The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Vets build pavilion
Visitors to Vietnam Memorial Wall will have place to reflect, relax
Ninety-eight names on a wall shaded by a blackened flag are guarded by an eagle with 98 feathers at the Lorain County Vietnam War Memorial in Amherst.
One name, one feather for each Lorain County person killed in the Vietnam War.
But for 10 veterans revving power tools and swinging hammers on a new pavilion at the memorial on Lake Avenue south of Amherst police station, the 98 names are honored friends.
Except for those who served, few can understand the deep connectedness among soldiers.
At the wall in Amherst, 72-year-old Joseph Horvath points out the name of his best friend, Edgardo R. LaTorre CPL Army Lorain.
On the path, his brick reads, “Edgardo R. Latorre (sic) CPL US Army Vietnam, KIA Aug. 20, 1969, Your forever friend, Joe Horvath.”
In Lorain, the young men were best friends with birthdays separated by two days, said Horvath from Amherst Township, who after high school was taking care of his mother until his older brother John returned home from Vietnam.
From Puerto Rico, LaTorre graduated from Lorain High School, and Horvath said he turned the tassel at Admiral King High School.
“We were in the Southerners Club in the ‘60s,” Horvath said. “There were a lot of clubs back then. We used to run the streets together, played football against other clubs.
“We held dances. I still have a ticket: ‘Come to our dance $1.’ It was at the Antlers Hotel on the lower floor.”
When John Horvath returned from war, 20-yearold Joseph Horvath and LaTorre enlisted in the Army together.
“I was going to get drafted anyway,” Horvath said. “We were going to take care of each other.
“We enlisted together. We went together to tell each others’ families. He told my mom he was going to take care of me. Then we went to tell his mom. Of course, she was crying. I told his mom, ‘I’ll take care of Edgar.’
The two went to basic training together, AIT (Advanced Infantry Training), and then overseas, Horvath said, adding a week later, the Army separated them.
“I went with the 82nd Dust Off; he was Air Cavs, Air Cavalry,” Horvath said. “He was on patrol when he was hit. He died a week after we got separated.
“We were supposed to write letters to each other. He wrote a letter to me; I wrote to him. Of course, you can’t write every day. You write when you can. I didn’t hear back.”
So, Horvath wrote to LaTorre’s commanding officer and learned his friend was killed in action.
“People here didn’t want to tell me; they didn’t want me to get upset,” Horvath said. “I got angry. I could have flown home with him. I could have escorted him.
“I told his mom, ‘I’ll take care of Edgar.’ She’s with him now.”
LaTorre was killed the first week, said Horvath, holding up his hand measuring an inch between a thumb and forefinger. “I felt this big,” he said. Along with cleaning and decorating LaTorre’s grave site three times a year for 47 years, projects such as the pavilion emerged as Horvath’s way of taking care of LaTorre by attending needs of veterans now.
Mike Schrull, director of American Legion Riders out of American Legion Post 118 in Amherst, said the Slovak Club hosted a fundraiser to raise money for the pavilion.
City approves shelter
Mike Hohla from Amherst drew plans for the shelter, which were approved by the city.
“This is our third day now,” Schrull said. “This is the Lorain County Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
“It’s all important to us. It brings a lot of memories for us. There are 98 names on the wall.”
The pavilion is intended to enable veterans and their families to rest, Schrull said, and reflect on the Lorain County Vietnam Memorial in a place of shelter from sun and rain.
The plan calls for a concrete floor and a path from the parking lot for handicap accessibility, he said.
“It’s an honor for every one of us to be able to come here the last three days and build the pavilion,” Schrull said. “Many of us took time out of our working day to do this.
“It is an honor. Hopefully, people can come and remember the losses of families and their fallen.”
Schrull said his best friend’s name is on the wall, Schrull said.
“We grew up together, went in together, and went over at the same time, but not together,” he said.
The American Legion Riders gather in fundraisers at the site as well, Schrull said, such as the Poker Run on July 22 with more than 40 participants braving inhospitable weather.
“They have a PTSD run on Sept. 9,” he said. “I could see them starting from here. That would be a good use of the shelter.”
Veteran of the Year
Schrull said Horvath received in April, a 2017 Veteran of the Year award from Lorain Veterans Council.
“(Horvath) does an amazing amount of work for veterans,” Schrull said, “and not just Vietnam veterans. He’s too modest of a person to tell anyone about it. He’s one of my heroes, I can tell you that.”
Taking a break from construction duties on a ladder, Horvath said he sees needs of veterans and finds ways to fill them.
A couple of years ago at a Disabled American Veterans meeting, the plight of an African American veteran from Rocky River was discussed, Horvath said.
His mother died and a company wanted $400 to transport the man from a hospital to the funeral. Horvath excused himself to make a call.
He said he borrowed a handicap van from a friend, drove the man and his family to the funeral, and stayed for as long as they needed.
When the van owner passed away, Horvath said he bought the vehicle from the relatives, so the trips continue.
“We collect things for veterans in need and give it to them, like clothing and furniture,” Horvath said. “If I hear somebody needs it, I go out of my way to provide it.
“I’m not a business, but I volunteer for a lot of stuff.”
The memorial helps people honor loved ones.
Horvath and his wife, Linda, bought two bricks and had them engraved, one for him and one for LaTorre, side-by-side on the path.
“One woman said we put her father’s brick by the sidewalk,” Horvath said. “Every time she jogs by she says a little prayer by the stone.”
Horvath’s honors
The Veteran of the Year award is not the only time Horvath has been decorated.
He also received a Silver Star for Heroic in Battle, and a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
The incident in connection with those medals happened in August 1969.
Horvath said he was assigned to the 82nd Medevac “Dust Off,” as he pointed to LaTorre’s name.
“I was with the Dust Off helicopter,” he said. “I picked up the wounded and dead.”
The night was dark, Horvath said.
“We were hovering about six feet off the ground,” he said. “I helped save 29 wounded soldiers under heavy enemy fire.
“The last one I saved, he was coming toward the ship (helicopter). He had two bullet holes in him. I could see two red dots. He fell down.”
The crew chief, Horvath pulled off his radio head set and started to go out to pick up the soldier, but he stood up.
“Den day, den day,” Horvath yelled, telling the man to run to the helicopter.
The man surged forward and fell. But he got up and made it to the aircraft.
Horvath grabbed him and held on. Immediately, the Viet Cong sprayed the Medevac with bullets.
Horvath recalled being hit in the face with schrapnel and pieces of the aircraft.
“The next thing I knew we were 500 feet, 800 feet in the air,” he said. “I’m still holding on. I pulled him in.”
The Viet Cong had been hiding in six-foot-tall elephant grass directly in front of where the Medevac hovered and the helicopter crew could not see them, Horvath said.
About a month later, he said he attended a ceremony to receive the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and later the American award.
Even today, LaTorreis not forgotten.
‘I take good care of him now,” Horvath said. “I clean his grave stone, decorate it.”