Team of hunters uncovers once-forgotten war memorials in Valley-

Team of hunders uncovers once-forgotten war memorials in Valley-

By CHRIS COTELESSE

The NewsOutlet.org

YOUNGSTOWN

Until last year, monuments bearing the names of fallen soldiers had been forgotten in the corners of cemeteries and neglected on the properties of vacant buildings all over the Mahoning Valley.

“It seems like they deserve to be recognized for more than just a name on a monument that nobody knows anything about,” said Jerry Nunziato, a retired criminal investigator for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Together with 11 other monument hunters, Nunziato has located and documented more than 20 war memorials in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

“It’s kind of fun. It’s almost like a scavenger hunt,” Nunziato said. “When you find one you feel like at least someone remembered it.”

The quest to map these statues and stone slabs began with the Polish War Veterans’ Memorial that used to sit outside Krakusy Hall on South Avenue.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.