On February 20, 1991, Chief Warrant Officer Hal Reichle was killed while piloting an OH-58 Marine Helicopter during the Desert Storm war. Reichle was returning from a reconnaissance mission in Iraq when his helicopter crashed.
Sine Reichle's untimely death, Reichle's family and friends have honored his memory by carrying out anonymous acts of kindness, something Reichle was known for during his time as a young man growing up in Cleveland and while earning his degree at Hiram College.
"Hal would mow someone's lawn, shovel a driveway, paint someone's house when they're on vacation, leave a bag of groceries on the front door steps, and he would do all this anonymously," said Reichle's longtime friend Roger Cram, an administrator at Hiram College. "He did this kind of thing each day of his life. It is why he was so loved by so many people."
To honor Reichle's memory, friends and family members have created SSSSH, the Secret Society of Serendipitous Service for Hal. The group encourages anonymous acts of kindness -- known as pulling a Reichle -- and asks those who perform the act of kindness to send a short note describing the action to a post office box issued to Hal Reichle, P.O. Box 375, Hiram, Ohio, 44234-0375. Members of SSSH in recent months have given a waitress a $50 tip in the name of Hal Reichle, a $100 gift certificate to a skycap at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, set up free curb-side meals on the inner-city streets of Cleveland Akron, and washed many dirty cars parked on the streets of Northeast Ohio.
To protect the anonymity of the person performing the act of kindness, notes to the post office box must not be signed and must not have a return name or address on the envelope. Letters received with any kind of identification are thrown out. Each May, a list of the anonymous acts are printed in a newsletter distributed to family and friends of Reichle.
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