Tommy Gallatin with this new display case.
The next time you’re in the Webster Public Library, head on over to the reference desk and check out the new display case that’s just to its right. It was recently completed by Eagle Scout candidate Tommy Gallatin, in honor of hometown hero Don Holleder.
Holleder was a Webster resident who served in Vietnam as Operations Officer for the 28th Infantry Regiment, the Black Lions. On Tuesday October 17, 1967, he was killed by a sniper as he ran to the rescue of several soldiers trapped during the Battle of Ong Thanh. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on April 27, 2012. (Click here to read more about Holleder.)
The new display case includes a variety of information about Holleder, from college and military photographs to a rubbing of his name from the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
Tommy explaoned why he decided to tackle this particular project:
Don shows that he dedicates his life of someone who always put other people over himself. He also had some relations to me because he played football and I currently play football right now and he was in the military and my dad Richard Gallatin was in the army as well.
The things that I decided to include in the display are a lot of pictures from Don’s football career. I even included a popular Sports illustrated magazine with Don Holleder on the cover of the magazine.
And what did he learn about Holleder from the project?
“He was an example of what a leader should be,” Tommy said, “because he puts other before him, and he does anything in his power to give a helping hand.”
Tommy is a Scout in Webster Troop 262, and will be entering his senior year at Webster Thomas High School this fall. His Eagle Scout board of review is later this month, and he hopes to celebrate his Eagle Scout ceremony shortly thereafter.
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