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Military valor on display
Youngstown VA volunteer amasses colossal collection of medals
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
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, the driving force behind the 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 that no U.S. flags were 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 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.
He contacted friends who were involved in collecting medals and others at the Orders and Medals Society of America for advice, and also wrote to the Army Awards Headquarters for guidance.
People and organizations began donating various medals and badges, which he initially kept in his office at the VA. Then he moved toward putting them into framed displays, but the cost of framing was prohibitive.
He “worked a deal” with William Montague, then director of the VA for Northeast Ohio. “I said I’d collect and donate the medals if the VA would finance the framing, and that was how it happened,” he said.
Brienik wrote to the various branches of the U.S. military asking for medal donations. He said the Navy and Air Force never responded, and the Marine Corps said he would have to buy the medals at retail prices. The Coast Guard sent a complete set of its medals and badges and the Merchant Marine and Department of Defense each sent a number of their medals, he said.
“From those who didn’t respond, we bought them, and individuals donated items and information,” he said.
He said Maribeth Eckenrode, an employee at the Youngstown clinic, and her husband, Troy, donated a large number of Air Force badges. He also gave special recognition and thanks to Lee Graves, Dr. Charles McDowell and Lonny Borts for their contributions to the large collection.
Today, 17 large frames are filled with hundreds of medals and badges, ranging from the Civil War to the present, on display on the clinic’s walls of the main hall.
“We have basically stopped collecting. It is pretty complete,” Brienik said.
“The veterans love it. It’s generational,” Maribeth Eckenrode said.
“I often see veterans with their children or grandchildren pointing out the medals that they have. I always point out the display to visitors from other VA facilities when I conduct tours,” she said.
“The veterans are impressed,” said Ahmad Sayyed of Youngstown, a volunteer at the clinic and a Vietnam War Air Force veteran. “It helps them know someone cares.”
“It has been a labor of love. To see people looking and pointing at the medals is unbelievably satisfying,” Brienik added.