Veteran finally gets his due
Lowellville native John Mirich, pictured above in his senior portrait and while enlisted as an Army Specialist 5, will be honored by the American Legion Post 247 next week. Mirich was killed in a helicopter crash during the Vietnam War.
Lowellville American Legion Post 247 had Falcon Foundry, Lowellville, make a new plaque to memorialize John Mirich, who was left out of the original plaque.
Lowellville native killed in Vietnam War will be honored Sunday
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
LOWELLVILLE
A plaque belatedly honoring Lowellville native Army Specialist 5 John Mirich, who died in a helicopter crash in the Vietnam War, will be dedicated here Sunday by American Legion Post 247.
John, a helicopter mechanic, was the only one of Pete Sr. and Mary Mirich’s six sons who served in the military who was killed in the line of duty.
He died Jan. 16, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, along with six others when their helicopter crashed while taking playground equipment to an orphanage.
The helicopter crashed when part of a teeter-totter tied to the bottom of the aircraft broke loose and hit the rotor, bringing it down, said George Mirich Sr., one of John’s older brothers.
John, a member of Alpha Co., 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, was 21 when he died.
The seven were on their day off trying to do a good turn, said George of New Springfield, who worked at General Motors Lordstown Complex for nearly 20 years and operated a painting business, GMHR Inc.
Post 247 will dedicate the plaque in John’s honor at the base of one of a row of flowering crab apple trees along East Liberty Street, where the village’s war heroes are remembered. The trees were originally planted after World War II by the Lowellville Garden Club to honor village residents killed in that war, and the tradition has continued, said John Liggett, former commander of Post 247.
That John’s plaque, donated by Falcon Foundry, was not placed sooner was an oversight that Liggett discovered and set out to correct. It was while looking at the Lowellville War Memorial in front of City Hall, which lists all Lowellville residents who served in any war, that Liggett noticed a star beside John’s name, indicating he had been killed, and realized John had no plaque.
A number of members of John’s large family are expected to attend the dedication ceremony, including George and his brothers, Louis and Stephen Sr., both of Youngstown, who talked about John and their family growing up in the country on New Castle Road in Lowellville, and then moving to Struthers.
The Mirich sisters are: Mary Ann Berick of Youngstown; Margaret Obenauf of Struthers; Myra Mirich of Youngstown; Helen Morgan of Mogadore; Elaine Omslaer of Salem; Kathryn Mirich of Struthers; and Delores Pavlic in Florida.
Most of the 13-member Mirich clan graduated from Lowellville High School; the rest from Struthers High School.
The Mirich brothers went into the military 1
right out of high school: Mike Sr. drafted into the Marine Corps; Pete Jr. had 22 years in the Navy; George, Stephen Sr. and Louis, all in the Navy, and John, drafted into the Army.
“That’s what you did in those days,” said George, who is president of Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church’s School Congregation.
“That was part of life, to serve your country,” said Stephen, who worked 35 years at GM Lordstown.
Almost all John talked about in his letters home from Vietnam was getting back to his wife and infant daughter, said Stephen, who has many letters from his brother, who was 19 when he was drafted.
“Our mother complained to the draft board that she had five sons who had served and three still in the military. She said, ‘What do you want to do, take my husband too?’ ” George said with a laugh.
As a result, John was reclassified and did not go into the Army until one of the others was discharged.
John was married to the former Sue Vargo of Struthers, and his daughter, Colleen, was about a year old when he was killed, said Stephen.
“He was in my wedding in July 1968 and went to Vietnam in August,” said Stephen, who said they were very close.
“He had a sense of humor that was out of sight. We worked hard to get the Lord into his life,” Stephen said.
When asked if they were successful, he said: “I hope he is in heaven rejoicing.”
John and Louis graduated from Struthers High School in 1963 and 1962, respectively.
“We watched each other’s back. There was never a dull moment,” said Louis, who worked at Youngstown Sheet & Tube and for his brother’s company, Mike Mirich Roofing.
The brothers said the family is “overwhelmed” by the dedication ceremony planned for Sunday, and expect many of the family’s 130 immediate members will attend.
“Neither of our parents had an education. Our father was a stowaway on the ship that brought him to the United States as a teenager. They always said, we want 13 high school diplomas and six boys in the military,” Stephen said.
“They got their wish,” he said.