Trending
CORTLAND -- City Council has adopted a resolution in support of renaming the city's East Main Street Bridge the "Vietnam Memorial Bridge."
The bridge would be renamed in honor of Private First Class Andrew Sinchak Jr. and Specialist 4 Terrance Weant, two Lakeview High School graduates who were killed in action while serving with the Army.
"What will happen after I sign the resolution is, we'll send it to Gary Shaffer at the Trumbull County Engineer's Office," Mayor Deidre Petrosky said. "And he'll send it through the Trumbull County comissioners, and then the county engineer's office will order the sign. This is the bridge between El Torero (Mexican restaurant) and the (Mayfair) laundromat."
After the resolution is approved by the commissioners and the county engineer, a plaque will be installed on the bridge memorializing Sinchak, a 1967 graduate of Lakeview, and Weant, a 1965 graduate of Lakeview, for sacrificing their lives while serving in the Army during the Vietnam War.
A similar plaque will be placed on a bridge on state Route 5, but a separate resolution has to be approved by the state.
"We're also going to rename the other bridge on the other side of El Torero on state Route 5," Petrosky said. "The process for that is a little bit different. That will be called the 'Cortland Veterans Memorial Bridge.' For that we have to submit a request through Ohio Sen. Sandra O'Brien's office, then she will turn that into legislation and make it into a request of the Senate. I think it'll have to go to the Ohio House as well. In that situation, the Ohio Department of Transportation will have to make the sign."
The effort to honor the two servicemen has been spearheaded by American Legion Post 540 of Cortland.
Garey Watson of Cortland is a bugler with the American Legion Honor Guard. Watson said he plays taps for veterans' funerals in the area, as well as for events such as memorial dedications. As a graduate of Lakeview High School, Watson wanted to see his former classmates honored.
"There's a couple bridges in Cortland," Watson said. "And two guys from Lakeview that I knew were killed in Vietnam. I thought it would be a good idea to recognize them with the dedication of a bridge."
Watson said he knew both of the men in school. He said that he had more personal involvement with Sinchak.
"Back then, everybody knew everybody," Watson said. "I knew especially Andy Sinchak. We played in band together. Terry Weant graduated one year ahead of me."
Ian McAleer was at Cortland's City Council meeting Tuesday to address the city about the project. McAleer described himself as a sort of spokesman for the bridge memorial plan for American Legion Post 540. As a Marine Corps veteran, McAleer said that it is incredibly important to recognize those who served in the Vietnam war, especially those killed in service.
"Weant and Sinchak were killed in Vietnam when they were barely 19 years old," McAleer said. "Any veteran that came back from Vietnam was not recognized as being a hero or whatever. It was pretty much scorned upon, and so to memorialize them as best we can is something we care about."
McAleer, Watson and city representatives are happy to honor Sinchak and Weant through the bridge plaques. One task that the representatives from Post 540 are hoping to accomplish before unveiling the signs is to get in touch with the families of the veterans. Watson said his organization has struggled to find relatives of the two men who still are living in the area. He hopes the connection still can be made.
"We don't have any contact with the Weant family," he said. "I'm still trying to reach out to the Sinchaks. I do have some contacts I may be able to check with them. When we dedicate the bridge, I want the families to be there."
Watson said that no exact timetable has been given to him regarding when the plaques might be unveiled. He said the sign for the bridge on state Route 5 might not be installed for a few years. He hopes that the plaque on the East Main Street Bridge will be unveiled this summer.