ASHLAND, Ohio — You won’t have to travel to Washington, D.C., to experience tributes of freedom and sacrifice. This weekend, several national veterans memorials will be on display in Ashland.
On Thursday, fanfare, cheers and flags greeted trucks carrying the replicas as they entered Freer Field. Volunteers then spent hours unloading and assembling the pieces.
“It’s a huge undertaking and we have plenty of hands on deck right now to make all of that happen. So we’re very thankful for that,” said Sandy Burkholder, the co-chair for the Ashland Veterans Appreciation Event.
The high school football team was among the dozens of volunteers lending help Thursday afternoon.
“Our community supports us. And so for us to come out and support them, that’s what we like to do,” said their coach, Scott Valentine.
The display at Freer Field includes replicas of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Veterans Memorial.
“All three memorials, just like in D.C., and most of them are 75% actual size or bigger,” explained event co-chair Tim Chandler.
The traveling memorials will be on display 24 hours a day while they’re in town, purposely available for private reflection.
“If you had a personal relationship, it’s like going to your parents’ funeral or your grandpa’s gravestone,” said Lonnie Miller.
The Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient said he hopes younger generations will also feel a connection to the faces and names featured on the memorials.
“I’ve got a little notebook in my pocket [with names of veterans] and I can say, ‘Here, go find that guy because I was with him when he died.’ And they can see a guy and they can relate to somebody,” said Miller.
Organizers of the annual Veterans Appreciation Event said the previous 12 events included the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial and were held at the Ashland County Airport. With this year’s event coinciding with America 250, they moved venues to accommodate the additional memorials.
The memorials will be on display until Sunday afternoon. The event will also feature several live musical performances, a drone show and a Veterans Appreciation ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The organizers said the message of the event has remain unchanged over the past 13 years.
“They’re learning about the veterans and learning you wouldn’t have this freedom without the veterans,” said Chandler.
Burkholder added, “We wouldn’t be standing here today if it weren’t for our veterans.”
You can find more information by clicking on this link.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
