Scherrey said it took her a year to find the Kelbers, to tell them that she has in her possession a jacket that belonged to Marine Corps Corporal Victor Kelber, who served on the USS Hornet during World War II.
"The reason I write is to let you know not only where the jacket is, but to let you know that your father's sacrifice will never be forgotten," Scherrey's e-mail said. "I primarily collect Marine uniforms from WWI to Vietnam. The uniforms I have in my collection are all identified to one
particular veteran. At the end of each school year here, I do a little presentation for the 6th- and 12th-grade classes. I bring along uniforms and show pictures of the veterans. In fact, this past May, the students got to hear about the USS Hornet and one of its brave soldiers, Cpl. Victor Kelber."
Scherrey said she also occasionally sets up displays at local libraries, museums, and veterans' organizations.
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Since she was a child of five, Scherrey said her fascination with named military uniforms began when her parents took her to Pea Ridge National Military Park in Arkansas, a 4,300-acre Civil War Battlefield that preserves the site of the March 1862 battle that saved Missouri for the Union.
"I was fascinated with the items, particularly a named uniform. From that day on, it was all over. I admit it was very hard being a young girl who was fascinated with military history, particularly the Marines who captured my heart after I heard that my aunt's father was a medic Navy Corpsman with the 1st Marine Division in World War II. He's still alive.
"As I grew up, my female teachers often told me it was inappropriate for a girl to be interested in such things - very old style of 'boys get blue and girls get pink' thinking. However, my mother's best friend, Rita Swift, was always supportive of my desire to research the wars and to preserve the history of the men and women who fought them. It was only after she died, when I was about 12, that I found out her husband, Colonel Dean Swift, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, had been killed in World War II and was buried in the Philippines."
From that day forward, Scherrey said she decided to collect only named/identified items that she could research, and keep the veterans' stories alive. A year and a half ago, Scherrey said she was searching on E-bay on the Internet.
"I'd go just about anywhere for military stuff," she admits. In one of the listings she saw a uniform from a ship detachment. The seller, who she believed was from Virginia, didn't mention the jacket having a name in it.
"However, something just told me to look further into this one, even though I never give a second glance to unnamed items. I asked the seller. He responded saying it had a name in it: 'V.L. Kelber' in official Marine Corp stamp."
Scherrey did a genealogy death search but found nothing. She then checked the World War II Memorial Registry: there on the list was Victor L. Kelber. The information matched the uniform exactly and she knew she had the right person, she said.
Victor Kelber was an 18-year-old from New York City when he enlisted in the Marine Corps on Jan. 27, 1940 and attended boot camp on Parris Island. His first duty station was the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hingham, Mass. He attended sea school and was a member of the Marine detachment aboard the USS Hornet CV-8 from the day it was commissioned, October 1941 until the day it went down, Oct. 26, 1942. He saw action at Midway Island, Buin-Faisi-Tona Lai, Guadalcanal, and Santa Cruz Island where he survived the sinking of the USS Hornet but was wounded and spent 14 months in hospitals in Balboa, Calif. and in Brooklyn, NY.
After his recovery, his wartime efforts in the states included being assigned to Headquarters, Eastern Sea Frontier as Admiral's Orderly to Admiral Andrews and his successor, Admiral Leary. He did naval public relations work and attended NCO chemical warfare school.
He returned overseas to Okinawa with the Third Amphibious Corps. When he returned stateside he was discharged on Jan. 31, 1946.
Kelber received the following: Purple Heart, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (4 stars), Good Conduct Medal '43 - bar '46, Occupation Service Medal (Asia bar), World War II Victory Medal, American Defense Medal (Fleet Bar- 1 star), American campaign medal, Department of Navy Recognition of Service, Participation in task force 16 (including the launching of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo). The Doolittle raid took off from the Hornet on Kelber's 21st birthday, Combat Action ribbon.
When Kelber was discharged from the hospital and shipped to Okinawa he was asked to turn in his uniform, as they didn't use it over there. The patch on the uniform is from his ship detachment. When he returned after the war, he was issued a new uniform with the Third Amphibious Corps patch.
"I bought the jacket," Scherrey said, "and then I attempted to locate the person who listed the registry memorial: Elsie M. Kelber, Lakewood N.J. I found that she had passed away in 2002. I then began a search of all Victor Kelbers and V. Kelbers in the Lakewood, N.J. area. I didn't find anyone."
Scherrey realized she would have to do a nationwide search. Unable to find a record of Kelber's death, she called the Marine Corps, wrote to their Personnel Records center, and combed the Internet to see if she could find him. She persistently called every V. Kelber she could find. After more than 20 calls she was no further ahead: "No one here by that name" or "It's not me" were all she heard.
"If I did this research for myself, perhaps I would have given up there," she said. "But, I don't do it for me. I do it for the brave men and women who guarded my freedom so many years before. They didn't give up on me, so I wouldn't give up on them. Thus, I continued researching."
A few months ago, Scherrey found a listing on the USS Hornet veteran's page by Vickie Kelber regarding her father. It was the first sign Scherrey had that Kelber had a daughter, so she tried e-mailing the address on that site. After several hours, it was returned to her e-mail address saying "User Unknown." Knowing she was so close, she said she just couldn't give up. She began a search for all the Vickie Kelbers she could find. During this search, she discovered the Collier County Government site, where veterans of World War II were interviewed and photographed.
Scherrey realized the Kelbers could be in Florida and did a search for Vickie in that area.
"That is when I found she was listed for Marco Island City Council," she said. "There wasn't a direct e-mail, so I had to send it to a general city address. I just hoped someone would get it to her."
In her e-mail, Scherrey told Kelber she had seen her post about her father, Victor Kelber, who served on the USS Hornet until the ship was lost in 1942. She explained she had purchased a beautiful Marine jacket with a Ship Detachment patch, belonging to a man who had served on the USS Hornet. On the sleeve were Corporal stripes and inside the sleeve was the name Victor Kelber.
"Much to my great surprise, the year of research paid off when I finally received an e-mail saying 'from Vickie Kelber.'"
Kelber said, "I was incredulous. Not that I didn't believe it, but just about a year ago we were contacted by my father's first cousin whom he had never met, out of the blue - again, a miracle of the Internet. He discovered his entire maternal family history, cousins he didn't know he had. So, you can imagine how I felt when we had a second occurrence!"
Scherrey requested a photo of Kelber to display next to his jacket, so the children and other viewers will get to put a face with a name.
"Also, I understand that your father is still alive," she wrote. "Would he be willing to share any of his military stories with me? Aside from service history, I would love to know his reasons for sewing down the collar and pockets on his Marine uniform. I love that modification as the uniform is never out of place."
Victor Kelber, "a man of few words", said the appearance of his uniform was, "Really shocking - never expected something like that. I'm glad she found it - it's a piece of history."
Scherrey confessed, that many of the female Marine veterans she had talked to over the years all said the same thing about the seagoing Marines (i.e. Marine ship detachments) like Victor Kelber. "They were the best looking, best dressed" Marines in the Marine Corps."
"Looks like your father sure fits that category," she added, after seeing some photos.
After thanking Kelber, she asked her to, "Please tell your father 'Semper Fi' for me."
After graduating from law school, Scherrey intends to join the Marines, and get to wear her own dark blue Marine dress uniform that she said she likes so much.
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