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Wall organizers look for soldiers’ survivors

WARREN — Organizers who are bringing The Wall That Heals to Warren in August are looking for survivors of local men whose names are on the Vietnam War memorial wall to participate in a solemn ceremony.

A laying of the roses ceremony, set for the final day the wall is in Warren, allows families of the men from Trumbull County killed in the war to lay a rose at the base of the wall where the person’s name is located.

The ceremony gives friends and family another chance to say farewell.

“It would not honor only the fallen, but also honor the families and their sacrifice … that happens on the last day. This gives us an opportunity to pay tribute to the men whose names are on the wall and to their families,” said James Valesky, president of the Warren Heritage Center.

To “look at their sacrifice, they gave up a brother or sister, a son or a daughter, and in some cases children never got to know their father,” Valesky said.

Fifteen to 20 families of men on the wall have been found and contacted, but organizers are searching for more. The goal is to have family members of all 60 men from Trumbull County whose names are on the wall be at the ceremony.

“What we’re running into is when we go to the obituary we find out that they have three sisters and a brother,” said Pam Kuebler, one of the volunteers trying to find family members. “We can’t find the brother and of course the sisters have different names because they were like 8 (years old).”

Anyone with information about survivors can call Kuebler at 330-469-6611.

The wall is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The wall — 375 feet long and 7.5 feet high at its tallest point — will be open to the public Aug. 15 to 19 on the south lawn of Packard Music Hall on Mahoning Avenue NW. Warren is one 38 sites across the U.S., and the only in Ohio, to host the wall in 2018.

For the first time of the traveling wall, visitors will be able to do name rubbings of individual service member’s names on the wall.

The wall is taken across the U.S. in a 53-foot trailer that when parked becomes an education center with exhibits telling the story of the Vietnam War, the wall and that era in American history.

The center includes several displays, including “Hometown Heroes,” a digital photo display of service members whose names are on the wall that list their home of record within the area of the visit.

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