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Laying of the Roses
Event honors fallen soldiers, veterans
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Kristin O’Neill remembers little about her late father, James E. Prommersberger, but over the years, she’s heard enough stories about him to form a portrait in her mind of a man who was as heroic as he was doting on his family.
“He was killed in Vietnam 10 days before he was to come home to his young wife and two young children,” the Canfield woman recalled about her father, who enlisted in the Marines soon after having graduated from Austintown Fitch High School in June 1962.
O’Neill was among the loved ones who honored her father during Sunday afternoon’s 26th annual Laying of the Roses ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial on Youngstown’s Central Square.
The Vietnam Veterans of America’s Youngstown Chapter 135 sponsored the emotional 90-minute gathering, which was to commemorate, honor and remember Prommersberger and the other 99 Mahoning County service members who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War. Also recognized were prisoners of war, along with those missing in action and serving in other wars.
While in Vietnam, Prommersberger and his platoon came under attack, during which he saved the lives of 12 men just before being killed April 16, 1966, at age 21 while lying on top of and protecting a fellow comrade named Frank Smith, said O’Neill, who was 2 when her father lost his life.
For his valiant efforts, Prommersberger was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star Award, which is the third-highest military combat decoration.
“It was amazing, overwhelming,” O’Neill said in tears about the ceremony at which her father was honored.
In addition, she and other family members honored Darryl T. Dombroski, a Marine and fellow Fitch High grad
who was killed in Vietnam, because Dombroski’s family lives out of state.
Among those accompanying O’Neill during the Laying of the Roses event was her aunt, Karen Roberto of Canfield, whose late husband, Charles W. Brown Jr., was killed while defending his post in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.
“He was ornery,” Roberto said with laughter about Brown, a fellow Fitch High Class of 1962 member who, like Prommersberger, played on the school’s football team. “He was really thoughtful, and loved working on cars and worked at a gas station. He was always busy.”
Also, Prommersberger and Brown are to be inducted in the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame for valor during a ceremony May 5 in Columbus, O’Neill continued.
At the Laying of the Roses, family members, friends, fellow comrades and others laid one red rose next to the memorial for each of the 100 names that was read aloud and for which a bell was sounded. Many with tears in their eyes saluted the monument or touched the names of their lost loved ones.
A Table of Remembrance included items such as a white tablecloth to represent the purity of those who answered the call to duty, a red ribbon to denote those who witnessed the soldiers’ capture and a lemon slice that symbolized the soldier’s bitter fate. Other pieces of symbolism were a salt shaker that represented loved ones’ tears as they awaited the soldier’s return, along with an inverted glass and an empty chair that stood for the fact that the person was unable to make a toast and be with family.
Others moved by the ceremony were Gina Gabriele and Camille Holzschuh, who are members of Boardman High School’s Emerging Leaders club and passed out the red roses.
“I hope people know that everyone appreciated what [those who served] have done,” Holzschuh said.
Gabriele added that her father, grandfather and a neighbor have served in the military.
The keynote speaker was Clifford Riley of Cincinnati, the Vietnam Veterans of America’s state commander.
Riley, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, held back tears as he recalled he plight of Samuel Q. Asher, a high-school friend who was one of 28 in his outfit killed in December 1966. For a long time afterward, he suffered from survivor’s guilt, Riley said.
“I made him a promise that night that I would never forget him, and that America would never forget him,” Riley added.
Years later, he ran into Asher’s mother and expressed regrets for what he felt he had never said to the friend, Riley continued, adding that she helped him develop a healthier perspective on the matter.
“She said, ‘Wipe away those tears. ... What I want you to do, Clifford, is not think about what you didn’t say to him, but to think, ‘What would Sam say about you?’” Riley recalled.