After playing several sports at Cathedral Prep, Jerry Dahlkemper was prepared for the rigors of boot camp.

He attended Penn State University for two years, when he decided to serve his Country.

Every week he received a letter from his mother, updating him on family news in Erie.

Dahlkemper saved most of those letters.

During out interview, he found it difficult to read some of those letters.

He likes to say, he answered his call to duty.

Like so many other Veterans, that service came with a price.

Five years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer.

During his time in Vietnam, he was constantly around Agent Orange.

It's an herbicide used during the Vietnam War, that is associated with several types of cancer.

He worked 51 years for the family business doing excavating.

He told Erie News Now, "Since I returned from Vietnam, I haven't had a bad day since."