Lowell Gardenhour, 86, an Air Force veteran and student at West Chester University, is being honored by the Chester County Veteran’s Affairs Office and WCU for his service, writes Katherine Scott for 6ABC.

Gardenhour, a computer science major, has been taking one class at WCU every semester for a decade.

“If you don’t keep busy, your brain freezes,” he said.

Gardenhour is one of 186 soldiers who were selected for a secret mission in 1954. At the time, he was sent to the Philippines, where he and other serviceman dropped supplies to the French army.

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“You had to fly over the drop zone at about 2,000 feet, then circle around to 1,000 feet so your supplies would not drift away,” said Gardenhour, a Garnet Valley resident.

He has also donated a number of pictures and artifacts from that time to the university.

Gardenhour is being honored for his service with a certificate from the Chester County Veteran’s Affairs Office and a certificate of distinction from WCU.

“You sacrificed four to five years of your life,” he said. “It’s rewarding. It really is.”

Read more about Lowell Gardenhour at 6ABC here.

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