Gratitude for Our “Shapiro’s Heroes”

Each November as we commemorate Veteran’s Day and celebrate Thanksgiving, we recognize our team members and their family members who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. If you follow us on social media, you may have come across our posts featuring their photos and stories. Here is a collection of the Shapiro’s Heroes we are especially grateful for in 2020.

Meet Shapiro Hero Danny Featherstone, the Non-Ferrous Baler Operator at our Dickson facility who served in the Navy where he earned a ranking of E-4 from 1974 – 1978. During his time in the Navy, Danny was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. Danny participated in the Shellback ceremony which is a rite of passage for a sailor (or Marine, or other embarked personnel) who has sailed across the Equator. Thank you for your service, Danny!

Meet Shapiro Hero Aaron Farley, a driver, at our St. Louis location who served in the Marines from 1998 – 20012 where he earned the rank of Combat Engineer 1371 Sergeant. During his time in the military, Aaron went to MCRD in San Diego, CA, did Marine Combat Training in Pendleton, CA, attended a Combat Engineer School Camp in Lejeune, N.C., deployed to Okinawa, Japan, went to the 38th Parallel, South Korea once and deployed to Mt. Fuji, Japan twice. From there, he came back to the states to a Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 in 29 Palms, CA. Aaron joined the service because he wanted to serve his country. While in the military, he enjoyed the camaraderie and feels he would have regretted a decision not to enlist.

While in the military, Aaron was involved in demolitions, fortifications, construction, heavy equipment operations, urban warfare, mountain warfare, jungle warfare, desert warfare, personnel and mobile breaching, patrolling, rapid runway repair, expedient airfield assembly, defensive perimeter as well as being a heavy machine gunner.

Aaron received medals for National Defense, Good Conduct and a ribbon for Sea Servers Deployment. Thank you for your service, Aaron!

Meet Shapiro Hero Dennis Pace, a driver for our Springfield facility who served in the U.S. Navy from 1981 – 1985. Dennis went to boot camp at Camp Nimitz (now Navy Recruit Training Command). After that, he was transferred to the 32nd Street Naval Station where he trained to be a Pattern Maker Molder and graduated first in his class. Thank you for your service Dennis!

Meet Shapiro Hero Jim Funkhouser who worked as a driver for Shapiro and is now our Customer Service Manager. He served in the Navy from1981 – 1985 where he was a Quartermaster aboard the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. During Jim’s time in the Navy, his ship traveled to Hawaii, the Philippines, Korea, Guam and Australia where his primary duty on the carrier was navigation and he brings that expertise to his career at Shapiro. He was also a Master Helmsman, the individual on a ship who takes the helm and guides it in and out of the port. While serving our country, Jim received a Sea Service Navy Ribbon, a Battle Efficiency Award and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Thank you for your service Jim!

Meet Shapiro Hero Jim Funkhouser who worked as a driver for Shapiro and is now our Customer Service Manager. He served in the Navy from1981 – 1985 where he was a Quartermaster aboard the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. During Jim’s time in the Navy, his ship traveled to Hawaii, the Philippines, Korea, Guam and Australia where his primary duty on the carrier was navigation and he brings that expertise to his career at Shapiro. He was also a Master Helmsman, the individual on a ship who takes the helm and guides it in and out of the port. While serving our country, Jim received a Sea Service Navy Ribbon, a Battle Efficiency Award and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Thank you for your service Jim!

Meet Shapiro Hero Tom Viviano. Tom worked for Shapiro as a truck driver and is now a Customer Service Rep at Shapiro’s Springfield facility. He served in the Navy from 1983 – 1996 where he earned an E5 Second Petty Class Office Ranking. Tom received a long list of awards including a Navy Unit Commendation Metal, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, National defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal with two Bronze Stars, and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with two Bronze Stars.

While in the Navy, Tom traveled to the Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake in Ridgecrest, CA; Pensacola Naval Air Station with the Blue Angels; and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. Tom became a Military Police and went to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX; back to Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, FL; as well as aboard the USS Carl Vinson, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Abraham Lincoln aircraft carriers.

While working as an aircraft mechanic, Tom had the honor of traveling with the Navy’s Blue Angels and enjoyed the camaraderie and brotherhood during that time. While the Blue Angels were required to practice every day, they also visited air shows and children’s hospitals as the Blue Angels team. Thank you for your service Tom!

Meet Shapiro Hero Chris Newhouse, a member of the Shapiro sales team who served in the Marines from 1995 – 1999 earning the ranking of Lance Corporal. Chris was a combat engineer with an emphasis on tactical bulk fuel systems and a secondary MOS of Range Coach. Chris graduated at the top of his class in boot camp in San Diego (claims to be a Hollywood Marine) and was meritoriously promoted, qualifying as a rifle expert. And due to his outstanding shooting skills, was sent to school in Okinawa to become a Primary Marksmanship Instructor.

Chris traveled to MCT (Marine Combat Training) at Camp Pendleton, CA, followed by schooling at Fort McClellan in Anniston, AL and Fort Lee near Richmond, VA. He was awarded the Navy/Marine Overseas Service Ribbon for service in Okinawa, where he spent the majority of his time in the Marines. Thank you for your service Chris!

Meet Shapiro Hero Denny Lewis, a Regional Manager for Shapiro Metals who served in active duty during the Viet Nam War from 1969 – 1975 and then in the Naval Reserves from 1988 – 1992. Denny achieved E6 Petty Officer ranking while serving. He received the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Viet Campaign Medal with a Gold Star and a Good Conduct Medal with a Silver Star while in the Navy.

He was assigned to the USS Fanning DE -1076 and was stationed at the San Diego Naval Base. One cruise was to the Western Pacific (WEST-PAC) which included conducting operations in Vietnam and visiting Gaum, Midway, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan which he described as an absolutely a beautiful country, the Philippines and Taiwan. His second cruise was down into the Indian Ocean where his ship made several stops in Africa and was one of the first US Navy warships to sail into those territorial waters before the Cold War began. On the Indian Ocean cruise, Denny’s ship stopped in Mombasa, Kenya Africa, Djibouti (French Territory on north eastern coast of Africa) and Ceylon (now-Sri Lanka). There were several tribal wars ongoing and they could not leave the city of Mombasa or outside the walls of Djibouti. Thank you for your service Denny!

Meet Shapiro Hero Carl Cayce, our Non-Ferrous Forklift Operator at Shapiro’s Dickson facility who served in the Army from 1983 – 1987 where he earned an E-4 Ranking. Carl was stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington and achieved 4 Oak Leave Awards and 4 Achievement Awards.

During his time in the military, he visited Germany, Korea, Greece and Italy. Thank you for your service Carl!

Meet Shapiro Hero Jesse Craig, a Front-Line Operator at Shapiro’s Springfield facility who served in the Army from 1992 – 1999 and again from 2002-2015 when he was inspired to re-enlist after 9/11. Jesse earned the rank of Sergeant while in the military.

He was deployed to Iraq four times. Other assignments were twice in Fort Drum, New York, Fort Hood in Texas, Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and Fort Carson in Colorado. He was married the entire time he served.

While in the military, Jesse received a long list of medals and certifications including Army Commendation Medal (7th Award), Army Achievement Medal (7th Award), Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Good Conduct Medal (5th Award), National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal w/Campaign Star (4th Award), Army Service Medal and Overseas Service Ribbon (5th Award). Certifications were earned in Combat Life Saving and Field Sanitation. Thank you for your service Jesse!

Meet Shapiro Hero Louis Williams, the Plant Supervisor at our Denton facility who served in the Army 2002 – 2016 where he was ranked E7, Sergeant First Class. Louis served in Alaska, Tennessee, Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba, Africa, Mexico and South Asia.

While in the military, Louis received the NCO of the Year, Soldier of the Quarter and SNCO of the Quarter designations.

Thank you for your service Louis!

Meet Shapiro Hero Kirk Irwin from Shapiro’s Denton, TX facility. Kurt served in the Army in the 6th Infantry FIST. Kirk is pictured on the left. Thank you for your service Kirk!

Meet Shapiro Hero Don Shelton, Shapiro’s Material Supply Scheduler .Don served 3.5 year active duty in the Navy and 11 years In the Naval Reserve. He was stationed onboard the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67 working on the flight deck and also worked as a Tractor King and Flight Deck Director. Don has ribbons for Battle E (best aircraft carrier on the east coast that was battle ready), Libya Operation flight operations off the coast of Libya when Muammar Gaddafi was threatening one of his neighbors), Overseas Ribbon and Ship Readiness Ribbon and the Armed Services Ribbon. Don was also recommended to go to OCS (Officers Candidate School) by one of his division officers. Thank you for your service Don!

Meet Shapiro Hero Fred Stell-Smith, the Quality/Safety Manager at Shapiro who served in the Navy from 1971 – 1974 where he was a Petty Officer on an Amphibious Command Ship, the USS Blue Ridge, for the Pacific Fleet. During his time in the Navy, Fred visited over 20 countries.

Fred received numerous awards including the Navy/Marine Overseas Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Ribbon, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Navy Good Conduct Ribbon and a National Defense Ribbon. Thank you for your service Fred!

Meet Juan Hernandez, the Assistant Plant Manager at our El Paso facility who earned the rank of First Sergeant in the Army from 1995 – 2016 and retired after 21 years of service. Juan joined the military after high school and during his time in the Army, he traveled to Fort Hood, Texas; Camp Hovey, Korea; Fort Carson, Colorado; Waukegan, Illinois; Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq; Talill Air Force Base, Iraq; Oakland, California; and Fort Bliss, TX. During Juan’s service, he received a Bronze Star Medal, 2 Meritorious Service Medals, 4 Army Commendation Medals, 8 Army Achievement Medals, and Expert Infantryman’s Badge and a Gold Recruiters Badge. Thank you for your service, Juan!

Meet Shapiro Hero Robert Saltau, the brother-in-law of Diane Orange, a Project Manager at Shapiro. Robert served in the US Navy for 5 ½ years. During his time in the military, he was stationed in Sasebo, Japan for 2 years and the island of Guam for 2 years. He was a GMG2 (gunners mate – E5). Rob was also range master qualified as well as qualifying others at the range on small arms (M-14, M-60, M7, grenade launchers, etc.). Rob received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for his service in the Persian Gulf. Thank you for your service, Rob! Diane is very proud of her brother-in-law and all those who have and are currently serving.

Mitchell Haas is Jim Funkhouser’s son-in-law. He served 5 years in the Army to include two overseas tours. The first was at Camp Humphreys, South Korea from April 2015 to April 2016 and then a 9-month deployment at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan from November 2016 to July 2017. He was a 35P, Korean Cryptologic Language Analyst and was an E-5 Sergeant when his service ended. During the five years, he was awarded a MeritoriousService Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, and two Army Achievement Medals. Jim is very proud of Mitchell. “His willingness to serve our country is to be admired and commended these days. He is a great son-in-law and an outstanding husband to my daughter and a great father to our grandson.We are honored to have him as part of our family.” Thank you for your service, Mitchell! This is a photo of Mitchell receiving medals.

Adam Casillas is a valued customer of Shapiro Metals who works as the EHS Manager for his company.

Adam served in the US Navy from 2000 to 2008 doing his Basic Training at RTC Great Lakes, just north of Chicago. Adam was ranked E5 and was involved in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Meet Issac Zuniga, brother-in-law of Tony Mata, Customer Service Rep out of our El Paso location. Issac served in the Army from 2005 to 2011 and was stationed in Afghanistan.

Judy Ferraro, Shapiro’s VP of Sales and her entire family are extremely proud of their fathers and uncles. Joe and Florence Ferraro raised four boys and each one went into a different branch of the service. Joe, Judy’s father, was in the Navy, Uncle Gabe the Army, Uncle Bernie the Air Force and Uncle Jerry, the Marines. Thank you for your service Joe, Gabe, Bernie and Jerry.

Meet Shapiro Hero Robert E. Miller and Marilyn Barclay Miller, parents of Julius Miller, from our Wichita location. Robert served in the Navy from 1943-1946 and was ranked Lieutenant JG.

He served in the Pacific onboard the USS Mullany DD-528. A Fletcher Class Destroyer. He was the Communications Officer and also served as Communications Liaison Officer between British and Australian ships. Robert served through many of the major naval battles in the South Pacific and was part of the last major conflict among opposing battleships. Thank you for your service Robert!

Albert Burkhalter, a driver at Shapiro’s Dickson facility, achieved an E-4 Ranking in the Air Force from 1989 – 1993. Albert spent his military service at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. In the Air Force, Albert learned work ethic and brings that to his position at Shapiro. He received the Southeast Asia Service Medal, an award created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members who performed duty during the years of the Persian Gulf War. Thank you for your service, Albert!