School renews ties with fallen Vietnam hero

WESTFALL — Students, staff and community members alike packed the Delaware Valley Elementary School on May 20 to honor C/M Sgt. Edwin “Jack” Pearce of the United States Air Force, whose remains were found last summer after being MIA for 36 years when Pearce was shot down during a night flight mission in the Vietnam War. The elementary school put the morning on hold to celebrate the late serviceman and his family. Remarks were delivered by district superintendent Dr. Candis Finan and state Senator Lisa Baker. Musical selections were played by the elementary band and orchestra, and poems were read by DVES students. According to Senator Baker, the proximity of Memorial Day made the honorary service that much more special. Pearce, who grew up in Milford and graduated from DV High school in the early 70s, is the brother of local artist Kim Pearce and son of resident Rosemary Pearce, whose husband was shot down and kept as a prisoner of war for two years in World War II. Jack and 13 other servicemen flying an AC-130 aircraft were shot down by a surface-to-air missile on March 29, 1972 while attempting to intercept the flow of ammunition through Laos to the North Vietnamese, said 19-year-old Zachary Pearce, nephew to Jack, in his address at the May 20 morning ceremony. “As I stand here today, I’ll never be able to convey to you the profoundness of my grandfather’s and uncle’s sacrifices, or the sacrifices of so many like them, men and women who put their lives in definite peril for our country and for each and everyone of us,” Zach said. Pearce’s remains were laid to rest in the Milford Cemetery in September of last year.