Pennsbury Pride: Alumni Share Stories of Military Service

What is Pennsbury Pride? For the purpose of this book, one aspect of school pride is reserved for alumni who served in the military over the past seventy-five years. The school's alumni have fought in wars ranging from WW I to Afghanistan, marching forward into the never-ending battles of our complicated modern world.Pennsbury's community has always taken pride in its veterans. This book tells us about a few of them, in their own words. The book also informs us that Fallsington High (Pennsbury's predecessor) had several World War I veterans, led by Carol Christman, Class of 1897.Three career veterans-Staff Sgt. Wayne Rogers (Class of 1997), SFC Jim Tams (1977) and Lt. Colonel Jacqueline Siciliano (1983)-lead off Pennsbury Pride with personal histories of their military service in Operation Enduring Freedom.The middle section of our book features stories about grandparents, parents, and uncles who joined up for World War II and Vietnam. Kevin Lendo (1966) writes about how he and his brother Art (1964) became involved in a chase for information on their uncle John Lendo, who perished in December 1944 when his plane was shot down during a bombing run over the Pacific Ocean. By some miracle, the Lendo brothers found the plane their uncle trained on stateside. The Lendos have endowed a Fellowship Program at Pennsbury in honor of their family's military veterans.The book ends with three chapters that reinforce the connection between Pennsbury's veterans and the school itself. One chapter speaks to the "Operation Christmas" gift drive for Lt. Joseph Yatsko's troops in Vietnam. Another details the creation of the Wall of Honor in 2001 and the scholarship fund started by Pennsbury veterans to reward students in the school's Junior ROTC program.Our book closes with a list of 579 veterans who at one time patrolled the halls of Pennsbury High. - TERRY NAU