Sunday, May 30, 2010
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
alcorn@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Hundreds of military medals and badges in framed shadow boxes line the main hall — better known as the Hall of Honor — at the Youngstown Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, a display believed to be unique among VA clinics in the country.
Although they’re sometimes referred to as “Bob’s Medals,” after Robert Brienik, who is the driving force behind collection, he is emphatic they are not his.
They are a tribute to the veterans who served and earned those medals and badges, he said. “I’ve enjoyed every second of putting the display together,” he said.
The project started in late 2002 or early 2003, said Brienik, volunteer liaison at the Youngstown clinic, 2031 Belmont Ave., when some patients complained there were no U.S. flags in the building.
Brienik, of Austintown, has logged 29,748 volunteer hours since he began with the VA in 1992 after a 37-year career with General Motors. Born and reared in Cleveland, he worked for GM there and then was transferred to GM Lordstown in 1966, where he worked in management until he retired.
“Volunteering at the VA lets me serve my brother veterans,” said Brienik, who served in the Army Medical Corps from 1956 to 1958.
As a result of the urging of the VA patients, various veterans organizations were contacted and AMVETS, American Ex-Prisoners of War and the Marine Corps Coordinating Council, donated flags.
“Then the original complainers came back,” Brienik said with a smile, and said they were appreciative of the flags, but why didn’t the VA, “since it is a military organization, have military pictures instead of farms and fruit.”
He said that second request triggered an idea he had in the back of his mind for some time about starting a collection of medals and framing them for display at the clinic.
And, with the particular urging of Steve Sepesy, a Youngstown area veteran, Brienik said the project got under way.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.