Watch Sergeant John Swart Jr's Speech to Herndon HS Band Aug 14, 2018

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 WWII Veteran Sergeant John Swart was born and raised on a dairy farm in Fairfax County, at the corner of Route 50 and Jermantown Road along with his only sibling, his brother, Asa.  Members of the Swart family lived on three of the corners at this intersection.  After high school he was drafted into the United States Army and went to Basic Training at Camp Rucker in Alabama.  He was then sent to the European Front where he took part in Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944 with the 87th  Chemical Mortar Battalion, C Company attached to the Fourth Division landing on Utah Beach on D-Day.  While in the army he was wounded twice in combat and received the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts with an Oak Leaf Cluster.  He was discharged as a radio operator and forward observer from the army with the rank of Sergeant and returned home to Fairfax where he continued to give back to the community.