Veterans share thoughts with opening of Memorial Park

Veterans share thoughts with opening of Memorial Park
By Ann Kagarise
The Suburbanite
Fri May 29, 2009, 10:43 AM EDT

Clinton, Ohio -
Three-thousand-ninety-four men, and one woman from Ohio, died in the Vietnam War. A wall was erected.

Veterans from that war, WWII, Korea, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, paid tribute.
In their words…

Vietnam infantry veteran, John Carroll, of the Portage Lakes.

“This wall is to pay homage to our fallen comrades. It is for all people who served. They all did their part whether they were infantry or cooks. Everybody served hard.”

“It is hard for me to talk about,” Carroll said as he looked down. “There are times I don’t want to remember. Sometimes it feels good.”

He, along with 7,000 other veterans, traveled great distances, by motorcycle, through Canal Fulton for the unveiling of a wall that was long overdue. “This is for my fallen friends. Members of my team are on that wall.”

“Many of us had a hard time coming back and adjusting, drugs and different things,” Carroll explained. “Life itself. Not being sure of what really happened. It was real. It happened. I know that. Well, a lot more of these men suffered much more than I ever had,” he said as he looked over the crowd of bikers.”

Carroll used to do military escorts, before he was in the war. “We buried a lot of people from infantry. I escorted a lot of military funerals, but after I got out, all I wanted to do was forget. This is not about me. This is about all of these people.”
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Veterans share thoughts with opening of Memorial Park

Veterans Memorial in Clinton OH, a tribute to all who have served

Veterans Memorial in Clinton, a tribute to all who have served
By Ann Kagarise
The Suburbanite
Sat May 09, 2009, 05:08 PM EDT

Clinton, Ohio -
“We didn’t get the red carpet treatment when we came home,” Vietnam veteran, John Maurer, said.

The Canal Fulton resident served in the Marine Corp, delivering top secret documents.

“This is personal,” he said as he stared at the newly resurrected Vietnam Memorial Wall in Clinton.

“It’s about time to pay tribute to those who didn’t get to come home.”

Three-thousand-ninety-five Ohioans died in Vietnam.

“Ohio is either the third or fourth largest state to have lost casualties in Vietnam,” said builder Ken Noon from Summit Memorial.

Noon, a veteran, gave the lowest bid for the job and designed the layout.

“Other companies estimated the project,” he said. “I took the time to map it out. My wife put all the names in alphabetical order so I could be exact in how big the wall would be.”

The wall is 125 feet long, using 50 panels 30 inches wide and six feet tall. Each weighs a ton are eight inches thick.

This is the largest veteran monument in Ohio. The back of the wall depicts the history, cause and number of soldiers from Ohio who fought in each war, beginning with The War of 1812.

“This is actually a veteran’s park to honor all who served,” Noon said.

There will be 16 other momunents, one for each branch of service, canine units, Operation Baby Lift and D-Day.

A collage of local heroes will be set on a Heroes of Ohio Memorial wall for all those who served in some capacity since Vietnam.
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Veterans Memorial in Clinton