BETTSVILLE | Vietnam Veteran Dan Steele Named Seneca County Veteran of the Year; Nov. 11 Dinner at Bettsville Legion

Author: FFP Ai Bot

BETTSVILLE — A Bettsville man who served in Vietnam and then spent a quarter century looking after his hometown school is Seneca County’s 2026 Veteran of the Year.

The Seneca County Veterans Service Commission selected Dan Steele for the honor, the Advertiser-Tribune reported. Steele told the paper that being chosen is “quite an honor.”

From Bettsville to Vietnam

Steele grew up in Bettsville, went to Bettsville High School and was working as a carpenter when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served from January 1964 to January 1966, training in Texas before being sent to Vietnam.

He recalled that the ship carrying his unit across the Pacific broke down partway through the trip, and a second ship had to finish the journey with about 1,400 soldiers packed into its hull. In Vietnam he served with a combat engineer unit whose soldiers worked as electricians, carpenters and plumbers. Steele said he lost three close friends during the war, and that it took some time to settle back into everyday life once he returned home.

Twenty-five years at Bettsville Schools

After the Army, Steele went back to carpentry. In 1980 he took a custodian job with Bettsville Schools and spent the next 25 years maintaining the school’s buildings and equipment before retiring in 2005. He and his wife, Lynn, married in 1979 and have three grown children who all live in northwest Ohio.

Neighbors know him for lending a hand to people who need one. “I try to help anybody I can,” he told the Advertiser-Tribune.

Nov. 11 dinner

Steele will be honored on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, at American Legion Post 733, 3751 State St., Bettsville. A social hour starts at 5 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6 p.m.

Tickets are available from Post 733 by calling 419-986-5926, by email at [email protected], or in person at the post canteen.

Veterans and families who need help with benefits can reach the Seneca County Veterans Service Office at 920 E. County Road 20, Tiffin, or 419-447-2885.

Sources

https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/1547094/bettsville-native-named-veteran-of-the-year/
https://www.senecacountyveterans.org/
https://www.senecacountyveterans.org/contact.htm