Pictured: Bernholtz (left) accepts his award from ESGR Area 2 Chair Jeff Dentlinger
Carroll resident and veteran Don Bernholtz was recognized yesterday (Monday) for his 30 years of volunteer service with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). The organization is part of the U.S. Department of War, created in 1972 to help employers and the nation’s civilian soldiers balance drill weekends and annual training with their private-sector careers. Bernholtz was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1955 to 1961 before transferring over to the Navy Construction Force, known as the Seabees, from 1961 to 1978. Nearly two decades after his retirement, Bernholtz found himself drawn back into the military’s orbit through the ESGR. Jeff Dentlinger, who now chairs the ESGR’s SW Iowa region, says Bernholtz has been an integral part of the local operations since the 1990s.
From educating employers about their duties and responsibilities regarding servicemen and women to intervening in suspected Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) violations, Dentlinger says Bernholtz played a central role in ensuring soldiers had a job to return to after duty called.
Bernholtz dismisses the claim that he was doing anything special. Rather, he says he only wanted to make the challenges of National Guard or Reserve service a little easier for local soldiers.
Bernholtz adds volunteering with the ESGR continues to be a pleasure, and he fondly remembers joining in the Huey flyovers at Iowa State football games in recent years. Dentlinger was joined by Staff Sgt. Jake Shirbroun on Monday as they honored Bernholtz’s three-decade-long volunteer record with the ESGR. Photos from the pinning ceremony are included below.
