Siblings served their country
Seven siblings from a Butler family served in the armed forces, but Retired Army Cpl. Ralph McKnight, 72, doesn't think it's that big a deal.
"It was just the thing to do back then,"he said.
McKnight said he joined the Army on his 17th birthday, on Aug. 20, 1950. He said Retired Master Sgt. Abie Abraham of Butler, who is a survivor of the Death March of Bataan in World War II, was a recruiter when he signed up at the Butler County Courthouse.
He said his mother signed the papers and he "got on the bus the next day," heading for boot camp.
"Oh yeah, I remember him," Abraham said. "He was a good boy and a good solider."
McKnight served with the 14th Combat Engineers in the Korean War, and later was stationed in Germany during his three years in the Army.
He specialized in demolition and construction, particularly road work.
"We built a bridge over the Hon River," in Korea, he said.
The siblings followed their father's footsteps. Donald McKnight had served in World War I.
His brothers, Fred, Robert and James served in the Army. Brothers Donald and Albert "Richard" served in the Marines. And a sister, Francis, was an Army nurse, serving in World War II.McKnight said his brother Donald served in World War II, Richard served in WWII and the Korean War, and Fred served in the Korean War."We volunteered, we served, we did our duty," McKnight said. "You'll find 99 percent of GIs feel the same way."He had two other brothers, William and Jack, and three other sisters, Lucille, Eleanor and Edith.Besides Ralph, three of the 12 siblings still live in the area, Fred McKnight of Connoquenessing Township, James McKnight of New Castle and Edith Snyder of Corry.McKnight said he grew up in the family home on Whitestown Road. His father and grandfather were in the oil business. His mother, Pearl(Garvin) was a homemaker.McKnight doesn't talk much about the war."We don't discuss it much in the family," he said. "I never heard any of my brothers or my sister complain about going. We were a volunteer family."I learned discipline, responsibility and how to get along with people. I think each and every one of us did."
He said his favorite memories of his days in the service was meeting other people from Butler.He said he met an old neighbor, Army Capt. Chuck Stirling who was in one of the tanks in his group traveling through a rice paddy in Korea on their way toward the front line."He stuck his head out of a tank and said, 'Hey McKnight!'""I said, 'What the hell are you doing here?'"He said he also met another friend, Chuck McConnell, who also had joined the Army and was heading back from the front.Also, his brother Fred was hit by shrapnel from a mortar just three miles away from him while they were in Korea. He said his brother was "back in service" before he could visit him in a field hospital.After Korea, McKnight said he was transferred to Germany, and by coincidence, Abraham happened to be on the same ship, McKnight said.Abraham said he remembers meeting McKnight on the ship, but it was a busy time for Abraham."Once I got on the boat, the damn colonel made me a sergeant major,"Abraham said.
Between his service in Korea and Germany, McKnight married Catherine Rauschenberger of Summit Township. They had three children, Ronald, of Kissimmee, Fla., Cindy McKnight Hill and Karen Fisher, both of Butler Township.After his discharge, McKnight continued in the construction, demolition and trucking business.He started his own company, Ralph McKnight Landscaping, Excavating and Hauling."I did a lot of demolition work in town," he said. "I tore down the old Clinton Hotel at Pillow and West Jefferson streets, the Park Hotel on the Diamond, and Penn Hardware on East Jefferson."
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