Site last updated: Thursday, March 28, 2024

Log In

Reset Password
MENU
Butler County's great daily newspaper

Families, friends gather at traveling Vietnam wall

'It's so that people don't forget what happened. There are 58,000 names on here. That's a lot of people that were killed and they didn't get the recognition that they deserved and they need the recognition.'Mary Jane Double, whose father, Thomas Russell Kisner, died in 1967

BUTLER TWP — A crowd of several hundred gathered Thursday afternoon to listen in respectful silence while the names of 43 men were read out loud.

The names belong to the Butler County residents who were killed in action in the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1971.

It is to honor the memory and the sacrifice made by those men, and thousands of other men and women, that the Butler County American Legion Riders brought the American Veterans Traveling Tribute to the VA Butler Healthcare facility on New Castle Road.

The traveling tribute is an 80 percent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which contains the names of 58,313 men and women who were killed in the war.

“There are 43 KIAs here from Butler County and the Legion Riders thought it's fitting to recognize them, their families who may or may not have been to the national wall in D.C., and for the veterans of the community, just to bring them here for the camaraderie and to pay their respects to the gentlemen,” said Dennis Christie of Parker, president of the Legion Riders.

In an opening ceremony Thursday, the names and the date they met their demise were read by Ben Cypher while Ron Marak rang a bell once after each name. Both men are veterans and were participating in the opening ceremony of the American Veterans Traveling Tribute with the Bantam Marines Detachment 743 of Butler. The Butler County American Legion Riders, American Legion Post 117 and the Moniteau High School marching band also participated in the ceremony.

David Cord, director of VA Butler Healthcare, told the crowd Thursday that it was an honor for the VA to host the memorial on its property. The people who died in the war missed out on not just major life events like getting married and having children, but also the smaller things that most people take for granted, Cord said.

“It's the small things, the thousands of thousands of small day-to-day things that these 58,000 men and women missed out on in sacrifice,” he said.A similar ceremony was performed at 7 p.m. Thursday and more were scheduled for 9 a.m. and noon Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday, with assistance from various military and veterans groups. Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and Vietnam War veteran Rocky Bleier will speak at the end of the 9 a.m. service Sunday, Christie said.The memorial will be lit at night and volunteers will be on hand around the clock until noon Sunday. It is free to visit, though donations are being accepted to benefit the traveling wall and the memorial in Washington, D.C.In an information tent, visitors can look up their friend or relative to more easily find their name on the wall and read information about the 43 Butler residents who were killed.Several Gold Star families were in attendance to see their fallen relatives be honored.John Weleski of Saxonburg said he was there in memory of his brother, Martin William Weleski III, who was killed in 1968 at 19 years old, and the other heroes on the wall.“It's nice to see so many people honor these men who got us where we are today,” he said.John was only 2 years old when his brother died, but he has heard stories from his parents and siblings about what he was like.Mary Jane Double of Butler and her family went to see the wall to leave a memorial in honor of their father, Thomas Russell Kisner, who died in 1967.Kisner had six children and they left a framed collage at the wall including a photo of him, an old photo of the family and a recent photo of the family. She said the memorial serves an important purpose.“It's so that people don't forget what happened. There are 58,000 names on here. That's a lot of people that were killed and they didn't get the recognition that they deserved and they need the recognition,” Double said.

Lois Palajsa-Morrone of Renfrew said that she went to Etna High School in Allegheny County and that four of her classmates died in the war.As the daughter of a World War II veteran, she said she felt a connection to the military.“Every night you would listen to the news and you looked to see how many had died and if any of them were local,” she said.Volunteers were working at the wall, helping people locate the names of their friends or relatives.Tyce Snyder, 12, of Butler was volunteering as a member of the Civil Air Patrol Flying 712, which is part of the Air Force Auxiliary and based at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport.“It's an honor for us. We are helping preserve the memory of our lost brothers and sisters,” Tyce said.The wall, transported in a trailer towed behind a pickup truck, was escorted from Cranberry Township to Butler Township Wednesday night by a group of 1,030 motorcycles. The escort was organized by the Legion Riders and went through Cranberry Township, Zelienople, Evans City, Connoquenessing, Lyndora, downtown Butler and ended at the VA.On Sept. 16, the Legion Riders will take three buses of local veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials there and they will deliver the memorials and items that people left at the replica wall in Butler to the U.S. National Park Service, to be added to its collection, Christie said.They also plan to deliver a check to the Park Service in support of the Vietnam memorial in the capital.

A tribute to fallen soldiers is displayed in front of the replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The names of 43 Butler County residents are listed on the wall.
A crowd attends the opening ceremony Thursday for the American Veterans Traveling Tribute, an 80 percent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on display at VA Butler Healthcare.

More in Local News

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS