Former Heights High science teacher honored by U.S. Navy

Navy hero, World War II veteran, Morse code expert, navigator, aeroscience engineer, and Cleveland Heights High School science teacher.  Valentine Habor has been them all.

His long and distinguished career was celebrated on Sept. 1 when Lieutenant Valentine Hambor (ret.) was honored by the U.S. Navy as part of Cleveland's Navy Week celebration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  

Hambor, a 90-year-old resident of Warrensville Heights, was joined by other members of the National Association of Destroyer Veterans, known as the Tin Can Sailors, aboard the USS DeWert, a Navy frigate docked at the Port of Cleveland for the event. He served aboard the USS Thaddeus Parker Destroyer Escort (DE-369) at Okinawa, Japan, during World War II. His tour included escorting Navy destroyer convoys on trips between Pearl Harbor and Japan. As a Morse code expert, Hambor was responsible for the ship's navigation and communications. 

After he was Lt. Hambor, he was Mr. Hambor, an aeroscience engineer at TRW and NASA, before coming to Heights High, where he taught science and created an aeroscience curriculum. Many of his students have gone on to have successful careers in the aerospace industry.