 'His marker also listed his wife, Ruth, but there was no death date,' Damiani said. 'So I figured she was living.' He found a phone listing, and after several weeks overcame his hesitation to call. They spoke for a few minutes before arranging for Damiani to visit the homebound Ruth. That visit turned into many more and an enduring friendship. On one visit, Ruth smiled and held up a small black, leather-bound book. It was Anthony's diary. 'You know a lot about Homer, Dennis,' she said, 'but you don't know about this.' The opening pages of Homer Anthony's diary, the basis of Dennis Damiani's book "Homer Anthony - The Diary of a Navy Sailor. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) By reading the diary, Damiani felt he came to know Anthony. 'Homer was an intelligent young man,' he said. 'He loved to learn and read. His honesty and humor draw the reader of the diary to him in a heartwarming way.' Anthony's sense of humor and talent for writing come through on the pages of the diary, he said. Damiani said he was struck by Anthony's patriotism and commitment to doing his duty for his country. 'I believe those who read the diary will come to admire and respect Homer the way I have,' he said. The entries provide a sense of the man Anthony was, his goal of saving for college, his dream of becoming a poet and his acceptance of the fact that he might not survive the war. His poem 'Morbid Thoughts on a Rainy Day,' written Jan. 26 and 27, 1943, seems almost a premonition of his death, Damiani said. The entries also reflect an era, turning a lens on the patriotism, pop culture and racism of the period. While in Norfolk, Va., attending what he called torpedo school, Anthony witnessed extreme racism for perhaps the first time, Damiani said. 'They definitely draw the race line down here,' the serviceman wrote on Jan. 19, 1943, describing the segregation practiced in public buildings, on streetcars and elsewhere. 'To one who was born under Northern Climes, it comes as a surprise, but an interesting one, nonetheless.' In several entries, Anthony mentions high school friends, most of whom were also serving in the military. 'Reading High School in 1941, the year Homer graduated, had 807 seniors,' Damiani said. 'Of those, 430 were boys, and out of this figure, 327, or 76%, either enlisted or were drafted. 'Twelve lost their lives while serving in World War II.' Damiani said he is honored to preserve the story of one of these sometimes-forgotten heroes. 'I am convinced that Homer would have been an author of books and articles,' he said. 'His diary testifies to this.' With the publication of his diary, Anthony has become the published author he aspired to be. The book, 'Homer Anthony — Diary of a Navy Sailor' is available for sale in the Berks History Center's gift shop. For more information, email Damiani at civilman71@
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Crash survivor walks mile with Reading Hospital workers who helped him recover from coma, paralysis
Kyle Schies arrived at the Reading Hospital inches from death. A motorcycle accident in Tulpehocken Township in August left him with a traumatic brain injury and fractures in three of his limbs. On the Glasgow coma scale, which paramedics use to judge consciousness, Schies was rated the lowest possible score. 'Me and a rock were the same,' Schies of Myerstown said of his state after the accident. 'If you saw it (the crash), you'd think, 'He's probably dead.' That was almost the case in my situation. But not quite.' Schies was rushed into acute care, underwent surgeries to fix his fractures and was hooked to a ventilator and feeding tube. After surgery, he was transferred to a rehabilitation unit, where he struggled to regain awareness while being unable to move or care for himself. Through months of intensive therapy, Schies eventually reclaimed his abilities to think, speak and move freely. 'While in rehab, Schies experienced paralysis on the right side of his body,' Reading Hospital officials said in a release. '(He) needed to learn how to complete everyday skills such as brushing his teeth with his nondominant hand.' The medical staff who treated Schies attribute the 34-year-old's recovery to his determination and drive to return to an active lifestyle. Schies credits his loved ones, God and the staff at Reading Hospital with guiding him through the most challenging time of his life. He had a chance to thank those who helped him when he appeared at an event this month celebrating National Trauma Survivor Day. 'I'd like to thank everyone at the hospital,' Schies said at the Reading Public Museum program. 'The first responders who basically scraped me off the road, the hospital and rehab staff who've become my family and friends, thank you so much…I will remember you for the rest of my life.' Schies today bears little resemblance to a coma-bound crash victim. He walked unassisted to the podium to share his story, afterward shaking hands and sharing hugs with his recovery team. 'I'm not quite doing cartwheels yet, but we're getting there,' Schies said. After surviving injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident, Kyle Schies thanks his girlfriend Kayla Zelonka and the care team from Reading Hospital during the National Trauma Survivor Event at the Reading Public Museum on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The event finished with a mile-long run and walk, which Schies completed without aid. Schies has no recollection of the weeks immediately following his accident, meaning the event was effectively his first time meeting many of those who helped save him. Dr. Sarah Mathew, a trauma surgeon with the Reading Hospital intensive care unit, was among those who cared for Schies. 'Even when he was off the ventilator, he still had a brain injury, so he wasn't interacting,' Mathew said. 'To see this is amazing. You don't usually get to see (patients like this) when you're in the ICU.' Meredith Renninger, an occupational therapist who worked with Schies, remembers his willpower. 'One day I was working with him on the mat, and he was really frustrated and in a lot of pain,' Renninger said. 'The next day, it was like he woke up. It was crazy, he started remembering things.' Renninger said recovery is hard to predict for patients with injuries as severe as Schies'. 'Usually someone that low on the Glasgow coma scale, the odds are against you,' Renninger said. 'I think it's just a testament to his baseline activity level, he was a very healthy individual…and his own strength and determination.' Schies said the experience taught him to take nothing for granted. 'Sometimes when you can't do something and you have to ring the bell to have the nurse come because you can't do the things you used to…all I'll say is thank God for all these nurses,' Schies said. Schies said his goal is to open a gym. 'I left (rehab at the Reading Hospital) in a wheelchair and now I'm walking,' Schies said. 'Three weeks ago, we did a 5K.' He said he is still missing mobility on his right side but feels largely recovered. 'I still have so many more goals,' Schies said. 'Any traumatic situation, yes it sucks, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, so just keep going.' Dr. Charles Barbera, Reading Hospital president and chief executive officer, said having a trauma center there has been a boon for Berks County. The center opened in 2005, Barbera said. 'Before the trauma center, if something happened in Berks County, they (patients) would have to go to Lancaster or Lehigh Valley,' Barbera said. 'Dr. (Eugene) Riley is leading what is one of the busiest and probably the highest quality trauma center in Pennsylvania.' He said the trauma center also led to establishing the hospital's rehabilitation center as well as its critical care department, comprehensive stroke program, Tower DIRECT ambulance and many other programs.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wyomissing salutes, remembers the fallen at parade, ceremony
Wyomissing held its Memorial Day Parade & Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday. The grand marshal was Wyomissing's own Chris Kaag, a Marine Corps veteran and community leader. The parade through Wyomissing Hills included Scouts, community groups honoring World War II and Vietnam War veterans, military groups, musical performances, youth sports teams and area emergency services. A Remembrance Ceremony was held at the War Memorial in Wyomissing Hills Memorial Park. World War II veterans are honored during the Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)The Reading Buccaneer Alumni march during the Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)World War II veterans are honored during the Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)The Berks County Chapter of the Harley Owners Group rides during Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)Kaleb Kistler, 3, of Bernville waits to watch his dad Kevin march with the Sons of Liberty during the Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Demolition begun on 2 Reading-owned buildings on Penn Street
Two Reading-owned buildings on Penn Street must be demolished for public safety, the city announced. Emergency demolition of the structurally compromised buildings at 431 and 433 Penn St. has begun and will continue until further notice, the city said Wednesday in a release. The empty structures in the Callowhill Historic District are in an advanced state of decay, Reading's chief building official told the city's Historical Architectural Review Board in a series of meetings last year. The board reviews and makes recommendations on exterior construction projects in the city's historic and conservation districts. Board members unanimously voted in December to issue a certificate of appropriateness for the partial demolitions of the buildings at 431 and 435 Penn St., with the partial demolition of 441 Penn St. if deemed necessary. However, a provision in the city's preservation ordinance allows the chief building official to take immediate action when there is a threat to public safety. Crews prepare for the complete demolition of the two buildings at 431-433 Penn St. A section of the parapet at 431 Penn St. was removed Wednesday and will be saved as an architectural artifact, the city said. (MICHELLE LYNCH/READING EAGLE) Following thorough structural assessments last week, the city said, it was determined that both buildings pose an imminent risk to public safety, leaving demolition as the only responsible option. The action was approved by Mayor Eddie Moran and reflects the city's commitment to safety, preservation where possible and the revitalization of the downtown corridor, according to the release. 'This action represents progress for our community,' the mayor said. 'We are taking this opportunity to clear unsafe, uninhabitable spaces while preserving the pieces of our history that we can.' Mayor Eddie Moran has approved the complete demolition of both buildings at 431 and 433 Penn Street. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Efforts were made Wednesday to preserve part of the terra cotta parapet of the building at 431 Penn St. The section featuring the iconic Reading News lettering will be salvaged and safely stored, the city said. Only the façade of the 1912 Beaux Arts-style structure is considered historic. Originally part of the former Reading News building at 22-24 N. Fifth St., it was transplanted piece by piece to its current location in 1981 as part of the former American Bank $6 million Keystone Project. Due to the severe deterioration of 433 Penn St., no parts of that buildings can be salvaged, the release said. The neighboring structure at 441 Penn St., which contains a façade of architectural and historic value, will remain in place, the city said. The city said it has worked closely with the demolition contractor to ensure the stability and safety of that building and its adjacent properties on the northwest corner of Fifth and Penn streets. Proper shoring and security measures are being implemented to protect the integrity of those structure throughout the demolition process, the city said. The city announced a partial demolition of 431 Penn St. in March with the hope of saving the front portion of the building. Demolition to begin on Reading-owned building on Penn Street That was later determined not feasible, the city said. The city bought the string of five vacant buildings, 431-443 Penn St., for $2.6 million in 2013. City Council last year authorized an agreement of sale for the 1.22-acre site with developer Philly Office Retail, but the deal has not yet been finalized. Mayor Eddie Moran has approved the complete demolition of both buildings at 431 and 433 Penn Street. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) 'As we move forward,' Moran said, 'our goal remains the same: to build a stronger, safer and more vibrant Reading for residents and future generations.' During demolition, Court Street will remain closed between Fourth and Fifth streets, as it has been. In addition, sidewalks next to the buildings along Penn Street and Court Street will be closed to ensure the safety of pedestrians near the work zone. Motorists and pedestrians are encouraged to use caution and follow posted signs when traveling near the demolition area.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Reading refurbishes Cold War artifact
The end of the Cold War was not kind to Reading's Emergency Operations Center. The bunker embedded in the foothills of Mount Penn below 13th Street in City Park was designed as a location from where city officials could lead the local government in case of a doomsday scenario that seemed frighteningly imminent in the early 1960s. One can imagine, though, how much solace the city department heads could take as they huddled within the hillside structure — while a Soviet H-Bomb strike at the heart of a then-thriving Reading manufacturing and industrial base would have yielded a multimegaton blast with a fireball exceeding temperatures found on the surface of the sun — the concrete-encased shelter extending the city leaders' collective survival time by about, oh, 2 seconds. David A. Anspach, city capital project manager, enters the Emergency Operations Center in City Park. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Be that as it may, the last person to leave turned out the lights, locked the doors and never looked back many decades ago with all of the furniture, equipment and Civil Defense survival rations inside. As city workers finally got around to dealing with the center, they opened it last year to find what could have been a time capsule to another era. But as many ceremonial openings of community time capsules have revealed, the years had devolved the contents into a moldering mass of sludge, save for a few coins depicting the date of the capsule burial. And cockroaches. 'When we opened it up, it was completely deteriorated,' David Anspach, city capital projects manager, said as he led a recent media tour through the refurbished facility. 'It was mold infested. I mean, it was pretty, pretty bad.' Because the shelter was designed to accommodate the city councilmen who under the government structure at the time each ran a department, there were 10 sleeping bags and 10 cots in storage. 'As soon as we took those sleeping bags out in the open air and unrolled them, all of the stitching fell apart, and it was just panels of nylon,' Anspach said. 'So it was kind of like an Egyptian-pyramid, surreal-type experience. The moisture had been so bad inside that it had rotted through the fold-out army cots.' Found among the debris was a Civil Defense medical manual dated July 1962, three months before the Cuban Missile Crisis. All that remained of cases of canned water were the cans — the water had seeped out, he said. 'At one point, there was a shelf full of light bulbs with cardboard sleeves on them, and it was just light bulbs,' Anspach said. 'There were no cardboard sleeves left. So just to kind of paint a picture of what it looked like to go in there, it had largely just been walked away from.' Civil Defense instructions from 1962, the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, lie inside the city's Emergency Operations Center. (Courtesy of the city of Reading) All of the paint had peeled and curled away from the walls. 'It looked like Chernobyl in here,' Anspach said. The reasons for the last time the bomb shelter was used and for what purpose have disappeared in the radioactive mists of time. It all looked pretty hopeless, and the city officials opened bids that totaled over $150,000 to demolish the bunker and landscape the area. What Anspach discovered, though, was that for a fraction of the cost of demolishing the thick, concrete structure, the city could clean out the center, install upgraded ventilation to keep the humidity levels in check, repaint the insides and replace the doors, repurposing the site at a cost of $48,500. Civil Defense supplies deteriorate inside the city of Reading's Emergency Operations Center. (Courtesy of city of Reading) The design of the center reflects its original purpose. 'The doors, from what I understand, as well as the room are uniquely arranged that when you come in, you walk down a hallway, and the main body of the room is offset from the doorway,' Anspach explained. 'That way, a blast doesn't come directly into the room. Also, the rear doorway is situated behind the front doorway. That way, you wouldn't get hit from both sides at the same time and be kind of sandwiched in the middle.' A new heating and cooling system wasn't required since the underground facility stays naturally around 50 degrees year round. 'Once we cleaned it out, we determined that it was sound structurally,' he said. 'So instead of tearing it down, we elected to repurpose it, or at least rebuild it for a future purpose.' Crews repainted the interior with a crisp, Strangelove-like sea-foam green, keeping with the early '60s color palette. Anspach is hoping the refurbished bomb shelter could be used for educational purposes during an event like World War II Weekend at the Reading Regional Airport. 'A lot of that education during the weekend doesn't make it here into the city,' he said. 'City Park has a strong military history to it. So it would be great if we were to partner with reenactors of this era, and they could bring in maybe cots and radios, and they could set it up and bring some of that educational value to our citizens here in Reading.' If that doesn't happen, Anspach sees the operations center as an adjunct to the nearby City Park Greenhouse, a place where wintering bulbs and root vegetables can be stored. Although the 'Blessed are the peacemakers' vibe has subsided a bit in recent years, there is a measure of theological symmetry with beating swords into plowshares, spears into pruninghooks and bomb shelters into root cellars. 'It's a cool piece of history to have,' Anspach said, looking around the now pristine underground bunker. 'It's unique.' David A. Anspach, city capital project manager, stands inside the exit hallway at the Emergency Operations Center in City Park. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
