Steep price of American wars evident on Mahoning Valley Wall of Honor in NIles

NILES

In its simplicity, the Mahoning Valley Wall of Honor brings home the brutality and horrible cost of war.

Situated at the entrance to the McKinley Memorial Saturday, the wall’s six plywood panels standing 8 feet tall contain 1,600 individual metal plates, each inscribed with the name of a native of Trumbull, Mahoning or Columbiana counties killed or missing in action in World Wars I and II, or the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those who stopped to stare at the panels and names appeared to be moved as were the members of Niles American Legion Post 106, which sponsored the wall’s appearance.

“They’re a prime example that freedom isn’t free,” said Rocco Bowell, 63, the post commander and a U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran.

Three of the wall’s six panels contain the names of the lost from World War II. Karen Ashioles of Niles stopped to search for one name in the group, her uncle Robert Ferguson, whom she said was killed by a bayonet in the Battle of the Bulge. She found it.

“How valiantly they defended our country and it’s just sad that today what they fought for has been [ruined] by politicians,” she said. “I’m so disgusted.”

An elderly man also studied the names of the lost from World War II, his eyes welling up with tears. He did not wish to speak or be identified.

Read more about the display in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.