HOWLAND — Memories of a storied past were coupled with hope toward the future as veterans and their families said goodbye to a local veterans organization chapter to give way to a new one already making its mark in the Mahoning Valley.

Members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 606 and the Cover Down Fund were at Salvatore’s for a holiday gathering Monday evening. The gathering marked the end of the MOPH chapter, which was founded in 1992 in Warren by World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans.

Members voted to deactivate the charter in October, giving way to the Cover Down Fund, which was founded in May by Herm Breuer, former director of the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission, to “fill the void” and continue the chapter’s legacy.

Breuer recalled joining the MOPH in 2006, becoming its commander several years later.

“When I started that (joined the Veterans Service Commission), I met a gentleman named Sam Lanza, who was wounded in Okinawa,” Breuer said. “He kind of took me under his wing and asked me and encouraged me to become a part of veterans organizations, so I joined the Military Order of the Purple Heart.”

Breuer recalled another member, Paul Brady, a Vietnam veteran, crediting him for keeping the chapter alive, and Gary Gutelius, who got involved when he became a Veterans Service Commissioner.

Breuer credited Leo Connelly of Boardman, another Vietnam veteran who was awarded his Purple Heart 50 years after sustaining combat wounds. He said Connelly brought energy to raising funds for the chapter — raising $100,000 in a few years.

Breuer said the MOPH began plans for a scholarship in 2021, awarding $9,000 in scholarships two years later. The scholarships were named after Gary Gutelius, who died in February 2022.

Breuer said the MOPH still has $70,000 in its community foundation earmarked for the scholarship, which the Cover Down Fund will operate.

Breuer, familiar with why military organizations such as Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters fold, said there have been very successful ones in the community, but noted the nature of the MOPH membership.

“You have to have been wounded in combat; we have less people wounded in combat, so this one does not necessarily fit into the category of your VFWs or American Legions,” Breuer said. “Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day — there used to be an association of Pearl Harbor survivors. There are only 12 Pearl Harbor survivors left, so the association closed about 10 years ago.”

“Having an association that’s built upon individuals that are wounded in combat, that number is finite. There’s only so many of us that are out there, and as time goes by, there’s gonna be less and less members available for membership.”

Breuer said the Vietnam Veterans of America is also set to close soon, adding that the organization will be changing hands within the next few years.

“Within the next few years, they’re not going to be called the Vietnam Veterans of America,” Breuer said.

Breuer said the Cover Down Fund goes beyond just veterans — extending to the community as a whole.

“Part of the problem is that when we’re focused in our silo of everybody that’s in this organization, they’re all veterans — and we’re not looking out. Instead, we’re just looking in,” Breuer said. “So when we look out, we see that there are plenty of local business people who want to help, but they’re not veterans.”

“This is a way to open up the door to have them be able to do what they would like to do to kind of help veterans as well; it’s bringing the community together,” Breuer added.

Derick Young, a Canfield resident who joined the MOPH chapter six years after its inception, echoed Breuer’s sentiments about the organization’s uniqueness, also recognizing that they just didn’t have the numbers anymore.

“It’s one of those unique organizations where you have to have the unfortunate recognition of receiving one of the nation’s finest recognitions,” Young said. “The less people that are wounded, the better, but you still hate to see great, positive veterans organizations fold.”