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 The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passes through downtown Wapakoneta Wednesday, September 1. Staff photo/William Laney By CARLA MEYER
Staff Writer
For 45 minutes, the roar of motorcycles could be heard passing under an American flag hanging from two ladder trucks. For 45 minutes, area residents gathered in the shadow of the Auglaize County Courthouse and Wapakoneta Fire Station waved and clapped as motorcyclists rode by.
The smiles and waves turned into clapping and cheers as the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passed down Willipie Street on its way to Custenborder Field in Sidney where it was greeted by a field of American flags.
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Area student pens letters to servicemen |
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Tuesday, 26 May 2009 |
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
BUCKLAND — During the past year, a Celina High School student has placed her pen to the paper more than 1,000 times, and when she’s satisfied with her work, she seals up her letter and sends it away.
Her letters do not go to family.
They’re not sent to friends either.
Actually, Elizabeth Kohn’s letters end up in the hands of strangers she will likely never meet — some isolated on a distant military base camp, others on a sandy, sun-bleached battlefield.
For more than a year, the youth has written letters of thanks to American soldiers stationed throughout the world. She said it is the least she could do from west-central Ohio.
“I just want to let them know how much I appreciate what they’re doing,” Kohn said. “I want them to get a letter from home.”
Kohn’s efforts received recognition Monday during the annual Memorial Day festivities in Buckland. Following the parade through the streets, Kohn addressed hundreds in attendance in the Buckland Cemetery, speaking briefly about her experiences over the last year.
“Both my step-father and grandfather served in the military, so I know quite a bit about what they went through,” Kohn said after her speech.
Early last year, Kohn said recruiters came to one of her high school classes with information about writing letters to soldiers. After speaking with her step-father Melvin Robbins about the online program, and receiving sponsorship from the DAV 76 chapter in Celina, Kohn wrote her first letter in March 2008. Now, 500 hours of writing, and 1,000 letters later, Kohn is still penning her expressions of gratitude.
Of her 1,000 letters — none of which are duplicates — she said she has received more than 500 hand-written replies and countless more e-mails. Some thank her, while others delve into more details about what they’re facing while serving.
One reply stands out among the hundreds, she said.
“One soldier asked me why I wrote to him,” Kohn said. “He said he spoke to everyone who serves with him and none of them had gotten a letter from someone my age. It just shocked me that no one else was doing this.”
Kohn said her satisfaction of writing reached its peak when an American flag was flown in her honor over the sands of Afghanistan.
“The first person I sent a letter to flew the flag during a peace mission,” Kohn said. “Afterward, they folded it and sent it back to me.”
Robbins, her step-father, said he could not be more proud of his step-daughter and what her project has become.
“What she is doing is awesome,” said Robbins, who served during Desert Storm and has served nearly 30 years in the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. “She’s started this and has done everything on her own. I’m very proud of her.”
Kohn said as long as she knows her letters are helping the lives of American soldiers, she’ll continue to write her thanks and ship them across the world.
“A lot of them say that it makes them feel better that they get a letter from home,” Kohn said, “and it makes me feel good knowing that I’m helping someone.”
Kohn’s address was the final cap on yet another Memorial Day celebration in Buckland. The festivities were kicked-off in the morning with the Memorial Day parade which sported nearly 40 units, including rescue vehicles from across the county.
After the parade, the hundreds in attendance made their way to the cemetery where a new monument was dedicated beneath the American flag pole. The monument features engraved bricks detailing every major conflict the United States has been engaged in.
Buckland Mayor Dan Lambert labeled the event a success, but also called attention to the true meaning behind why Americans gather on the final Monday in May.
“This is a day for the servicemen who have passed in the line of duty, and this is our day to honor them,” Lambert said. “And that’s why we do this ceremony every year, it’s all for them.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 May 2009 )
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