Pictured, from left, Veteran Affairs Officer Rich Maron, Commissioner Brad Jackson, Veteran of the Month Forrest V. Lewis, Commissioner President Bob Conley, Commissioner Vice-President Cary Groninger.

SYRACUSE — Forrest V. Lewis, Syracuse, was honored as the veteran of the month at the Kosciusko Commissioners meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Lewis was born Aug. 31, 1922, to Tillman and Lillawah Lewis in Savoy, Ill. His siblings include one brother and two sisters. 

He graduated in Sibley, Ill. in 1940 and worked on his father’s farm until he enlisted in the Navy in November 1942. He completed basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and from there went on to the Naval Air Technical Training Center for Mechanics in Chicago. 

Early in 1943, Lewis was ordered to report to the brand new aircraft carrier USS Yorktown CV10 in Norfolk, Va.  He was aboard for the commissioning and was a member of the crew, which entitled him to become a plank owner. The Navy’s use of the word “commission” relates to the placing of a ship in active service. The commissioning ceremony is a significant milestone in the life of a ship, marking her acceptance as a unit of the operating forces of the United States Navy. Plank owners are sailors who are members of the crew of a ship when that ship is placed in commission.

After a shakedown cruise in South America, to make sure all the kinks were worked out of the new ship and crew, they were sent straight to the South Pacific to join forces with the 7th fleet for air support in the middle of World War II. Lewis was assigned to the flight and hangar decks in the V1T division, spotting planes for take-off and caring for them when they landed. While Lewis was aboard the USS Yorktown, they were involved in 18 major engagements and received a Presidential Unit Citation.

The USS Yorktown saw action in WWII and during the Korean and Vietnam wars. It also picked up Alan B. Shepard’s space capsule, which splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean in 1961, approximately 302 miles from the Florida launch site. 

After two years Lewis rotated back to the United States in the middle of 1945. He was stationed at an airbase in Groten, Conn., training new air groups to the fleet until March of 1946 when he was honorably discharged.

Lewis farmed with his dad in Illinois for a year. The entire family moved to Ossian in 1948 where Lewis bought and operated a small grocery store. Later that year he met and married Sarah Jane Nash, who lived a half mile from his grocery store. He then owned and operated a Standard Service station in Ossian for 35 years.

Lewis and his wife moved to Syracuse in 1984, where they both worked at Custom Services until 2005 when they took a long deserved retirement. Sarah Jane passed away in  2017. Two children were born to Forrest and Sarah Jane: daughter Amy and son Forrest Randy. Amy passed away in 2015. Amy’s husband, Ray, lives in Missouri. Forrest Randy continues to reside in Ossian. Lewis has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  

One of Lewis’ fondest memories is of the time he and his wife, Sarah Jane, visited the USS Yorktown in 1983 at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in South Carolina where it has been a museum ship since it was decommissioned in the early 70s. 

Lewis lives at his home in Syracuse. He goes out daily for breakfast with friends and neighbors and goes on daily walks in the neighborhood, almost always wearing his Yorktown hat, Navy shirt or a flag lapel pin. He is a member of the Wawasee Lakeside Chapel. 

According to Lewis’ neighbor, Joe Leatherman, “Forrest always has a smile and a kind, encouraging word for everyone.”

“He’s quick to share a funny joke or story, one you can tell your grandchildren,” said Leatherman. “My wife, Peg, and myself as well as neighbors Ken and Rhea Morris and Norm and Bonnie Cooper all enjoy spending time with him and have adopted him as a father since our own fathers have passed on.” 

“Thank you all,” said Lewis when presented with the veteran of the month plaque. “I don’t feel that I deserve this any more than all veterans.”

Lewis is described as a true patriot who is proud to have served his country. 

Pictured, from left, a shadow box that Lewis’ wife, Sarah Jane, made for him and a piece of plank from the USS Yorktown.

Pictured, from left, Joe Leatherman and Forrest Lewis. Photo credit to Joe and Peg Leatherman.

Pictured, from left, Joe Leatherman and Forrest Lewis. Photo credit to Joe and Peg Leatherman.