Ashtabula memorializes military heroes

ASHTABULA – Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor those who are responsible for securing and preserving the freedoms citizens of the Unites States enjoy in present times.
“As our nation approaches the 250th Birthday of the United States of America, we are reminded that freedom did not simply appear on its own,” Tim Dibble, commander of Private Henry Kalinowski Detachment 782 of the Marine Corps League, said. “It was earned by generations of Americans willing to defend liberty at tremendous personal cost. Today we gather not for celebration, but for remembrance.”
While welcoming guests to the Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on Monday, May 25, Dibble noted the sacrifices the citizens of Ashtabula have made for those freedoms.
“From the American Revolution to the present day, the sons and daughters of Ashtabula have answered their nation’s call,” Dibble said. “Some returned home carrying visible and invisible wounds. Others never returned home at all. Today, we honor them.”
The people of Ashtabula have answered the call to duty throughout the entirety of America’s 250 years.
“From Lexington and Concord, to Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Khe Sanh, Fallujah, and the mountains of Afghanistan, Americans answered the call,” Dibble said. “And, so did the people of Ashtabula.”
“While historical record keeping has changed over time, we know that Ashtabula County’s military story stretches back to the founding of this nation,” Dibble continued.
Dibble noted that 79 men fought in the Revolutionary War before moving west to settle the Western Reserve. Then, during the War of 1812, more than 400 local residents enrolled in militia companies to defend the Lake Erie shoreline and protect the frontier.
As the Civil War raged, Ashtabula County played a role.
“It was during the Civil War that Ashtabula County heavily mobilized for the Union, sending thousands of men into service through Ohio regiments such as the 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the 110th Ohio Infantry,” Dibble said.
The sacrifices continued into the 20th century as, during World War I, Ashtabula resident Dewey Howlett died of wounds in France and at least 145 Army and Army Air Force personnel from Ashtabula County were killed in action, died of wounds, or died while serving.
Casualties from the Navy and Marines included Private Henry Kalinowski, who died aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.
Ashtabula County lost 24 service members in the Korean War and 37 more in the Vietnam War.
Recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed more.
“We remember Army Sgt. Kurt D. Schamberg, Army Sgt. David Gordon, Army Private First-Class Michael J. ‘Cowboy Mike’ Metcalf, and we remember Marine Lance Corporal Kevin M. Cornelius, whose memory is permanently honored in the park directly across the street,” Dibble said. “Their names remind us that sacrifice is not distant history. It belongs to our own streets, our own families, and our own community.”
“These were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends,” Dibble continued. “They once walked the same streets we walk today, attended our schools, worshiped in our churches, and called Ashtabula County home. Memorial Day is not simply about history. It is about responsibility. The responsibility to remember. The responsibility to teach future generations.”
To ensure the sacrifices are never forgotten, cenotaphs are being placed in Veterans Memorial Park.
As the permanent memorials are still being completed, temporary cenotaphs were made for Private Isaac James and Marine Corps veteran Lenel “Doby” Moore.
James served with the 110th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. During the Battle of Petersburg in April of 1865, James performed an act of extraordinary bravery by capturing a Confederate battle flag, earning the Medal of Honor.
Moore was a trailblazer as a Montford Point Marine during World War II.
“The Montford Point Marines were the first African Americans permitted to serve in the United States Marine Corps during World War II,” Dibble said. “Before that time, African Americans had been excluded from serving in the Marine Corps. When the doors finally opened, they were not sent to Parris Island or San Diego. They were trained at Montford Point, a segregated facility in North Carolina.”
Moore and the Montford Point Marines were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2012.
“They proved themselves through discipline, sacrifice, and devotion to duty during one of the most dangerous periods in world history,” Dibble said. “The Montford Point Marines helped break racial barriers in the United States Marine Corps and helped move our nation closer to the ideals it claimed to defend.”
Jeff Moore, Lenel “Doby” Moore’s son, unveiled the cenotaph and accepted a gift on behalf of his family, who traveled from across the country for the ceremony.