Loved ones, classmates gather to celebrate Austintown veteran highway dedication

July 8, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

By ROBERT CONNELLY

AUSTINTOWN

Members of the Austintown Fitch Class of 1962 gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate a highway dedication for two of their fallen classmates.

The signs for the Vietnam Memorial Highway, the “Army 2nd Lt. Charles W. Brown and Marine Sgt. James Prommersberger” highway, already are posted on Interstate 80 in Austintown, one before motorists hit the intersection of I-80 and state Route 46 and the other is where motorists exit the Ohio Turnpike.

“I could say it was awesome, it was incredible, but those words do not describe what I felt. I was actually out of breath,” said Kristin O’Neill, daughter of Prommersberger, of the first time she saw the sign along I-80. “There’s no word to describe what I felt. I could use tons of adjectives, but it was a different level than I’ve ever experienced.”

The Fitch Class of 1962 had a picnic to celebrate the occasion after the unveiling ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

“I imagine [today] or Thursday we’ll go ahead and go by it. I’ve been trying to keep control” of emotions, said Karen Brown Ruberto, Brown’s widow. “This is just so amazing.” When Ruberto does drive past the sign, she said, “I’ll make sure I have tissues with me.”

Ohio Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, introduced an amendment to the transportation bill last year for the highway dedication of a portion of I-80, between Interstate 76 and Interstate 680.

Prommersberger died while rescuing men from a night firefight against 200 Vietnamese soldiers. He was hit rescuing the 12th man. Brown was the last man in his unit during a night firefight against 4,000 Vietnamese soldiers and killed 200 to 300 before he died.

“In a small way, it shows that we all care so much and remember all of things that our veterans do for us everyday,” Schiavoni said. “It’s important we recognize every single day, not just the days we’re supposed to ... we need to do a better job of recognizing all the great things [veterans] did while they lived.”

Many local officials were on hand for the ceremony. Those included: Austintown trustees Rick Stauffer and Jim Davis; Mahoning County commissioners David Ditzler, Carol Rimedio-Righetti and Anthony Traficanti; and Austintown Board of Education members Kathy Mock, Lou Chine, Dr. David Ritchie and Ken Jakubec, who handled the emcee duties Tuesday.

Jack Kidd and Larry Cadman, both of the Class of 1962, have spearheaded the dedications over the past three years to recognize their classmates. Kidd said he got chills when he drove past the dedication signs the first time.

A replica sign was attached to a float at Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown during a ceremony for the highway dedication. That float was in the July 4th parade in Austintown.

“The raw emotion I saw as we went up and down the highway [during the parade]; I saw grown men cry. I saw women cry and salute. Hundreds of Vietnam veterans saluted as it went by,” Kidd recalled. “I had a Vietnam veteran sitting beside me on the float, you know what he told me? ‘Hey Jack, this is the parade we didn’t get when we got home.’”