Tim Wilmot is a former Marine. Tim signed up in November, 1982 on a deferred enrollment, and began active duty in June of 1983. He took flight training and was certified on almost all airplanes and helicopters. He's careful to point out that he's not certified for water craft or water landings. He served at Quantico, VA, Pensacola, Fl, and Jacksonville, NC. Then he was lucky enough to be assigned to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was part of MEUSOC [the Marine Corp Special Ops Capable] as liaison for the western Pacific: China Sea, Philippines, South Korea. Along about the birth of his second son, he elected to take terminal leave to attend law school in Carlisle, leaving active duty in August, 1992. He achieved the rank of Captain. Now a graduate of Dickinson School of Law in 1995, and former law clerk for two judges, Tim is currently the standing Master for divorce actions and assistant district attorney concentrating in juvenile delinquency actions.

Did you know that Matt Fogel was an MP? Matt began service as an enlisted infantry man in the PA Army National Guard in 1994. Matt's originally from Chambersburg, having graduated from Cumberland Valley Christian Academy in 1990. During his service before entering law school, he received  training in military police work. He completed law school at Penn State Dickinson School of Law in 2004 and took a position as Judge John Walker's law clerk. Moving over to the prosecution side, he was scheduled for a trial without jury on September 1, 2005, when he received the news that he had to report immediately after the trial for deployment to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Matt finished the trial, went home, grabbed his duffle and left. He served in New Orleans for the rest of September and most of October before returning to Chambersburg. By now he'd been reassigned to the judicial brigade. Just two months later, in December, 2005, Matt was ordered to Afghanistan. There he was assigned to special forces and detention operations. He acted as an advisor to the Attorney General of Afghanistan to assist creating the new judicial system. He was there for six months and then placed on assignment to Letterkenny Army Depot. He's currently on military leave as a member of the 20th Infantry Division so that he could return to private practice. Major Matt is our elected District Attorney.

Matt advises that Eric Augustine, a Franklin County assistant District Attorney, is currently on leave from the office to serve with the Army. President Judge Doug Herman was subject to the (gasp) draft. He served in the Army from 1969 to 1971, spending most of his time stationed in Germany as an E-5 Sergeant.

I decided to call John Lisko for more information about his own service. John is an assistant District Attorney part time and privately represents six municipalities. John held the rank of Lt. Commander in the Navy JAG [Judge Advocate General]. He reports that is similar to a Major in the Army. John was a graduate of West Scranton High School in 1975. He then studied at Penn State, graduating in 1979. He entered law school immediately thereafter and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1982 before beginning his military service. John served for five years, from 1982 to 1987, receiving training in Newport, RI, and was stationed in Charleston, SC; Adak, Alaska; and finished his service in Philadelphia. John's extended family has a history of service.

While I was wandering through names, both present and former, in the Court House Offices, I met David Drumheller, assistant District Attorney. David attended Sunbury Christian Academy in Northumberland County. During his senior year, he signed up for delayed entry into the Army. After basic training in 1999, he transferred to Army Reserves in 2001. He entered Shippensburg University with a major in history. His junior year of college was interrupted with a deployment to the Army War College to work as an archivist at the  Army Heritage Center. In April, 2004, he was able to return to Ship, graduating in December, 2004. In 2005, he was deployed again to New Orleans. Right..., he served at the same time as Matt Fogel. David notes, however, that he was a mere E-5, Sergeant or Non Commissioned Officer. David has a deep appreciation for military history. He mentions working at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg while he attended law school at Widener Law School. His initial direction was toward personnel work, until he interned for the District Attorney at Union County. David was Judge Herman's law clerk from October 2009 until his current position became available in 2011 in Franklin County.

I then remembered that Jay Benedict, one of our retired attorneys, had been the district attorney for a while so I gave him a call. As expected, Jay was drafted. Jay is a long term resident of Franklin County, having graduated from Quincy High School in 1947. After graduation he entered Juniata College where he completed his undergraduate work in 1951. He then entered Dickinson School of Law, achieving his JD in the spring of 1954. The draft caught him in 1955 and he served, active duty Army, for about eighteen months. Jay was at basic training when someone gave him the choice of JAG or counter intelligence. Jay chose the later, attending five more months of school in Baltimore before deployment. Jay thought he'd enjoy Japan, so chose that area for post schooling stationing. He said that he left on Palm Sunday, 1955 and flew on ten separate airplanes, sequentially, to arrive in Korea. He was discharged in 1956 and returned to be an assistant to then District Attorney George Eppinger.

There are more members of this bar who've given up part of their youth, risked bodily harm, and given up career time to provide the society we sometimes take for granted. I need only view pictures of women in third world countries to really begin to appreciate where we are today here. I want to say thanks to all of you, so if I haven't mentioned you, or just brushed over your service, send me a note and I'll arrange a chat! I already have a few interviews to add in a later column, but I'd like to be complete. Please take a minute to share your service, be it military, national guard, coast guard, merchant marine or civil defense.

Before I finished talking with Jay Benedict, I asked him about humor in the legal profession. He was quick to tell me about the late Judge Eppinger. When Jay was elected to District Attorney, he practiced frequently before the judge. At the time, it was considered appropriate for out of county attorneys to introduce themselves to the court. The presiding judge would then introduce that attorney to the local attorney. It seems that Jay's middle initial is L. At the beginning of a criminal trial, an out of county attorney would introduce himself. Judge Eppinger would then say: "I'd like you to meet our District Attorney, Jail Benedict."