Tom Koehler

What is a hero? A hero is someone who you admire, look up to, and someone inspiring. To become a hero, you must an amazing person with amazing qualities. A hero can be anyone, someone famous, a pet, a family member, or a friend. As long as this person inspires you her/she can be your hero. A hero inspires you to do something great, makes you want to get up in the morning, and makes you feel like you have a purpose in the world. My hero is my grandpa. He is humorous, intelligent, and caring. His name is Tom Koehler.

My grandpa was born at Amityville Hospital in New York. As he was growing up, my grandpa lived in Syosset, New York. My grandpa told me, “Even though the world wars were raging, Syosset seemed to be a worry free town and a wonderful and peaceful place to live. While growing up, my grandpa worked on his parents farm, worked on cars, cut lawns, and anything to make money for his family. On some days, my grandpa would go out on his boat to catch oysters for his family’s dinner. At age 14, my grandpa found out that the golf course by his house was hiring caddies, which paid a whole lot more than other jobs. My grandpa grew up with 4 sisters and 1 brother.

At age 17, towards the end of the Korean War, my grandpa joined the army as a tank engineer. After the war, my grandpa went back to Syosset to work as a mechanic. In 1959, he married my grandma, Victoria Koehler. After their wedding, my grandpa decided to own a gas station in Selden, New York, and later moved there to be closer to his work. After 7 years in Selden, my grandpa decided to move to Smithtown, New York, and own a different gas station. Within a couple of years, my grandparents decided to move to Chester, Vermont, to own a restaurant called “The Village Store” for about 3 years. While owning the store, My grandma’s father became diagnosed with cancer. To help out on Long Island, My grandpa, grandma, and their 3 children, (my mom, my aunt, and my uncle) closed the store, and set for the island. After a couple of years, my grandpa became interested in auctions. He then packed his bags, and left his wife and kids for 3 weeks to go to auctioneer school in Kansas City, Missouri. When he came back, my grandpa started his own auctioneer business. After a long fun filled, crazy, 25 years of being an auctioneer, my grandpa and grandma retired up to Sutton, New Hampshire. Today my grandpa, lives in New London, New Hampshire.

My grandpa told me that the hardest obstacle that he had to overcome in his life had to be going to Korea for 16 months. “The winters were beyond freezing and the summers were at least 110 degrees each day” my grandpa told me. As a tank engineer, my grandpa was always working in extremely hot spaces. While at the camps, there was very little space, dirty tents and bugs everywhere. Usually my grandpa would have to sleep on the tanks and it would often be snowing when he would wake up. After one of the battles, my grandpa’s friend was injured and my grandpa had to drive him a couple of miles by jeep from the mountains to the nearest hospital, but it was too late. My grandpa’s friend had passed away in the back of his jeep.

Most people think that a hero has to be someone who is recognized for their actions, but the reality is that a person that goes unknown is a real hero. A person that not many people know, but has contributed to making the world a better place. That is what my grandpa is, many do not know him, but to me he is the kindest, smartest, and most encouraging person I know. I know that he is, and always will be, the greatest person I could ever know.