OPVFD President Joe Enste puts the paver in place at the brick dedication last Friday.

Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

A decorated World War II hero with connections to the Maryland Eastern Shore has been honored with a brick dedication at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial Park at Ocean Pines, 81 years after the veteran’s valiant wartime actions.

On Friday, June 6, the late George Kerchner, who passed away on Feb. 17, 2012, just days before his 94th birthday, was recognized with a paver at the remembrance site for his heroic behavior on D-Day.

Last week’s ceremony was intentionally held on the 81st anniversary of the massive 1944 WWII operation, which remains the largest seaborne invasion in history.

Rick Farr, the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors vice president, Veterans Memorial Foundation Board of Directors member, and retired United States Air Force member, emceed the brick dedication.

According to Farr, Kerchner was a Baltimore native and joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and the elite 2nd Ranger Battalion as a lieutenant the following year.

Kerchner trained in England for six months, scaling seaside cliffs in preparation for a risky raid on Pointe du Hoc, a fortified German position towering above the English Channel.

The task, often cited as the most challenging mission of D-Day, required Kerchner and his fellow rangers commanded by Lt. Col. James E. Rudder, to climb a 100-foot cliff under heavy German fire.

Kerchner assumed command of his task group, Company D, after all the senior officers were killed or seriously injured.

His team scaled the 100-foot cliffs to discover that the 155-millimeter guns they were sent to destroy had been relocated.

Yet, Kerchner and his men tracked down and disabled the firearms, then held their position against German counterattacks for approximately three days until reinforcements could arrive.

Around 100 of the 225 Rangers who stormed the Pointe du Hoc that day survived. Later, Kerchner was wounded near Saint-Lô, but lived through the war and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism.

In part, Farr said that Kerchner’s commendation read, “By his determined leadership and outstanding heroism, he led his company in a successful assault upon and captured 155-millimeter enemy gun positions. While engaged in the operation, Kerchner and 15 members of his unit were cut off from the main body and surrounded for two and a half days. His tenacity courageously held his position until he was relieved and was a constant inspiration and source of encouragement to his troops.”

After the war, Kerchner returned to Arundel Ice Cream Company, where he had been employed before WWII. He was eventually elected president of the business. Later, as the majority stockholder, he sold the company and retired to the Eastern Shore.

“As a child, [Kerchner] had once taken the train to Ocean City, decided he liked it, and had told his buddies, ‘I am going to retire to Ocean City before I am 55,’” Farr noted. “In 1970, he made good on that promise.”

During his retirement, Farr said Kerchner “immersed himself in affairs” with St. Luke Catholic Church, the American Legion Post 166, and the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association. Later, he moved to Ocean Pines and was a founding Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department member.

“[Kerchner] enjoyed boating, fishing, and everything about the slow pace of life here on the Maryland Eastern Shore,” Farr added.

At the June 6 brick dedication, OPVFD President Joe Enste placed the paver at the memorial site to honor Kerchner’s bravery in WWII and his work with Ocean Pines emergency services.

The ceremony included a formal recognition and a recount of Kerchner’s story and connections to northern Worcester County, as well as a presentation from Mike Detmer, a representative for Congressman Andy Harris.

Ocean Pines resident and former board of directors member Marty Clarke conceived the effort to include Kerchner at the veterans memorial. In March, when he began fundraising for the paver, Clarke said that he had read a book about D-Day around a year ago and had seen Kerchner’s name mentioned in connection with Ocean City, Maryland.

“I had never heard of him,” Clarke said at the time. “He was in our local American Legion and lived in Ocean Pines, but there is nothing in the memorial, which I think is one of the most beautiful amenities built in recent history in Worcester County. There is not a peep about [Kerchner]. That began the efforts to raise money for the paver.”

The veterans memorial is accepting donations in Kerchner’s name. Checks may be sent to Worcester County Veterans Memorial at Ocean Pines, P.O. Box 1576, Berlin, Maryland 21811, with “George Kerchner” written on the check. The funds will bolster the remembrance site’s teaching program to area school children.

Every year, the Veterans Memorial Foundation invites every Worcester County fifth-grade class on a field trip to the park. Students participate in a tour and a three-part informational program featuring different aspects of the veteran area.