Bay veterans groups add 6 names to honor wall

Anthony Francati, USCG WWII; Fred Green, USN Vietnam; Don Sabo, USMC Vietnam; Stan Zeager, USA Vietnam era; and Jim Potter, USN Vietnam era at the Veterans Honor Wall ceremony on Nov. 8.

The joint efforts of VFW Post 9693, American Legion Post 385, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 249, along with the Dwyer Senior Center, officially added 6 new names to existing Veterans Honor Wall plaques at the Veterans Luncheon on Nov. 8. The Dwyer Center hosted the annual event. The 20 veterans in attendance were treated to lunch and a traditional veteran pinning ceremony.

The ceremony included a brief history of the Veterans Honor Wall and reading of the names of the deceased members being added. They were Timothy J. McAndrews and Alan Valenzeno from the VVA; and Charles Holmes Jr., Clarence Engle, Ronald Tatarowicz and Robert Yates from the American Legion. A full plaque of VFW members would have been dedicated but it arrived too late to be mounted for the ceremony. It will be honored in May, at the next Honor Wall dedication ceremony.   The May dedication will be open to all organization members and local veterans and family as well as interested citizens. It is being planned for the Saturday morning prior to Memorial Day.

The veterans groups recently decided to have all plaques specific to the organization – VFW, Am Leg, or VVA. There will be a plaque for what we are calling "Citizen Veterans." These are deceased Bay Village veterans that have close ties to the city but did not belong to either of the participating posts. We have several reported, enough to start a plaque for dedication in May and future additions at every Veterans Luncheon in November and every Saturday before Memorial Day. Look for more information regarding this Citizen Veterans process in the future!

Hard-copy guidance to assist visitors in finding members on a specific plaque and some basic personal military information, if known, will be updated at every dedication to add new names and plaques. The format of this information was changed by the Veterans Honor Wall Committee and will be soon.

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Volume 11, Issue 22, Posted 9:23 AM, 11.19.2019