Justin LeHew and “Rocky” Kinzer served together in the United States Marine Corps. Kinzer traveled from Hawaii and LeHew traveled from Virginia to be present for the dedication of the Putnam County Veterans Memorial Highway scheduled for Saturday in Ottawa.
Brenda Keller | The Lima News
OTTAWA — The air was cool on Friday morning as Justin LeHew and Coleman “Rocky” Kinzer left Gilboa, on the first leg of their 30-mile journey from east to west across Putnam County. Beginning at 7 a.m., the two followed state Route 224, which will be known as “Putnam County Veterans Memorial Highway” after an unveiling ceremony for re-naming the highway at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kerner-Slusser American Legion Post 63, 218 W. Main St., Ottawa.
LeHew, a native of Columbus Grove who now resides in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Kinzer, who lives in Kailua, Hawaii, served together in the United States Marine Corps. Prior to their most recent adventure, LeHew met Kinzer at the Dayton airport and the men traveled to Putnam County “in honor of Corporal [Clark] Worline, to raise awareness of Korean War MIAs, to explain the value of DNA in the identification of missing veterans, and to honor the service of Putnam County veterans,” said LeHew.
Cpl. Clark Ellis Worline was accounted for on Sept. 9 in part due to the use of DNA analysis. Worline, originally from Dupont, served in a mortar battalion during the Korean War. He was reported missing in action Nov. 26, 1950. Evidence suggested that Worline, age 20, was captured and taken to a POW camp. His remains were later buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In August 2019, Worline’s remains were disinterred and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory in Hawaii for analysis.
LeHew and Kinzer visited Continental High School this week. Although school records provided documentation that Worline had attended middle school in Continental, no photos of him were located and there were no records of him attending high school at that location.
There are currently approximately 81,600 American service members still missing from foreign conflicts. The government provides funding in some cases but much of the recovery process is dependent upon private donations.
LeHew serves as Chief Operating Officer for History Flight, a “privately operated 501c3, non-profit organization dedicated to researching, recovering, and repatriating America’s service members back to the United States of America,” according to their website. The group welcomes volunteers and monetary donations. Interested persons can visit their website at www.historyflight.com. LeHew encourages individuals to list their job skills and hobbies on the application form, since many of those skills may be transferable to work needed for History Flight projects.
LeHew and Kinzer admitted that the backpacks they used for their cross-county trek were much lighter than those previously carried on a cross-country trip.
“We didn’t need to pitch a tent in someone’s cornfield [for this trip],” LeHew added with a grin. It was apparent that the burden they carry for bringing home our missing veterans is much heavier than their backpacks.
