Zachariah Wentworth
704 S. University St. Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
Sacred Heart Academy
316 E. Michigan St. Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
My Unforgettable Hero
Hero. The word hero is used to describe a lot of people. To some people it’s someone who
saved a life or is an inspiration to another person, or someone who did a remarkable feat. What if
I told you my hero was all of these? My hero was a decorated veteran, a family man, a
carpenter, an unforgettable personality, and the man of the hour. My hero was called Poppy. He
was my grandfather.
Serving 13 years in the U.S. Army and 10 years in the U.S. Air Force and fought in two wars,
the Korean War (1950-193) and Vietnam (1954-1975), he experienced quite a bit of history, but
he also made some of his own unbelievable history. He was a POW while in Korea. He and six
others were each shot once and then tossed off the side of a steep cliff. He and one other survived
the fall. After all that tragedy, he still lead the way back to camp and would spend the next
eight months in the hospital. He received three purple hearts and a bronze star.
He retired from the military in 1971 and devoted his life to helping others. He ran his
own service station and was a master mechanic. Whenever people were stranded, he would
offer his house instead of a hotel. One time my dad recalls a bus breaking down with over
twenty people on it, and they all stayed with my Poppy because he invited them in without
hesitation. He was always helping people.
Poppy was also a carpenter who made wooden toys for his grandkids, took care of my
grandma, and was even an Acolyte at church, but he was even much more than all of that. The
way that my hero helped everyone around him is very difficult to describe, but he showed me
