The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Memorial service for veterans marks 15th year
Conducted by the Lake County Veterans Service Commission in Painesville, the 15th annual Memorial Edition of the Fall Veterans Memorial will take place at Mentor City Hall, 8500 Civic Center Blvd. in Mentor at 12:15 p.m. Oct. 7. The event is free and open to the public.
An open house will follow at the Col. Justice M. Chambers Detachment No. 555 Building — also known as Gunny’s Hall — at 8720 Twinbrook Road in Mentor. This event will be followed by a procession to the Corporal David L. Daugherty Memorial Park in Eastlake for a rededication ceremony. The group then will head to Gunny’s Hall, where the Col. Justice M. Chambers Detachment 555 of the Marine Corps League will provide lunch.
Corporal David Daugherty Park is dedicated to the eight Marines who died fighting in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 4, 1983. Founded by Joe Lucarelli, who co-chairs the event with Jonathan R. Warmeling, executive director of the Lake County Veterans Service Commission, the memorial is often considered a mini-Beirut Veterans of America Reunion, though the hour-long ceremony recognizes and honors veterans from many of the country’s military conflicts, in addition to the families of the fallen.
The Beirut barracks bombings occurred on October 23, 1983, and the motto, “The first duty is to remember,” centrally recognizes the attacks.
This year’s guest speaker will be the Master Sgt. John Roberts, who served in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005, and later served as the Engineer Chief based out of Ayn al-Asad Airbase.
After promotion to gunnery sergeant, Roberts was again deployed to Iraq, in 2007, as part of the troop surge. Roberts is the recipient of two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, in addition to numerous other accolades.
Contact Joe Lucarelli at 216-235-9011 or Jon Warmeling 440-350-2570 for more information.