Purple Heart Recipients To Be Honored At Lawrenceburg Fall Fest

By Travis Thayer (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - As much as Lawrenceburg Fall Fest is about fun, it is also about honoring those who served to protect our country and our freedom. Military Veterans Larry Fahringer, Albert "Butch" Lowe, Jim Ketrow and Anthony Alexander will be honored with Purple Heart Plaques during Fall Fest on Friday, September 29. The plaque presentation will take place at 8:00 p.m. on the main stage in the Lawrenceburg Community Center parking lot. Up-and-coming country music star Cole Swindell will take the stage afterwards. Each Purple Heart recipient will also receive a Quilt of Valor from the Dearborn County Rivertown Quilters Guild. Bio's for the four honorees are listed below:   Larry Fahringer - Lawrence “Larry” Fahringer was born on October 4, 1955 at Phillipsburg, New Jersey to Lawrence and Gloris (Piperata) and had two brothers, Frank and Robert. He attended St. Phillip & James school in Phillipsburg and graduated from Phillipsburg Catholic High School. He entered the United States Marine Corps in November 1965 at Parris Island, South Carolina and was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He served at Camp Geiger and at El Toro, California and then to Camp Pendleton, California. Larry was sent to Vietnam and spent 1966-68 along the DMZ area and Dong Ha, Khe Sanh, Camp Carroll, Con Thien, Gio Linh and other fire bases with the 3rd Marines. He was wounded by enemy fire in August of 1967 and received a Purple Heart for his wounds. He also received the National Defense Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm, Republic of Vietnam Wound Medal, Vietnamese Civil Action Medal/Enlisted, Sharpshooter Badge for rifle and pistol and the EOD Badge. Larry was discharged in 1968 and returned to the USA and was employed in the banking business and later on in construction in Cincinnati for many years. Larry and his wife, Nancy (Poling) today live in Dearborn County in Bright, Indiana on Swales Drive. They have nine children, 35 grandchildren and a few great grandchildren. Larry is proud of his service to the Marine Corps and our great nation and considers it an honor to have served. Albert "Butch" Lowe - Albert “Butch” Lowe was born on June 5, 1946 to Albert P. and Rose (Lake) Lowe in Pittsburgh, PA. He had one brother, William and three sisters, Delores, Maggie and Alberta. He attended Fineview Elementary and graduated from Conley Vocational High School in Pittsburgh. Butch entered the United States Marine Corps on March 3, 1965 and took his boot camp at Parris Island, SC and then was sent to Camp Lejeune, NC. He served in the Caribbean for a short time. He was sent to Vietnam where he served in 1966-67 and was wounded by enemy fire twice and received two Purple Hearts for his wounds. The first one was near Chu Lai in January 1967 and the second one near DaNang in March 1967. Both were shrapnel wounds and the second incident knocked him down because the piece was so large and it cut his ammo magazine in half. He was also awarded the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. He returned to the USA and was assigned to duty in the Caribbean again and Camp Lejeune. He was honorably discharged on March 10, 1969. Buddy worked as an Iron Worker in Local # 44 and retired in 1998. He is married to Connie (Bruce) and have three sons, Robert, Albert and Sam along with 6 grandchildren. There is a step daughter, Donelle Signor, and step son, Don Kerns, and 9 grandchildren with them. Butch and Connie live on North Dearborn Road with a Guilford, Indiana address. Butch served proudly in the Marine Corps and Vietnam and supports our men and women serving our great nation today. Jim Ketrow - Jim Ketrow was born on Nov. 15, 1947 in Indianapolis, IN to Charlie and Waneatah (Taylor). He has two sisters, Sandy and Jan. The family lived in Indianapolis and Jim attended grades 1-5 at Garden City Elementary and then his dad transferred to New Jersey and he attended 6th grade there. Another transfer brought the family to Lawrenceburg and Greendale. Jim entered Central Grade School and then graduated from Lawrenceburg Consolidated High School (LCHS) in 1966. Jim then attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute for 2 years and then transferred to the University of Cincinnati but there was some confusion about the starting date at UC and Jim received his draft notice from Dearborn County. He decided to enter the U.S. Army and was inducted on March 3, 1969 and went to Ft. Dix, NJ for basic training and AIT. He was chosen there to go to Officers Candidate School (OCS) but decided he didn’t want to extend his time in the Army so instead chose NCO School at Ft. Benning , GA. Here he took the Ranger Phase and that included a lot of rigorous training. He was sent to Ft. Polk, LA as a Drill Sergeant and received his orders to go to Vietnam. He arrived in January of 1970 and served with a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) group with H Co. Rangers of the 7th Cavalry. They were sent on missions in the area around Quon Loi and spent weeks at a time in the field and back areas. This included wire taps, bomb damage, ambush missions with the 5th Group, night patrols, listening and recon information about enemy troop movements etc. Much of the Ranger duty was hot, dirty and just plain miserable. They had to learn to live on their own because they had to depend on each other and not make their presence known. On one of these missions on June 5, his squad came under heavy enemy fire and after taking out several enemy soldiers he was shot in the chest which resulted in a life threatening sucking chest wound. He said he felt better knowing he had eliminated the man who caused his wounds. This happened at Bugia Map, Vietnam. He was evacuated by helicopter to the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Quon Loi where life saving treatment began. He was in intensive care for 30 days and then flown to Tokyo, Japan for treatment at the 249th General Hospital. After several weeks he was flown back to the USA to Valley Forge, PA for three months of rehab. Jim’s awards include: National Defense Medal. Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with “V” for valor and an oak leaf cluster (two awards), Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Vietnam Wound Medal, Bronze Star with “V” device for gallantry in action and the Purple Heart for being wounded by enemy fire. He received the Expert Badge for qualifying with the M-14, M-16, M-60 machine gun, M-79 grenade launcher, ,45 pistol and was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB). Jim was discharged on Jan. 15, 1971 so he could return to Indiana State University to continue his education under the GI Bill. He and Jim Ferry, also a Purple Heart Recipient from Vietnam and buddies from Lawrenceburg, left to go to ISU and get back to college life. Jim had about 20 hours left to finish his degree when an opportunity came up to work for SuperX where he helped open many stores. He said he would finish his degree later, and he did. He worked at Super X from 1973-75 and decided he wanted to be a diver and went to the Cayman Islands where he worked for a diving company and eventually opened his own business. He built a reputation of diving when others would not so it helped build his business but he always put safety first. He dove for his own business from 1980-99. He sold the business but he owned and operated two trucks for FEDX from 1994-99 while still diving. Jim also  decided to serve with the Special Forces from 1984-90 in a Reserve Unit. Now, it was time to return to school and he returned to Florida to the University of South Florida to finish his credit hours but chose to get the degree in Environmental Science because he saw the beauty underwater and wanted to help preserve it. He and wife, Suzanne, today live in Oregon and are Environmental Specialists. Jim married Suzanne (Sawyer) in 1984 and they have three children: Dylan, Danielle Megan and Zachary. Jim Ketrow was always the one to push the envelope growing up and those who knew him knew he was hard nosed and a risk taker. He lived for the thrill and excitement and had a lot of fun doing it. He grew up on Nead Lane in Greendale with some very special friends. Today, he is proud of his service and proud of those who continue to serve our nation. Anthony Alexander - SSG Anthony Alexander was born and raised in Birmingham, AL and graduated from Parkway Christian High School in 2005 and attended college for a short time. He finally decided to enter the Army in September of 2006 as an 11B/Infantryman. He attended basic training and AIT at Ft. Benning, GA. After successful completion of these he attended the Javelin Missile School and Airborne School. After receiving orders to Ft. Hood, TX he was assigned to Charlie Company, 2-21IN, 11D. While serving here he held such positions M240B Gunner and Team Leader while also deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in 2008-09 where he would earn his Purple Heart for being wounded in action against enemy forces. After serving there, he decided to move with the unit to Ft. Knox, KY and still be serving with 2-2IN, 11D. During his time at Ft. Knox, he held the position of Squad Leader and deployed in support of OEF again in 2011-12. He also attended military education courses such as WLC in which he was the Distinguished Honor Guard, Sniper and Air Assault. Leaving Ft. Knox he received orders to the 101st Airborne Division (Screamin’ Eagles) at Ft. Campbell, KY. He spent four years with the 1-502IN Regt, 2 BCT where he held many postitons from Section Sergeant to Platoon Sergeant and continued to progress his military knowledge by attending schools such as Pathfinder, Rappel Master and ALC. He would also deploy with the 1-502IN in support of OEF in 2014. While serving with the 101st Airborne he received notice that he was DA Selected for recruiting duty. Today, he serves with the Indianapolis Recruiting Battalion, Indy Metro South Company, Aurora Recruiting Center in Aurora, Indiana. SSG Alexander’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, four Army Commendation Medals, six Army Achievement Medals and several medals for his service overseas in combat areas. He has also earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB), the Expert Infantry Badge, the Basic Parachutist Badge, the Pathfinder Badge, the Army Air Assault Badge, the Army Recruiter Badge and the German Marksmanship proficiency Badge—silver qualification. He also has qualified as an Expert with his weapons. He is proud to wear the Blue Cord as an Infantryman. SSG Alexander’s goals are to become the best recruiter in Metro South and to earn membership into the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club and to attend Ranger School Someday, he has a long term goal of retiring as a Command Sergeant Major. He has always striven to be the Best He Can Be and has worked very hard to achieve his goals. The USA is very proud to have such a fine young man who truly understands the meaning of the words----Duty, Honor, Country.