Free roof installed on military museum
Visit to museum moves contractor to install new roof for free.
Growing up, Travis Frees had heard stories about his grandfather, the late Warren L. Souders of Mohnton, being taken prisoner during World War II.
But it wasn’t until he recently visited the Berks Military History Museum that Frees really began to appreciate what his grandfather and others of America’s greatest generation endured in service to their country.
“When I toured the museum,” said Frees, 30, of Wyomissing, “it brought back memories of my grandfather.”
State Rep. Mark M. Gillen, founder and president of the Mohnton museum, accompanied Frees on his tour.
“When we approached the POW exhibit, I could see that it grabbed hold of his heart,” Gillen recalls. “It was in his DNA.”
So profound was the experience that Frees, a Reading roofing contractor, arranged to put a new roof on the museum free of charge.
The gift of a roof by The Helping Company, Frees’ business, comes as the museum is set to open a new exhibit on the Holocaust.
The roof over the former kitchen, which is being converted to house the Holocaust exhibit, had been leaking. Museum officials feared potential damage to the artifacts.
“We’re elated that we can continue our work on the exhibit without fear of its contents being damaged,” Gillen said.
The Holocaust exhibit opens with an outdoor ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sept. 2, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, at 198 E. Wyomissing Ave. It’s free and open to the public.
Work begins
A crew from The Helping Company put a new 50-year shingle roof on a portion of the museum last week.
In the coming weeks, the company will replace the entire roof.
Built in 1873, the wooden clapboard structure is beginning to show its age.
A historic building in its own right, it once housed the former C. D. Hornberger Carriage, Wheelwright and Blacksmith, a Mohnton landmark.
Since the military history museum took up residence in 2017, the building has housed an extensive collection of military memorabilia, particularly from World War I and World War II.
The collection has grown so quickly that the museum drew plans for a $1.2 million expansion that would add galleries, a garaged entry space for vehicles and a 100-plus-seat auditorium for special events, Plans for the addition are on hold due to the difficulty of raising funds during the COVID-19 crisis.
Gillen was stunned when Frees, who was inspecting the roof, volunteered to do the job free of charge.
“These have been challenging times for the museum, which has dedicated itself to honoring our veterans with no admission fees and without marketing anything,” he said. “The Helping Company’s generosity is another example of how a community responds when a local nonprofit is in need.”
A POW’s story
Warren Souders of Reading was about 18 when he enlisted in the Army in the early 1940s.
Military documents in his family’s possession say he was a private first class in Company B, 219th Infantry Division and was awarded a Bronze Star. He was honorably discharged on Oct. 4, 1945.
Souders talked little about his wartime experience, a common trait among World War II veterans.
Indeed, when Frees was a student at Gov. Mifflin High School, Souders declined his request to speak of his wartime experience to classmates.
Family members believe Souders spent a year as a prisoner of war in a stalag in Germany.
“What I’ve been told by family members is that he and another soldier escaped,” Frees said. “They supposedly survived on horse meat during their time on the road to freedom.” Whatever happened, Souders took it to his grave when he passed at age 89 in 2010.
Frees gained a sense of what his grandfather must have gone through recently when he visited the museum’s POW collection.
The collection is built around the experience of the late Samuel C. Gundy, a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot who spent 15 months as a POW in Germany.
Gundy, who broke his back when his bomber crashed, was decorated with a Purple Heart, the Air Medal and a Bronze Star. When he died at age 92 in 2010, Grundy’s family donated his collection of POW memorabilia to the museum.
Gillen observed that Frees was drawn to one item in the collection, a prayer book Gundy kept with him during his captivity.
The experience, Frees said, has inspired him to learn more about his grandfather’s service in World War II.
“It gives me the chills when I think about it,” Frees confided. “I can’t fathom what he must have gone through.”