Roses & Remembrances

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — “We were as close as a brother and sister could be. I couldn’t ask for a better brother.”

That encapsulates much of how Rose Ann Belosic feels about her younger brother, William A. Gorvet, who was killed 40 years ago while serving in the Vietnam War.

Belosic and her husband, Donald, of Boardman, shared several memories and impressions of Gorvet, a Marine who lost his life in a mortar attack Aug. 26, 1969, at age 21.

Gorvet, a 1966 Woodrow Wilson High School graduate, was one of 100 fallen comrades from Mahoning County who were honored during Sunday’s 18th annual Laying of the Roses ceremony in Central Square. The two-hour remembrance also recognized two county Vietnam veterans who are prisoners of war or missing in action, as well as 26 local military personnel who died within the last 20 years of service-related illnesses.

Sponsors were American Legion Post 472, Vietnam Veterans Association Chapter 135, International Association of Workforce Professionals Youngstown Chapter and AMVETS Post 44.

Spending summer vacations as youngsters at Lake Milton is among the fond memories Belosic has of her brother, she explained. Their father had a boat on which the siblings had many enjoyable times, she recalled.

“The most fun we had was boating at Lake Milton,” Belosic said. “He was like a clown, diving off the dock into the lake.”

For a while, Gorvey worked at the General Motors Lordstown plant, and was engaged to be married in May 1970, she said, adding that he had many friends and loved children.

Donald Belosic’s recollections of his brother-in-law include racing on Market Street his 1963 Dodge against Gorvet’s 1952 Chevrolet, which was in keeping with Gorvet’s love of cars. The two, along with other family and friends, often gathered at the former Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Boardman, he said.

As each of the 102 names were read, family, friends, fellow veterans and others placed a red rose at the base of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Some saluted the memorial, and others touched the name of the fallen soldier.

The keynote speaker was Atty. Ed Romero of Poland, former Youngstown law director and Army veteran.

In June 1966, Romero enlisted in the Army and returned from Vietnam about four years later, soon realizing “the country had changed,” he recalled. Instead of finding support for those who fought, Romero continued, he and many other U.S. troops returned to war protesters — especially on college campuses — and members of the media who chastised the soldiers.

“Many of us were confused about our identity and what we were supposed to be,” he said.

Romero told the audience he also was friends with Amalio Gonzalez and John O. Oquendo Jr., two of the 100 who were killed.

The somber event also featured a Table of Remembrance, which was a collection of symbols that represented those who never returned.

Among the items on the table were a single rose, which stood for family and loved ones’ keeping the faith that the soldier will come home; a lemon slice, representing the soldiers’ bitter fate; an upside-down glass, meaning that the person is unable to make a toast; and an empty chair.

“It’s our way to symbolize the fact that some of our brothers are missing from our midst,” said Gus Guzman, president of VVA Chapter 135 and the program’s master of ceremonies.

The two thought to be POWs or MIAs are Howard B. Carpenter and Donald M. Klemm.

The ceremony also featured the playing of taps as well as the posting and retiring of colors.