Newest brick in park pays tribute to veteran
Emery Drescher fought for his country in North Africa and Europe during World War II. He took part in D-Day.
Drescher, 96, of Saxonburg still recalls being part of history.
“That was Hitler's time,” he said Friday morning while looking at a new brick paver in Diamond Park on Main Street commemorating his wartime military service.
Drescher served in the Army from 1941 through 1945.
“He was overseas the whole time,” said his niece, Bonnie Custead of Butler. “His mother didn't see him for four years.”
Custead and her husband, Doug, bought the paver to recognize her uncle's service to his country.
“We need to honor our veterans while they're still alive,” she said.
Drescher and his wife, Alice, appreciated the gesture.
“It's wonderful,” Alice Drescher said.
Drescher's daughter, Louise Droney of Cranberry Township, Venango County, also expressed gratitude.
“I'm just honored Doug and Bonnie did this for dad,” Droney said.
Drescher fought in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia before heading to Sicily. After entering France as part of the Allied invasion, he went on to Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Germany.
Among his honors was earning the ETO — European Theater of Operations — ribbon with five bronze stars.Drescher and his wife still live in the home that his father and brother built on High Street.Bonnie Custead said she's happy the paver was one of 24 installed April 11.“I'm delighted,” she said.Custead became concerned last year after its installation was delayed.John Cyprian, Butler County veterans services director, said delays in the paver project occurred because representatives at Granite Fabricating of Bentleyville, Washington County, which was installing the pavers, could not be reached.“We were trying to contact them,” Cyprian said.The county eventually discovered that the company was sold.Cyprian said faxes sent to Granite Fabricating kept going through.“Someone has a bunch of paper laying on the floor,” he said.Cyprian credited Butler Township Supervisor Sam Zurzolo for finding Butler Stone Craft of Cabot to make new pavers and repair broken ones.
The county paid $4,860 for the installation and repairs.Cyprian said the Cabot company is charging a little more than the other company was for cutting and fabricating.However, the addition of the last 24 pavers recently installed catches the county up with orders.“There are no more pending,” Cyprian said.He said the county would continue accepting orders until the rings in the park, which have room for nearly 1,000 more pavers, are filled.The park already has roughly 1,500 pavers which list veterans' names.The problem filling paver orders was the second issue for the project.Dozens of pavers damaged in 2009 were fixed in 2011 after delays hindered the repairs being made.While Drescher survived the war, he also has had to survive another fight. Droney said he had pancreatic cancer when he was 82.“He's a survivor 15 years now,” she said.Custead said her uncle made one of the news reels that were shown in the United States during World War II.She recently saw YouTube video footage of him riding a tank into Paris.“We're just so proud of him,” Custead said. “He's such a sweetheart.”
