When the Crestwood school district originally constructed its fieldhouse in 1970, it planned to build a monument to honor a group of graduates who fought in the Vietnam War. The Red Devils finally saw those plans come to fruition when they honored the four Crestwood alumnj who died in Vietnam in a rededication ceremony last Saturday morning at Jack Lambert Stadium in Mantua.
“It means that these four people and their families will never be forgotten,” Mantua-Shalersville firefighter Benner told The Weekly Villager. “Thousands of people will see that plaque every time there is a soccer match or a football game. The whole point is that some of the names are not forgotten.”
At the rededication ceremony, Crestwood officially commemorated a plaque between the windows of the food stand, honoring Red Devil graduates Kenneth Keefer, Denver Berkheimer, John Lowrence and Robert Zoller II for their service in the armed forces. They were all killed in active duty in the Vietnam War.
Benner, who is also unofficially Mantua’s local historian, said when he researched the fieldhouse, he discovered that there was supposed to be a dedication in honor of Red Devil alumni.
For whatever reason, those plans were never fulfilled.
“You know how that stuff is,” Benner said. “It is all done with volunteer labor and sports boosters. You can do something and life takes over, you move and some things do not get done.”
Benner presented his proposal for a rededication ceremony to the school board in October and his proposal was approved. The rededication ceremony was held during a brief pause in the Red Devils’ annual Don Faix Invitational track meet. After the preliminary races concluded, the rededication ceremony took place.
In addition to the Zoller and Lowrence families, several current Vietnam War veterans were also in attendance.
Following the public announcement, the Mantua American Legion Post 193 conducted a series of rightful fire to salute their fallen comrades.
According to Benner, Mantua is well known for being a patriotic community.
“There are literally over 1,000 veterans who have served and are buried here,” he noted. “Between Mantua Village and Mantua Township, it is a blue-collar working community and a lot of people served in the armed forces.”
After the official introduction, Palmyra Historical Society President Della Evans unveiled a collection of Vietnam Veteran lapel pins on behalf of the county to United States veterans who served on active duty in the armed forces any time between November 1, 1955 to May 5, 1970.
Crestwood School District Superintendent Dr. David Michael Toth presented the pins to each veteran and the families of veterans who served in Vietnam but were killed in active duty, referred to as gold star families.
The pins were designed with unique symbols that represented the armed forces, including the eagle, which stood for bravery and courage; a blue circle, which color matches the canon of the American Flag and signified vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The blue circle and shape also represented the official seal of the commemoration and the stripes behind the eagle represented the American Flag.
There were also six stars on the pin that stood for the alliance of six nations that banded together to fight in the Vietnam War: the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
A total of 60 pins were distributed to the Vietnam War veterans and families of deceased soldiers during the ceremony.
“We are obviously prideful of their service but society in general should do all they can to honor the men and women that served and have served,” Dr. Toth told The Weekly Villager. “That is the least we can do as a Crestwood community for the gentlemen that- god forbid-lost their lives but also the servicemen and servicewomen.”
According to Ron Zoller, nephew of Robert Zoller, serving in the armed forces was something his uncle took great pride in.
“It was always important to our family to be involved in that stuff and respect your country, honor your country and fight for it,” Zoller told The Weekly Villager. “He was quite an athlete in his day and my family was a big part of getting this fieldhouse started and that was very important to my family and my grandparents.”
