Traveling War on Terror memorial comes to area

WARREN -- Dave Luton and his display honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service to the Global War on Terror traveled from Omaha, Nebraska, to the Kinsman House lawn on Tuesday.

An opening ceremony took place at noon Wednesday to welcome the Remembering Our Fallen traveling memorial, which was created by Luton, national representative for Patriotic Productions.

The memorial includes 35 tribute towers with military and personal photos of 5,501 of our nation's fallen from Sept. 11, 2001, to Aug. 30, 2021. The memorial was unveiled nationally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in late 2017 and has traveled to more than 150 cities in 35 states. This is the final tour for the memorial to tour America as it will be retired Dec. 31 to rest permanently at an undetermined site.

It will be in Warren through Sunday. It also has been in other Ohio cities, including Attica, Van Wert, Northfield, Canton, Bellefontaine and Avon.

"Patriotic Productions also has a half-scale model of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Omaha,” Luton said.

Luton said cities contact him to have the display visit and it is not a selection process. Warren Heritage Center founder/President Jim Valesky contacted Patriotic Productions after learning about and doing some research on the traveling display. The center is located inside the Kinsman House.

Valesky, who brought the Wall That Heals to Warren twice, contacted Patriotic Productions, who told him the dates they would be traveling through the area. The Wall That Heals is a mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.,

“We had to make sure we had enough funds. Several veteran organizations helped with the cost. Since the Vietnam Wall was here (last) summer, we have been working with community partners to get it together,” said Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission Director Cari Delgado.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 1090 Honor Guard Chuck Jaros said he and other members were there to post the colors, and the firing squad gave a 21–gun salute.

After the Honor Guard ceremony, Valesky spoke, asking that all spread the word about the memorial to family, friends and coworkers.

“Remind them to come here to pay homage to those who are no longer with us. As many of you know, freedom is not free,” he said.

Mayor Doug Franklin spoke next, thanking Luton, who left home in early August and will not return home until late October.

“This is not just a collection of photographs; there are over 5,000 men and women represented in these photographs, service members from every single corner of the United States, who raised their hands, answering the call in the war against terrorism,” Franklin said.

Delgado named two local veterans remembered on Towers 29 and 30. Sgt. Robert Carr, 22, of Fowler, died in Iraq on March 13, 2007. Dominic R. Baragona, 42, of Niles, died May 19, 2003, during a multi-vehicle accident in Iraq.

Carr joined the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado, according to a plaque honoring him in the lobby of The Vindicator. He was killed during his second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Marco Miller, 36, of Warren, a member of the 3rd Battalion Support Company 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and a U.S. Army Combat Cameraman in the National Guard, was killed Dec. 5, 2006, in Iraq, according to a plaque honoring him in the lobby of The Vindicator.

Sponsors of the display include VFW 1090 of Warren, VFW 3332 of Newton Falls, the Cover Down Fund, which was founded by former Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission director Herm Breuer, and ITAM 30 in Warren.

Jane Ameen of Cortland, a retired Warren City Schools teacher, attended Tuesday’s ceremony with her husband, John, a U.S. Air Force veteran.

“I saw the Vietnam Memorial and had to see this. I tried to instill a lot of patriotism in my students,” Ameen said.

She was relieved, after reviewing a list of all names of the fallen military, to learn that no former students were represented on the tribute towers.

The Nurses Honor Guard of Northeast Ohio will present a program at 6 p.m. today on the Kinsman House lawn.