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Sacrifice Remembered
Photo
Jack Kidd, a member of the Austintown Class of 1962 Veterans’ Memorial Committee, stands in front of a display at Fitch High School that honors two 1962 graduates who were killed in action in Vietnam.
Classmates put together memorial for fallen veterans
By Robert Connelly
AUSTINTOWN
A tall wooden and glass case honoring two fallen veterans from Fitch High School now tells the stories of how they gave their lives in battle.
The case displays high school and service photographs of Marine Sgt. James Prommersberger and Army 2nd Lt. Charles Brown, classmates from 1962 who were both killed in action.
Along with their photographs are their medals — each received a Silver Star and Purple Heart, and citation letters that accompanied their Silver Star detailing how they died.
Brown fought off 4,000 Vietnamese soldiers until he died. Prommersberger was in an ambush when he volunteered to bring the wounded back from the battlefield. He gave his life to shield the 12th man he brought back from the battlefield from a mortar round that hit the ground next to them.
This is the second memorial the Austintown Class of 1962 Veterans’ Memorial Committee has put together to honor its fallen classmates. An outdoor memorial that honors the
two along with other veterans was erected last summer outside near the football stadium.
Kristin O’Neill has been a special-education teacher at Fitch for 26 years and was 2 when her father, Prommersberger, was killed in action. Her husband is a carpenter in the construction field and handcrafted the case over the winter months. Jack Kidd, a committee member, said the group spent only $1,200 on materials after a “huge” discount from Baird Brothers.
“The only thing we paid for was the electrical stuff in the cabinet” that powers the display, O’Neill said.
Kidd said he has seen students reading the stories of his fallen classmates several times since the cabinet was finished last month. “We put this cabinet in the school so the young people that walk these halls for years to come will know what young men like these two here, that are average students like they are today, did for their country and came out of this school.”
O’Neill said students have treated her differently since the case and the stories have been displayed.
“The kids know when I walk down the hallway, but it’s like a different respect now because they know the story,” said O’Neill.
O’Neill and Brown’s widow, Karen Brown Ruberto, told members of the Fitch Class of 1962 that they thought everyone had forgotten about their loved ones’ sacrifice, and gave permission for the class to begin honoring Prommersberger and Brown.
There still are bricks available for purchase at the outdoor memorial. For more information about obtaining a brick, email Kidd at jekidd1966@gmail.com.