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OPINION • 4A
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LOCAL • 1B
THE EARLY BIRD Weekend Edition of the Daily Advocate
Breaking news at DarkeCountyMedia.com
Weekend edition
Hogg Cycle Shop customizes cycle for amputee By Rob Kiser
DarkeCountyMedia.com
GREENVILLE — It would be easy for Ron Anthony to be bitter at what life has thrown at him. Instead, Anthony can be seen riding his modified motorcycle with the biggest smile on his face — thanks Chris Lovett of Hogg Cycle Shop in Greenville, Ohio. Anthony, a Piqua, Ohio, resident, first survived stage 4 cancer back in 2008. If that wasn’t enough, Anthony had a car pull out in front of him while riding his motorcycle last Labor Day. Five weeks later, he had to have his right leg amputated — but Anthony was not about to just accept his fate. He was determined to get back on a motorcycle. “I contacted the shop I normally dealt with in North Dayton about modifying a bike for me,” Anthony said. “Because, I couldn’t use the foot brake anymore (because of a prosthetic on his right leg). They said they didn’t want anything to do with it because of liability issues.” He found the same response from every bike shop he contacted. “So, I put an ad on Facebook,” Anthony said. “A couple people told me they might be able to do it, but weren’t sure.
That scared me that they weren’t sure, so I didn’t want to go with them.” That’s when Lovett stepped in. “I just wanted to help the guy,” Lovett said. “So, I contacted him and told him I could help him.” Anthony had no idea what a dream meeting that would turn into. “I knew there were kits in England for doing the modification,” Anthony said. “Those are $1,600 and it doesn’t even include labor. But, Chris (Lovett) told me he could do it with parts he had at the shop and that would work out better.” Lovett, along with Brian Emerick, Tyler Bridges, Mike Bragg, and Joe Amlin all contributed to making the modifications for the cycle. “There is nothing I can’t engineer,” Lovett said with a smile. “I probably spent $6 on parts at the hardware store. Other than that, everything came from the shop here.” Then, he gave Anthony a call, who was excited with the news. “I asked him what I was going to owe him, so I could get the money I was going to need together,” Anthony said. “And he told me there was no charge. That he just wanted to get me back on a bike. I couldn’t See CYCLE | 3A
Sunday, July 5, 2020 • $1
WWII veteran tells his story ‘We had a job to do and we did it the best we could’ By Vivian Blevins
Special to The Early Bird
DARKE COUNTY — If all goes as planned, on July 4, 2020, Harry Christy, 98, will be riding in the Miami County of Ohio parade, organized by the Miami Valley Veterans Museum. His driver on this occasion will be his son Jerry, a U.S. Air Force medic in the Vietnam War. Born March 25, 1922, Christy graduated from Piqua High School in Ohio in 1939, married Anna Marie Wack on Veterans Day in 1942, was inducted into the U.S. Army on Nov. 19, 1942, and reported for duty on Dec. 28, 1942. Christy soon found himself in the heart of actions that would determine the fate of a significant part of the world. Christy missed the Normandy “D” Day landing on June 6, 1944, because he was granted a five-day leave to visit his wife and see their firstborn son, Thomas. He learned of the invasion when the train on which he was making the 24-hour trip to Piqua stopped to pick up passengers at Portsmouth, Ohio. He reports, “We expected the invasion, and we knew what was ahead of us. And the challenges would be significant, lifealtering.” By August of 1944, Christy boarded an LST and set out across the English Channel to Omaha Beach. The next nine plus months of Christy’s life were grim, horrific with grueling work that had to be done to save the world from the Nazi regime. Omaha Beach at Normandy had suffered the highest casualties during Operation Overlord, and over 2,000 U.S. troops were killed, wounded or MIA. Christy reports that in the twomonth interim between the assault and his arrival: “When we debarked in France , there were some remnants of destruction — tanks and items in the water — but the deceased had been removed.” Christy’s unit then began 249 consecutive days in combat in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
Provided photo
Harry Christy’s official Army portrait.
as part of General George Patton’s 176th Field Artillery Battalion Third Army, sleeping only on the ground or in foxholes. His unit reinforced divisions that needed help and supported the 26th, 80th, and 35th Infantry and the 4th, 6th, and 12th Armored. As Christy reflects on his participation in the Battle of the Bulge in the heavily-forested Ardennes region, the German surprise attack on Allied forces on Dec. 18, 1944, the compromised supply lines, the fatigue of combat, the bitter cold, he writes in his memoir, “War is war. It is killed or be killed.” In regard to his part in the decimation a German battalion of perhaps
200 soldiers, he indicates, “I am not proud of what we did that day, but we had a job to do and we did it the best we could. If we had not done what we did, who knows how many American soldiers would have been killed in the following days of combat? It was cold, about 12 degrees below zero with a foot or more of snow on the ground.” Christy speaks with joy all these years later as he describes the day the clouds lifted and the American Air Force swooped in to save the day — Christmas Day, 1944. The Battle of the Bulge was over on Jan. 25, 1945, but the cost had See VETERAN | 4A
Front plates no longer required in Ohio
Provided photo
Hogg Cycle Shop owner Chris Lovett looks on as Ron Anthony sits on his modified motorcycle.
OH-70194642
COLUMBUS — Though 2020 has not necessarily been the happiest of years, one positive thing is happening for Ohio drivers who prefer their cars have a sleeker look up front. As of July 1, 2020, passenger vehicles in Ohio are no longer required to
have a front license plate. As a result of House Bill 62, which the Ohio General Assembly passed in 2019, Ohio now joins 20 other states in getting rid of the front license plate requirement. Supporters of the measure cited cost as one reason for the change, with an estimated
$1.5 million saved. This comes despite reservations from many law enforcement agencies in the Buckeye State, which have argued removing the front plate requirement on vehicles will hinder their criminal and accident investigations.
Ohio drivers nonetheless are still required to have a plate on the rear of their vehicles, as well as up-todate registration. Failure to do so will result in a citation and fine. Commercial tractors, however, are still required to have both front and back plates.