GCVM News & Events
News, events, and press releases related to The Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial:
May 26, 2024: The Plain Dealer Opinion column by Patrick M. McLaughlin: Duty, honor, country. For Johnny O’Connor and all who sacrificed, and all who fell.
Just days ago, I received a message that John "OC" O’Connor, a member of First Squad, Lima Platoon of Dogface Charlie, will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 19. In a rubber plantation near the Cambodian border, on Oct. 29, 1967, Johnny O’Connor saved my life, so I’ll be there to offer a final salute to an "old soldier."
Johnny O’Connor and I, along with less than 10% of the males of our generation, answered the call and served the country during the Vietnam War. Our fathers are the men that America celebrates as "the greatest generation." We grew up with an understanding of the importance of the words "Duty, Honor, Country."
Recently, the Superintendent of West Point announced a major change ...Read More...
December 29, 2023: GCVM appoints James Quisenberry as Vice President
The Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial, Inc ("GCVM") announced today that James "Jim" Quisenberry, an original founding member of the organization, has been appointed Vice President. Jim is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War having served with Delta Co., 3rd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade ...Read More...
May 29, 2022: The Plain Dealer Opinion column by Patrick M. McLaughlin: Remember the names of our fallen warriors, from 1899 to 2013.
The 5,552 names begin with Burt G. Bark, a hospital steward who died at San Juan, Puerto Rico on Feb. 4, 1899, a casualty of the Spanish American War. The last name is Army Spc. Angel L. Lopez, a graduate of John Marshall High School, who died in Afghanistan on Oct. 5, 2013. One hundred and fourteen years of names representative of the melting pot that is America.
The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917. On the day of the armistice, Nov. 11, 1918, six men from Greater Cleveland were killed in action. There are 808 names on the Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial representing World War I war dead. Among those names are Becker, Campbell, De Capito, Donnelly, Gallagher, Granoukos, Hensel, Kennedy, Kowalski, Marcus, Mussehl, Orlando, Sandrowitz, Schmitt, Smith, Vargo, Weinberger, and Wurmbeck.
On Dec. 7, 1941, three Clevelanders were on the USS Arizona. Read More...
August 20, 2021: The Plain Dealer Opinion column by Patrick M. McLaughlin: For Americans who answered the call in Afghanistan, who paid the price, take it from a Vietnam vet - the failures are not on you.
By April 1975, I had paid my dues, gone on to college and was a second-year law student when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese army. Our combat forces had departed Vietnam two years earlier, but America’s air and logistics support continued until Congress pulled the plug. Our ally would soon fall, and Americans everywhere were horrified, watching the Huey’s evacuate men from the rooftop of our embassy while thousands of Vietnamese begged to be taken — but were left behind.
Thousands of boat people fled Vietnam and many more should have been helped to escape.
After two decades in Afghanistan, is America going to see the replay of a similar finale? One that exposes a failed strategy from George W. Bush to Joe Biden costing billions of dollars and thousands of our dead and wounded? Read More...
May 30, 2021: The Plain Dealer Opinion column by Patrick M. McLaughlin: More than 5,500 Greater Clevelanders died in war. Remember them. Honor them.
Patriotic holidays come to my mind today.
On June 14, Flag Day and the birthday of the United States Army, I think of our flag and that for which it stands. Old Glory, ever changing over the years to keep pace with a growing nation, is America’s greatest symbol. Those “broad stripes and bright stars” are recognized universally as a symbolic hallmark of our nation. A nation that attracts people the world over to come here and live with unprecedented freedoms.
On Veterans Day, we offer thanks to the men and women who have worn the uniforms, during times of war and peace, of the United States Army, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Coast Guard.
Veterans Day is prideful -- like the Fourth of July -- when we pay tribute to the men and women who have kept this nation free and independent. It is a day to express our national gratitude and rejoice that we have produced men and women who have, over the generations, and still today, answer when their nation calls. Read More...
July 27, 2017: The names of eighty five patriots of the 83rd Infantry Division (the “Ohio Division”) are memorialized on the Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial and this living memorial website
The 83rd Infantry Division, which was born in Ohio 100 years ago and served in both world wars – including in the hedgerows of Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge – is coming home to honor its roots and native heroes.
The search for area 83rd veterans or their descendants to be included in the four-day event, starting August 2, 2017 and continuing right up to its culminating public memorial service in The Old Stone Church, Public Square on August 5 at 2:00 p.m. Read More...
July 27, 2017: The Plain Dealer Opinion column by Patrick M. McLaughlin: Ginny Kirsch, 'Donut Dollie' murdered in Vietnam War, to be honored Sunday [Ginny Kirsch photo courtesy of the Kirsch family]
Ginny Kirsch, pictured at left, was one of three Vietnam War "Donut Dollie" Red Cross workers to die in Vietnam.
Kirsch will be honored in her Trumbull County hometown of Brookfield Township Sunday with dedication of a memorial highway. Kirsch, who had just graduated from Miami of Ohio the prior spring, was murdered in her room while assigned to Cu Chi, Vietnam; no one was ever convicted in the killing.
May 29, 2016: Memorial Day opinion column on Cleveland.com by Patrick M. McLaughlin: When James Garfield memorialized the war dead "asleep on the nation's heart" [James Garfield photo courtesy The Plain Dealer]
The day America sets aside to honor our war dead is Memorial Day, a day of solemn reflection, one of parades and ceremonies at memorials and cemeteries - - a day when the soulful sound of taps is heard throughout the land. Memorial Day is a time for long memories and thoughtful speeches.
The first Memorial Day address (the First Decoration Day) was given at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868 - - 148 years ago. It was delivered by Gen. James A. Garfield, then a member of Congress, and later president. Who was this man and why was he selected to give the nation's first Memorial Day address? Read More...
July 25, 2014: Those Here Gave All
The citizens of Cuyahoga county have served the nation well, and paid a heavy price. When America needed defenders the men and women of Greater Cleveland have answered the call. From 1899 to 2014, a span of 115 years, 5,552 patriots of the county have fallen in military service during time of war. These names are memorialized on bronze plaques by war, in alphabetical order, on the Memorial Fountain of the "Cleveland War Memorial: Fountain of Eternal Life," Veterans Memorial Plaza, Cleveland.
As of July 25, 2014 the GCVM added the most recent names: thirty-three from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and nine from earlier wars (two, WWII; one, Korean War; and six, Vietnam War) that were unknown to us ten years ago when we last rededicated the Memorial
Search The Honor Roll...
July 19, 2014: Radio Interview: Jim McIntyre, host of 'The 11th Hour' on AM 1420 interviews GCVM Officers Patrick McLaughlin and Bob Camburn
Patrick McLaughlin, President of the Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial explains that the names of Greater Clevelanders who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan will be added to the plaques that surround the Fountain at Veterans Memorial Plaza. Bob Camburn, Vice President of GCVM and Director of The Honor Roll Project joins McLaughlin during this interview to explain how he researched all 5,552 names that will surround the Fountain following the rededication. Listen...
July 18, 2014: GCVM Web Site Redesigned
The Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial, Inc. ("GCVM") announced that it's "living memorial" website honoring Greater Cleveland’s casualties of war was redesigned Friday, July 18, 2014.
July 18, 2014: Guest column on Cleveland.com by Patrick M. McLaughlin: Those Here Gave All
They came from the inner city, working-class neighborhoods, upscale suburbs, the East and West sides of Cleveland, representing 18 cities of Cuyahoga County. Thirty-two men and one woman, privates to majors and all ranks in between, wearing the colors of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force. They are husbands, fathers, sons, grandsons, brothers, friends, neighbors and a mother. Read More...
June 22, 2014: Cleveland Connection: Radio interview with GCVM President Patrick McLaughlin
CBS Cleveland's Dave Ramos talks with Patrick McLaughlin, president of the Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial. The iconic statue and Memorial Fountain – on downtown Cleveland’s War Memorial Plaza – will be rededicated in July.
Listen...
May 29, 2014: Rededication of the "Cleveland War Memorial: Fountain of Eternal Life"
The GCVM announced that a formal rededication of the "Cleveland War Memorial: Fountain of Eternal Life," Veterans Memorial Plaza (formerly "Mall A") in Cleveland, will take place on Friday, July 25, 2014, during the hours of 12:00 to 1:00pm. The rededication will add the names of Cuyahoga County's casualties of war from military service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read More...
June 11, 2004: Rededication of the Memorial Fountain
The GCVM announced that a formal rededication of the Memorial Fountain, Veterans Memorial Plaza (formerly "Mall A") Cleveland, Ohio, will take place on Friday, July 23, 2004. The rededication will add the names of Greater Cleveland’s casualties of war spanning the 104 years from 1899 to 2003.
Read More...
May 23, 2003: GCVM Web Site Launched
The Greater Cleveland Veterans Memorial, Inc. ("GCVM"), formerly the Greater Cleveland Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Inc., announced that it's "living memorial" website honoring Greater Cleveland’s casualties of war is being launched on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 2003.
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