For several weeks now, we have been asking you to send us your photos of veterans past and present.

The response was overwhelming.

Somehow we were able to fit it all into a special full-color, eight-page, third section in this week’s Record.

This section officially kicks-off our salute to you the reader, which is the "All About You" campaign publicized over the past few weeks. We start by saluting, honoring and remembering, some of our finest friends and neighbors in this Memorial Day edition.

The population of Lititz is rich with veterans who have protected this country during war and times of peace. Local men and women have fought for the American ideal of freedom since the Revolution.

In this special commemorative section, we salute local veterans through photos and information submitted by you, the community. With Memorial Day just a few days away, we find ourselves thinking about our neighbors, past and present, who gave their lives for this country. In this special section, we honor those heroes, along with veterans honored with your submissions.

Due to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, the Record Express will be operating under the following early deadlines for the May 31 issue:

Classified and

retail display ads

Friday, May 25, 4 p.m.

Classified line ads:

Tuesday, May 29, 11:45 a.m.

Editorial copy

Friday, May 25, at noon.

The Record Express office will be closing at 3 p.m. Friday, May 25 and re-opening Tuesday, May 29.

By: ROSALBA UGLIUZZA Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Picture it.

Mekong River, South Vietnam,1970.

A Vietnamese woman travels along the muddy water in a sampan, a flat-bottomed Chinese wooden boat, carrying baskets of fresh fruits to sell to the locals. A vessel carrying members of the Mobile Riverine Force treks in the opposite direction to Cambodia and Laos. It’s after 6 p.m., and the crew is ordered to enforce instantaneous action on anything that comes in its sight. With the sampan gliding in close proximity, one crew member, in particular, is hesitant about blowing off the boat and tries to go against the lieutenant’s orders, but fails.

"The lieutenant said, ‘We have strict orders to shoot everything that moves on this river.’ He threatened me with disobeying direct order while in a warzone, which is a very, very serious offense," said former Navy sailor and Vietnam Veteran Jason Goodman, of Lititz. "I took a machine gun and with one burst, the boat disappeared. It was gone, and he was fixated on this. This (lieutenant) always walked around with a Bible, which I didn’t understand the dichotomy or the hypocrisy of it. I think he just wanted to see what would happen and yet he would have the blood on his hands so he could order me to do it for him."

By: MELINDA ELMER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

A handful of residents from Acorn Lane attended Monday’s Elizabeth Township supervisors meeting to again ask if anything can be done about the limited sight lines when they try to enter Long Lane from their private lane.

Acorn Lane is a long, privately-owned cul-de-sac off Long Lane. Mailboxes for the 20-plus homes are located at the intersection of Acorn and Long lanes, essentially in the front yard of one resident. That resident did not attend Monday’s meeting.

The residents who did attend said that the shrubs around the gang mailboxes impede the clear line of sight. "You have to pull half way out into the road to see if anybody’s coming," resident Harry Turner said.

Turner noted that the ordinance requires a 100-foot clear sight triangle for a driveway.

Dirk Schoenberger of Acorn Lane said he feels like the township authorities pick and choose when they want to treat Acorn Lane like a private road (no winter plowing) and when they want to treat it like a public road and enforce zoning regulations.

VFW Post 1463 and the Lititz American Legion have amassed a group of local pastors and musical talent that will be responsible for carrying out local Memorial Day observances on May 28.

The day begins in Rothsville, where a parade will form at 8:45 a.m. at Salem United Methodist Church on Old Rothsville Road.

The parade proceeds to Jerusalem Lutheran Church cemetery where a 9:15 a.m. service will be held. Children will place flowers on the graves of veterans, marked by American flags.

An invocation by Pastor David Unangst of Salem UMC will follow, along with a musical rendition of "America," and a reading of the Gettysburg Address.

Senator Mike Brubaker will be the guest speaker. Brubaker is currently serving his second four-year term representing Lancaster and Chester County residents in the PA Senate.

VFW Post 1463, American Legion Post 56 and the Rothsville Fire Company will lay wreaths in honor of those who served, following which William Stauffer will lead those in attendance in the singing of our National Anthem.

"Taps" will be played to salute the dead and Pastor Unangst will give the benediction to conclude the service in Rothsville.

By: LAURI-JAYNE DILOUIE Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Gregory Bomberger
The Bomberger farm from the air, circa 1964.

Not many families can lay claim to owning the same farm for nearly 300 years. The Bombergers, ten generations worth, are one of the few. Sunnyside Farm on Memorial Road has been the Bombergers’ homestead since 1732.

"My father’s the eighth, I’m ninth and my son will be the tenth," said Greg Bomberger. "It’s been in continuous Bomberger ownership for 279 years."

In a family book compiled mostly by Lloyd Huber Bomberger, who is Greg’s great-uncle, there are details of the family from 1722 through 1986.

The introduction of the book asks an important question.

"It is well worthwhile for the descendants to study the lives of their forefathers. It is splendid to be able to boast about one’s ancestors. But could those ancestors truthfully boast about is if they were able to appear again in the flesh?"

This Bomberger encyclopedia explains how Christian Bomberger started the first settlement in Warwick Township after he acquired 564 acres of land for himself and his family to farm.

The "All About You" campaign officially begins this week in the Lititz Record Express, with the printing of an eight-page special veterans section, and the kick-off of a local weekly prize contest.

Focusing on you the reader, The Record will showcase your submitted photos and stories, as well as continuing its nearly 135-year history of being all-local, all the time with its news and sports coverage. Look for the "All About You" logos within local news, feature and sports stories each week.

In addition to the news coverage and "your" pages once a month, The Record would also like to announce the start of "The All About You" prize contest (full details and sponsors can be found on page A-4 this week)

There will be three weekly prize drawings with a value of at least $25. Winners will be announced on the front page (and called) the following week.

At the end of the 12-week contest, a grand prize winner will be drawn (from all entries) for a $500 value Weber Gas Grill. Winning one of the weekly prizes does not keep someone from winning the grand prize.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

If there are other high school coaches like Manheim Central boys volleyball boss Craig Dietrich, they are often holding their breath leading up to games on Mondays.

More than once in their career, those coaches have seen their teams come out looking like they were still affected by the weekend break.

Fortunately for the Barons, they avoided that trap this week, as they shut out Schuylkill Valley 3-0 in their District Three Double-A first-round playoff match at Wilson.

Junior Josiah Hershberger recorded team-bests with 20 kills and six blocks, in addition to adding an ace, helping the Central boys oust the Panthers, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20.

"I thought we played really good," Dietrich said. "It was probably one of the more complete matches we’ve played this year."

One week earlier, the Barons were quite as consisted as they had hoped to be in a 3-2 loss to Manheim Township in the L-L playoff quarter-finals, but they stepped their game up against Schuylkill Valley to advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinal-round pool play.