Rick Bressler believes the life of a World War II hero who was lost in a plane accident in 1946 in Clinton County is worth telling. That is why he produced a self-published book and developed a documentary about the man.

On Saturday, May 4, at 1:30 p.m., Bressler will be presenting his 32-minute documentary film at the Campus Theatre in Lewisburg titled, “Fallen, Not Forgotten: The Life of Captain Lawrence John Ritter.”

For the last 18 months, Rick has researched and investigated the story of this man whose life was lost due to a training flight accident in the remote mountains approximately seven miles north of Slate Run on April 26, 1946. It was during this time that he began writing a book containing all of the information he found. Bressler has finished writing it recently and is now hopeful that an editing and publishing service will be interested and help him get it on the bookshelves. The book includes a preface written by Captain Ritter’s niece, Janice Lariviere, indicating her support of Rick’s efforts saving this man’s legacy.

“Captain Ritter’s story was nearly lost through the generations with very few realizing his accomplishments. History recounts the great military minds like General Patton or Jimmy Doolittle, but never the men and women that executed their orders,” Bressler told “Webb Weekly.” “Every soldier has a story that should be and needs to be told, whether they served and died in combat or not. My goal is to learn and collect those stories and make them known — however I can.”

Bressler did not think he would ultimately create a film to feature Captain Ritter’s life. He credits doing this to the family that he managed to locate during his research. Captain Ritter’s niece, Janice Lariviere, had a box in her attic that belonged to her grandmother, Lawrence’s mother. Through several emails, text messages, and phone calls, Janice came to Pennsylvania from her home in Massachusetts to meet in person the night before a ceremony was held on the 72nd anniversary of his death. She found the box and brought it to Bressler’ss home and together, they looked through an incredible collection of photos, documents, diplomas, letters, and old 16mm reels that have not been viewed or even known about for several decades.

With family approval, Bressler had the reels processed and transformed into digital copies by Hoyer’s Photo in Williamsport. Those very reels contained gun camera training footage and brief moments of possible combat footage from Captain Ritter’s plane. Vacation footage from his youth with family was also found, which lead to the idea of making a video.

Since Bressler is a full-time student at Lock Haven University, he would work on it during his spare time, eventually preparing to show it for the first time on November 30, 2018, as the feature event for a fundraiser to benefit the VFW Veterans Benefit Center in Lock Haven. He continued his efforts perfecting it to the best of his ability, along with the help of his family and friends serving as his critics.

Bressler’s father, Dick Bressler, came up with the idea to show it in a movie theatre and took it upon himself to speak with the Campus Theatre personnel, ultimately leading to what will hopefully be a presentation remembered by the area for some time.

The doors to the Campus Theatre will open at 1:00 p.m., with the event starting at 1:30 p.m. Rick Bressler will introduce the project speaking about it for a few minutes with the film starting immediately after. When the film is over, he will then host a question and answer session in the mezzanine of the theatre.