This year, the Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Valor is honoring veterans who served in the wars in Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It is also commemorating the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm.
“The Hillsdale County Hall of Valor, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose purpose is recognition of Hillsdale County veterans,” said John M. Williams III, president of the Hillsdale County Hall of Veterans.
The Hillsdale County Hall of Veterans has an annual award ceremony that takes place in November, during which the group honors new inductions into the Hall of Valor, according to Williams.
The Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Valor was originally known as the Hall of Fame. Bisher said the current Board of Directors voted to change the name to “The Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Valor” in 2020.
Hall of Valor Vice President and Associate Dean of Men Jeffrey Rogers said soldiers who are inducted also receive an official proclamation from the state recognizing their service.
Naval veteran Roger Yoder founded Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Fame in 2000, Director Dan Bisher, a 2004 inductee, said.
The Hillsdale County Hall of Valor also offers the Admiral Peter Hess Beckwith Memorial Scholarship to seniors at Hillsdale County high schools, Williams said.
According to Rogers, the scholarship is named after Peter Beckwith, who Rogers had been working with to create, as “a way for the youth to get involved in learning about and honoring the service of our armed forces,” Rogers said.
After Beckwith passed away in 2019, according to Rogers, Beckwith’s family donated money in his honor so that the scholarship could be offered to Hillsdale County high school students.
Williams is the group’s president and an Air Force veteran. He is also a professor in the School of Education at Spring Arbor University. He graduated from Hillsdale College in 1966.
“I grew up in Hillsdale and am a third generation graduate of Hillsdale College. Before I came to Spring Arbor, I was a colonel in the U. S. Air Force. I retired after 20+ years in the Air Force,” he said.
“My last assignment was at the Pentagon as an advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and Training,” he said. Williams confirmed that he became involved with the Hall of Valor since he was inducted into the Hillsdale County Hall of Valor in 2012 and then was asked to join the Board of Directors.
Bisher, along with being a director on the board of leadership, is a well-known member of the Hillsdale community. Bisher said he graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1963 and was the managing editor of the Hillsdale Daily News. Bisher was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as a Combat Correspondent.
Bishop Peter H. Beckwith said he served in the Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy Reserve for 27 years, retiring in 1999 as the Deputy Chief of Chaplain for Total Force. Beckwith also served as Chaplain at Hillsdale College from 2010 to 2016, before being inducted into the Hall of Valor in 2017.