Friday, September 14, 2018
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
The Wick Avenue bridge over Interstate 680 is the latest to be adorned with flags to commemorate veterans, but for five young men, those flags represent something more.
Five students in the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center’s Brotherhood Council worked alongside members of Youngstown State University’s ROTC program to affix the flags to the fencing along the sides of the bridge.
Judge Theresa Dellick said for those students, it represents an investment in the community.
“If we make them do things for the community, they become the community,” Judge Dellick said.
A bridge dedication ceremony Thursday at the Carl A. Nunziato Veterans Resource Center on YSU’s campus recognized the efforts of the young men.
YSU President Jim Tressel said he drives past the bridge every day.
“You see these wonderful flags, and it’s a reminder of how grateful we should be to live in this country,” Tressel said.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown told the youths service is about pride, commitment and finding your place.
“This is a great opportunity to learn about service, but now you have to apply it,” Brown said.
Carl Nunziato, a Vietnam veteran who worked to establish the veterans center at YSU, told them service is tough, but it’s the challenge that makes it worthwhile.
“Every time you drive by it’s a reminder that these flags didn’t just appear there,” Nunziato said. “These flags were put there. These flags were earned.”
Judge Dellick said the ROTC students provided great role models for the Brotherhood Council students, and the ideals the flag represents provide them with inspiration.
“It’s the land of opportunity. No matter what you’ve done, you can do more, you can do better,” Judge Dellick said. “What may have been in the past, is not the future.”