Silver Lakes 0909005

The state’s first privately-created memorial for Vietnam veterans sits upon the high banks of Silver Lake, going largely unnoticed now that the lake and its amenities have closed to the public. The lake’s owner, Dan Heberling, said although he is no longer open for company picnics and retreats, that anyone interested in visiting the memorial may do so by making arrangements.

Silver Lake has been in the Heberling family since 1955, when Dan’s parents purchased the property. They managed the business until Dan returned home from Vietnam in 1970, after which, he and his sister Fran took over as business partners.

The site was once a booming business, fueled mostly by company picnics from large area corporations like NCR and Delphi. Heberling said he used to host as many 1,400 people per weekend and maintain a staff of 50 employees, but due to the ever-increasing code requirements and their associated fees, he said it became more and more difficult to turn a profit.

Heberling commissioned the lake’s Vietnam memorial in 1985, ten years after the war had officially ended, and it was dedicated on the Fourth of July holiday that year. Heberling said he was compelled to create the memorial at that time because no other fitting monuments had been erected in the area, and felt it necessary to pay tribute to all Vietnam veterans in recognition of their largely unappreciated service. He said it wasn’t until recently that Vietnam veterans started receiving the credit they’d earned in the jungles, noting that he still cannot grasp why Vietnam vets were treated so poorly upon their return home from war.

“I don’t know what happened when we came home,” he said. “There is no way to explain what happened back then.”

Heberling served as an MP in Vietnam’s city of Da Nang from 1969 to 1970. He was drafted in 1967, and although he “knew it was coming” because of the number system, he had no chance to say goodbye to his family before being whisked away on a bus. Heberling said he drove to the draft office expecting to be able to go home before being officially drafted, but they took him away so abruptly that he didn’t even have time to roll up the windows of his car in the parking lot, saying that he had to call his brother to come get the car.

He said he was pleased to see all veterans, especially those from Vietnam, receiving respect and recognition for their service. He said he credits this in part to the difference in perception of soldiers during the war in Afghanistan when so many people had sons and daughters returning home from overseas. Heberling said that the amount of respect currently shown to soldiers and veterans is encouraging, noting that it is a vast difference from when he returned home.

The Silver Lake memorial’s platform is a remnant from the old Morrow mining company that used to mine mud from the bottom of the lake. Its focal point is a 14,000 year-old boulder that was deposited near the lake by the last glacier, which came down the fortieth parallel (Route 40) before retreating.

Anyone interested in visiting the lake’s Vietnam memorial should call 937-845-8311 to make arrangements with Dan.w

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