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THEN AND NOW
JACOB HERR may have asked Anne Smith's best friend to dance, but he really wanted to meet Miss Smith.
"I think (my friend's) words were something like "I danced with the best looking red-head on Saturday night ... then he asked to meet you,' " recalls the former Miss Smith.
After all, Mr. Herr wound up giving Miss Smith two engagement rings.
Mr. Herr, a native of Lancaster, and Miss Smith, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, met at Clarion University (then Clarion State Teachers College) at a USO dance. Mr. Herr was a U.S. Army Air Corps cadet assigned to the 337th Training Detachment at Clarion, and Miss Smith was a student. Mr. Herr had entered the military in October 1942, and, after serving 11 months in the 119th Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division, transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps for air crew training.
"After a year in the infantry (Miss Smith) looked pretty good," he quips.
The fact is, Mr. Herr was smitten. Not long after the two met, he offered Miss Smith an engagement ring, but she returned it because she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "Then I decided I did want to marry him so I called him and said "yes.' "
After Mr. Herr earned his wings and commission, he realized that if he were married he would make another $100 a month.
"I don't remember when I...