Staff report

CAMPBELL — A Campbell native who served in the Marine Corps will be among 567 Vietnam War veterans nationwide, including 28 from Ohio, to be inducted into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund In Memory Program this month in Washington, D.C.

James Richard Vrabel, who grew up on Palmer Avenue and graduated from Campbell Memorial High School in 1964, will have his name added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at a dedication June 17.

He died in April 2022 from complications of prostate cancer, Parkinson’s disease and heart disease.

The In Memory Program honors Vietnam veterans who died after returning home from the war.

Since the Vietnam War ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans have suffered due to Agent Orange exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses as a result of their service.

The memorial fund believes all those who served in Vietnam should be honored and remembered for their service.

The ceremony will be on the east knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where each 2023 honoree’s name will be read aloud.

Vrabel’s parents were Nick and Marian Murphy Vrabel and he had two older sisters, Loretta and Carole, according to the memorial fund website.

He attended Youngstown State University and worked for General Extrusions in Youngstown after graduation and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966. He served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968 as a radio man. His future wife, Theresa Glass, who he met when he was 8, learned of his enlistment and started writing to him while he was in Vietnam. They were married in 1971 and welcomed their daughter, Jennifer Rebecca Vrabel, in September 1973.

He attended Youngstown Tech after being dicharged from the Marines and earned a degree in computer programming. He got a job at National City Bank in Cleveland and ended up working for Gray Drugstore. He eventually retired as a manager of the IT department after 27 years at Joann Etc.

Also being inducted into the program is Mereland Lee Cook Sr. of Youngstown, who died of cancer in 2008.

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