By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
World War II Navy veteran Howard Brooks is being honored by a South Jersey man who simply wants to say thank you.
“I did not serve, so this is my way of, my small way of just giving back,” said Scott Durham.
It started in 2014. Durham, known as Bull, found a multi-tool knife online and decided to get it personally engraved for our nation’s service members, veterans and fallen heroes. He presented the idea to Judi Tapper, president of the Department of New Jersey American Gold Star Mothers.
“They never will be forgotten. There isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t think of your fallen loved one,” Tapper said.
Judi lost her son, Navy Seal David Tapper, in 2003. She asked Bull to make about 50 knives for other New Jersey Gold Star Mothers.
“I always say to people, it takes more than the military to make America great. It takes people like Scott on the home front that really truly care about our veterans, and our wounded warriors and families of the fallen,” she said.
Bull bought the first 500 or so himself, then he started asking for donations.
“I have kids to this day come up and hand me a dollar and say thanks, ‘Mr. Durham for doing this,'” he said.
It soon became a nationwide effort. The Haddonfield resident created a brochure. He says it’s now in every state in the country. He gets five to 10 requests a day by mail. The businessman purchases the multi-tools from a Boston-based company at a discount.
All of the knives are engraved at Paul’s Custom Awards in Barrington. So far they’ve produced 2,400. Bull hopes to mail out as many as 3,000 more this year.
It costs about $35 for each knife.
“We do offer him a huge veteran’s discount, military discount. We take the knives, we laser engrave a cut out and then we personalize it,” said Paul’s Custom Awards Manager Kevin McGuigan.
Bull mails hundreds of the memorial keepsakes along with personal letters to strangers and presents them in person when he can.
“I’ve made them for probably 650 Gold Star Mothers across America. I made them for both the Bushes. I made one for Arnold Palmer,” he said.
Along with so many other American heroes, like Howard Brooks.
“I am very proud to have served,” Brooks said.
The Mount Laurel resident says he was captured by the Japanese during his time in the service, a prisoner of war for more than three years.
“It gives you a good feeling to know that people do remember and they are aware of what you have done,” Brooks said.
“If it can give just 30 seconds to a minute of gratification, to these veterans who are willing to put their life on the line for me, that’s all I’m after really,” Bull said.