As we celebrate Black History Month, we head to Lake County to visit a Painesville family and learn about a fallen hero and his legacy.
There is an effort underway to remember him with a proclamation that dedicates a day of remembrance in his honor every year.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away,” said Rose Gwynn, reading an engraving on a photo frame.
The saying reflects the family’s shared joy —and grief —for a handsome young man featured in the frame: Roosevelt Braggs Jr.
The grief is especially heavy on the heart of Mary Smith.
"When he first went into the service, it was rough because I didn’t want him to go,” said Smith, fighting back tears.
Her baby brother, Braggs, died in Vietnam.
“Junior Boy,’’ she said of his nickname. “We called him Junior Boy.”
It is the kind of loss that not even more than half a century can ease.
“Some, but not much,” said Smith. “We were so close.”
At the Morley Library, you can look through the yearbooks for Braggs.
He graduated in 1968, part of Harvey High’s 100th class.
He loved his family, friends, community, music, apple hats, his girlfriend and his red Camaro, said Patricia Drewery, niece.
"He loved that car, and he drove it around town,” said Drewery, recalling the memory with a smile. “You knew when you’d see that red Camaro driving by, you’d know it was him. He’d have his friends in their riding.”
And he loved baseball.
“He was just a great man,” said Larry Gwynn, nephew.
Larry remembers watching games with his Uncle Junior Boy.
“He sure did love his baseball,” he said.
He loved playing baseball and watching it, said Larry.
I asked if he thought Braggs had dreams of playing professionally.
“Probably,” he said. “I never got the chance to talk to him about it.”
From the baseball field to the battlefield: War came calling.
Roosevelt was drafted into the U.S. Army through the selective service and began his tour of duty in February 1970.
“We would write each other practically every week,” said Smith.
Letters home filled with more than just words of love for his family.
"I remember when he went to the service, he sent us all some money back when he got his first check,” said Drewery.
Selfless service was how Braggs both lived and died.
"I’d seen it on the TV the night before, but I never thought it was him,” recalled Mary.
Morley Library also has old newspapers you can view on film.
We found a June 1970 article that read in part, “A 20-year-old Painesville man has become the victim of enemy fire in Vietnam…. the result of enemy fire by ambush.”
Braggs was killed in action less than four months into his tour of duty.
His family wasn’t told much.
"He was not supposed to be in that spot at that time,” said Smith. “One of the guys was sick and didn’t feel well, and so he was taking his spot.”
A 2021 article in the Omaha World-Herald provides more detail.
While it is about a reunion between two veterans, we learn that one of them was with Braggs the night of the attack on the fuel farm in South Vietnam.
It describes how Pvt. Braggs landed atop the Sergeant First Class when they both dove for cover after a lit satchel bomb was thrown into their building.
“If his body wasn’t there, my body would have been cut in half,” Kirby said in the article, tearing up at the memory.
I talked with the reporter, who told me the man absolutely wanted to make sure Braggs and the six other soldiers who were killed in the battle were not forgotten.
"He is deserving of remembrance,” said Drewery. “He is a fallen hero.”
"I think he’d want to be remembered as that he loved people, and he would like people to love him,” said Smith.
Braggs' name is forever etched alongside his fallen brothers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and alongside his fallen brothers in Painesville.
Braggs Field at Kiwanis Recreation Park is dedicated to Braggs, who was a member of the 1963 Little League State Championship team.
It is also dedicated as a memorial for the Harvey High alumni who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
They stepped up to the plate, and while they may be gone, they’re never forgotten.
"To see that up there,” said Larry about the name Braggs Field. “I always say to whoever I’m with, ‘That’s my uncle, Braggs Field, that’s my Uncle Junior Boy.’ Yeah, it’s a proud moment.”
Braggs commendations include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, among others.
