American Hero

DES MOINES — As the sun beat down from the bright blue Iowa sky, 97-year-old Lawrence Halter stepped onto the green grass of Principal Park Field during an I-Cubs home game Sunday afternoon. Sporting his Cubs hat and a World Champions T-shirt, the Baxter man waived at a cheering crowd with every step he took to reach the pitcher’s mound.

“I feel like I could fly,” Halter said as he waited on the field for his name to be called.

Halter’s moment in the spotlight has been in the making for months thanks to his friend and fellow Baxter resident Doug Bishop, who organized the opportunity. Bishop purchased the chance for someone to throw out the first pitch at a United Way of Jasper County fundraiser in November 2016. Thanks to more than 30 people the group raised $660 and secured Halter’s chance at a major pitch in the minor leagues.

“I thought, you know, this guy survived three beach landings, spent four years overseas, made it through a stroke, lived a good long life and what greater deal could we do than to have Lawrence Halter at 97 years old throw out the first pitch,” Bishop said.

The Baxter man was born and raised in the small Jasper County community and was drafted in the Army in June of 1941. His life, like 16 million other men and women who served during World War II, took a sharp turn in course on Dec. 7, 1941. Halter said he finished his basic training and was shipped to Hawaii where they learned maneuvers for beach landings

“Started out in Hawaii where we practiced amphibious landings,” Halter said. “Then we went to Marshall Islands and took them. Then came back to Hawaii and recuperated and got replacements for the ones we lost. Then we went to Saipan and after we took those islands we boarded ship and went to the Philippine Islands but they didn’t need us so we went on to Okinawa.”

Halter doesn’t share many details about his time overseas except to say he never had the chance to come home during his four years of service, and he still often thinks about his friends who did not make it home.

“Some things you don’t talk about. When you see them laying like that, you just don’t talk about it,” the veteran said. “I can still see those boys, my friends that got killed on those islands. I still think about them a lot.”

Diane Halter, who is married to Halter’s son Gary, said her father-in-law has always been extremely humble about his service.

“He still has shrapnel in his neck from wounds he got,” she said. “He would never accept medals for service. He never thought he was wounded enough to earn a medal. And with so many people who died he just never thought he earned them.”

Not wanting to dwell on the war, Halter would rather talk about his beloved Cubbies, a team he has cheered for alongside his father as a young boy, and now cheers for with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“I’ve been working on my fast ball and my slow ball,” he said wearing the Cubs hat and clasping his walking stick. “I’m a little afraid they are gonna call me up to the big leagues. If I (end up on a baseball card) I might faint.”

While there may not be a MLB contract in the mail, one wouldn’t know that based on Halter’s reception up on the mound. Two-hundred advance tickets were sold to those wanting to come and show their support for the last surviving World War II veteran living in Baxter. At game time, nearly 300 people from Jasper County had made the trip to Principal Park in downtown Des Moines to cheer on one of their own.

“It was a real proud moment,” said Cora Halter, Halter’s wife of 66 years. “He thought that was pretty special, and he did such a good job. Our whole family was there and that was pretty special.”

Rachel Marks, of Baxter, said getting to see her grandpa throw out the first pitch and be honored in front of his family, friends and neighbors is something she won’t soon forget.

“He is just so deserving of all this,” Marks said. “He loves his country, his family and God. He is such an awesome person. He is truly my hero.”

Bishop, who escorted Halter to the pitching mound, said the afternoon couldn’t have gone better for his friend.

“It was great. He was loving every second,” Bishop said. “I’m hoping there are young kids out in the crowd who have no idea who Lawrence Halter is but who will tell their grandkids someday ‘I got to see a real American hero stand out there and throw the first pitch.’ That would be pretty great.”