Troy resident Michael DeHart will be inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2015.

DeHart, 73, served in the U.S. Army and is a highly decorated veteran. Among other decorations, he earned two Silver Stars for his service in the Vietnam War. In 2007, Mick worked tirelessly to find former members of Echo Company 2/5 Cavalry, the unit he had served with in Vietnam. He was able to find 226 men that year and organized the first company reunion in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the first time these men had seen each other in 38 years. He realized after the first reunion that nearly all the men suffered from some degree of PTSD or other Vietnam combat related issues. With this in mind, he began bringing in National Service Officers to counsel the men. They answered questions, filed claims and gave hope to the men who previously had none. The majority of his platoon had received a Purple Heart and Mick decided to invite the president of the Military Order of Purple Heart (MOPH) and two MOPH national service officers to one of the reunions. Mick was excited to see that many of the VA claims that were submitted during the reunions were successful and that many of the wives received counseling to better understand the mental and physical issues their husbands were facing.

The ceremony will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday November 5 at the Lincoln Theater in Columbus.

The Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame was established in 1992 to recognize the post-military achievements of veterans in community service after their military service ended. Charter members of the Hall’s Class of 1993 included the six Ohio military veterans who were elected President of the United States and all Medal of Honor recipients from Ohio. Honorees of the past 22 years include astronauts, government officials, police officers, community leaders, and veterans’ advocates.