Fallen soldiers memorialized on Wall of Honor

June 19, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

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 on 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.

“All these young men deserve this honor,” said Terry Calladine, 68, the sergeant-at-arms and a Marine who

served in Vietnam.

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

Post member Jerry O’Brad, a Marine veteran, pointed to the name of Bruce Jones of Niles, the first resident of the city to die in Vietnam. Jones was killed in 1961 while serving as a military adviser years before the build-up of American forces in the Southeast Asian country. He was 18.

“Most of the people on that list could have been here today,” said O’Brad, who is 75.

Three of the wall’s six panels contain the names of the lost from World War II, a graphic reminder of the steep price paid by the military and its families in the four years before Germany and Japan were defeated. 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.

Creation of the Wall of Honor began three years ago when the Legion post in Howland began collecting the names of the fallen. “The research was intense,” post Commander Bowell said.

Students from Trumbull Career and Technical Center built the wall and gave it an oak finish – its shine reflected in Saturday afternoon’s sun.

Despite the sizable number of military veterans of America’s more recent wars, Bowell said few are interested in joining organizations such as the American Legion, which he attributes to age differences with the older members. “It’s a big concern,” he said.

“When guys come home, they don’t want to join, but then, you get older and you remember your comrades and your tour of duty,” he said.

Though only a few people came to look at the wall the first few hours, those who did were quick to appreciate its significance and expressed their gratitude to the Legion Post for displaying it – people such as Julie Haryu of Niles, whose late grandfather survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

“God bless you guys for the work you do,” she told the Legion members. “I appreciate you more and more.”