Fitch grads to be inducted into Ohio Military HOF

By JUSTIN WIER

jwier@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Charles Brown was 21 when he was drafted into the Army. His wife said he was thrilled when she told him he was going to be a father, and he doted on his daughter, Heather, during the three months they had together before he left for Vietnam.

On March 20 1967, Brown was killed during a firefight at age 23. His entire platoon perished in the war.

On Oct. 2, 1962, James Prommersberger walked into a military recruiter’s office with his best friend. It was his 18th birthday, and he had dreamed of being a Marine since he was a child.

Prommersberger was sent to Vietnam, and 10 days before he was to return home, he volunteered to retrieve wounded men under sniper fire. He heard mortar fire and jumped on top of a wounded man to shield him. The man survived, but Prommersberger died.

Both Brown and Prommersberger will be inducted into the Ohio Military Hall of Fame for Valor on May 5. The ceremony will take place in the atrium at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

For the families, it’s hard to describe the honor.

Karen Brown Ruberto, Brown’s widow, said she gets goosebumps thinking about it.

“We’ve been aware that his friends and family thought highly of him,” Ruberto said. “But to get this medal and everything – it just broadcasts it to the whole state.”

Prommersberger’s daughter, Kristin O’Neill, was just 2 when her father died, but she’s heard stories her entire life from his friends and family and those who served with him.

“Working with the veterans – these are the kind of things that they want to know our Vietnam veterans are getting acknowledged for,” O’Neill said. “I think this matters to many Vietnam veterans that got no welcome home.”

Both Brown and Prommersberger were members of the Austintown Fitch High School Class of 1962.

Jack Kidd, fellow 1962 graduate and Vietnam veteran, has spent years making sure people know their names.

He was behind the effort to build the Veterans Memorial at Fitch’s football stadium in 2013. In 2015, he helped get the portion of Interstate 80 between I-680 and I-76 dedicated to Brown and Prommersberger. There’s also a display honoring their sacrifice in the lobby of the high school. Their pictures hang above their Purple Hearts and Silver Stars.

“We had one objective doing all this stuff,” Kidd said. “Most of Austintown and Youngstown had no idea who these guys were. Now everybody knows.”

To help get Brown and Prommersberger inducted into the hall of fame, he reached out to Leo Connelly, commander of Disabled American Veterans District 7 in Ohio. Connelly was inducted in 2011, and he said he’s made an effort to get more veterans from this part of the state recognized.

The hall of fame honors 20 veterans each year, and Connelly emphasized he wanted both Brown and Prommersberger to be inducted during the same ceremony.

“I said, ‘Look, I’m actually on my knees. I never asked for a favor. I need this favor,’” Connelly said.

He received another favor from Denise DeBartolo York, who agreed to sponsor a bus to take members of the Class of 1962 and local veterans to the ceremony. She’s also sponsoring a luncheon afterward. But Connelly’s efforts won’t end there.

“I’m going to speak about Brown and Prommersberger until the day I die,” Connelly said. “I’m going to keep talking until [everyone] is talking about Brown and Prommersberger and the sacrifices they made.”