Palmerton police chief and Sgt. First Class Timothy Kromer, retired U.S. Army, said we should honor veterans and their families.

Kromer, the keynote speaker for the Carbon County service in Josiah White Park in Jim Thorpe, said, “Your presence here ensures that we will never forget the sacrifices made by the men and women who have served our country.”

Kromer enlisted in the Pa. Army National Guard on July 18, 1997. He said 20 of his 21 years of service were in the National Guard in Hometown.

“And I must tell you that my military service has made me the man I am today,” Kromer said.

Additional speakers included Christine LeClair, Carbon County Director of Veterans Affairs; Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, on behalf of the Carbon County Commissioners; Tom Gerhard, representing the office of U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser; and Brad Hurley, representing the offices of state Sen. John Yudichak and state Sen. David Argall.

Kathy Crampsie sang the national anthem. Gil Henry gave the invocation.

LeClair, the emcee, said, “The word veteran is an honored title which must be earned through painstaking sacrifice.

“It is a label that doesn’t separate men from women, nor define race nor creed. It is a title that speaks of courage, compassion, and sacrifice. It speaks of heartbreak in the wake of the terrible cost of war. It speaks of love of country and the freedom and ideals we hold most dear.”

Military veterans from several organizations formed a color guard, with a gun salute to veterans.

Kromer said a fellow soldier in Hometown is the one who suggested that he go to the police academy to obtain his ACT 120 Certification.

He said his GI Bill paid for the academy, which led him to his first police job. He was hired part time by the Palmerton Police Department in May 2002. He went fulltime in December of that year.

“My first First Sergeant in Hometown, Paul Gunnels, used to call me Baby Kromer, as I was the youngest of the three Kromers serving in Bravo Company,” he said. “First Sergeant Gunnels looked at me during my very first annual training at Fort Drum, New York, and famously stated, ‘Baby Kromer, you’re a lifer.’ I didn’t realize then just how right he was.”

Active duty

Kromer’s first term of enlistment was ending in 2003. He re-enlisted for another six years, serving on two combat deployments, spending a year in Iraq and nine months in Afghanistan. He had two state active-duty missions, massive flooding in Port Carbon, and major winter storms closing Interstate 81.

He re-enlisted several times, serving on a logistics deployment to Kuwait and three more state active-duty missions, and spent the majority of his career as an armor crewman and tank commander on M1A1 Abrams tanks.

In 2016, because of changes in the Pa. Army National Guard, Kromer was required to transition to infantry.

“So, at the age of 38 years old, I got to spend two weeks at Fort Indiantown Gap to reclassify as Infantry,” he said. “I was the oldest soldier in my class by seven years, and the only platoon sergeant out of five in my battalion that completed the course.”

Kromer said that in 2020, he followed his brother to the 165th MP Battalion. He served in the 1069th Military Police Company until his retirement in 2021.

“I had so many amazing experiences during my military service, and I look back on my time with pride and gratitude,” he said.

Lost mentors

Not all of his military service was positive. On May 20, 2008, while on patrol in the Ab Band District of Ghazni province in Afghanistan, their lead vehicle struck a roadside bomb, and their platoon leader, First Lt. Jeffrey DePrimo, was killed.

On March 25, 2018, Kromer said that Sgt. First Class Paul Baker, one of his closest friends and greatest mentors, took his own life because of mental health issues from his military service.

“That leads me to my next point, which is that we should not only be thanking our veterans today, but that we should thanking their families as well,” he said. “Without the support of my family, I would not have been nearly as successful as I was in my military career.

“Their sacrifice is often overlooked while honoring our veterans. My parents had to endure both of their sons being deployed overseas together three times. While we were gone, they are the ones who held everything together back here, taking care of our ‘real world’ responsibilities, and helping to raise my children in my absence.

“So, as much as we honor our veterans today, we must also honor their families, as their love and support are absolutely vital.”

Kromer thanked everyone who attended the ceremony. “Carbon County is proud of its veterans, and does a phenomenal job honoring and remembering them. I am proud to be a part of this great tradition, and I sincerely hope to see everyone’s dedication continue for many years to come.”

Kromer ended his speech with the famous words of Abraham Lincoln, who stated, “A nation which fails to honor its heroes will not long endure.”