"Mothers Day 2010 / Wadsworth 13"

TOUCHING On Mother’s Day, May 9, a Gold Star Mother (Mrs. Van Duzer) touches her son’s name on the Veterans’ Memorial Wall with Marine Don Maurer in Clinton during a ceremony to honor local fallen soldiers

Five young Marines, ranging in age from 13-17, stood at attention, guarding a bench that was to be unveiled.

A United States flag that flew at the U.S. Capitol Building was draped over the bench. It was the 40th anniversary of Sidney Rohler’s death. One of the 13.

Rohler’s sister, Dee Stewart, was in attendance at the park. She stood and stared at the vast number of people who were there, waiting to see the bench with her brother’s name. “I saw all of these people. It was so overwhelming, “Stewart said with emotion.

Rohler was in Vietnam March 28, 1970. “He was a point man,” his sister quietly said. “He got shot in the heart and died instantly.”

Rohler’s lifetime best friend, Ron White, was on active duty as well March 28.

Their friendship began when they were young kids because of a mutual love for horses.

“In junior high and senior high, we were inseparable,” White said. “If you saw one, you knew the other one was close by.”

Rohler and White were ornery in eighth grade.

“We were in the same English class and we had this teacher who separated us,” White laughed. “That same teacher, on many occasions, would have to turn around and face the board because she was laughing at Sid’s antics too. She did not want the students to see her and encourage Sid even more.”

Rohler’s family had been notified of his death. They knew who needed to escort his body home.

“We had to track Ron down,” Stewart said.

“I was between tours. I was in Okinawa at the time,” said Stewart. “We had just been pulled out of Vietnam with Nixon’s first withdrawal.”

White had just volunteered to go back into Vietnam. He had just received the orders that he would reenter the war zone May 1, 1970.

Early that morning, shortly after Rohler had been killed, White was notified that he was called to the ultimate duty.

“I was just a young enlisted. We were having our morning formation when I was called out of formation. I was told I had a phone call from division. When you are an E-3, in the Marine Corp, and you get a phone call from division, you figure you are in a lot of trouble,” White said. It was a major.

“He informed me of the casualty and that the family wished I escort the remains home,” White said. “I got that phone call at 7:30 a.m. and by 3 that afternoon, I was on a plane to Oakland, California where I picked up the body.”

White went to Oakland and took classes on how to be an escort. He got the paperwork and then went to pick up his best friend.

“I signed for the remains on the tarmac. They escorted me and I was the last one on the airplane. I got a seat in the back and then I was the first one off when I landed in Cleveland,” White said with emotion in his voice and tears. “I signed for the body again. They put the body on a cargo train and we went into a warehouse where a hearse was waiting for me, along with my father.”

“A gentleman who owns the funeral home had called my dad. He knew my father and he asked him to come,” said White.

The two 20-year-old best friends, one escorting the other home, were almost to Wadsworth.

“We were coming down to Route 18 when the hearse got a flat tire. I didn’t know it at the time, but I learned that you don’t jack one of those puppies up when you have a casket in the back,” he said.

“That bench,” White said, “that bench is for Sid. That bench is for all those boys who didn’t come home. The least we can do is remember them. My contribution was nothing. Their’s was everything. The losing of life is the ultimate sacrifice.”

White knew almost all 13.

“Dave Mitchell and I were related by marriage,” said White. “I knew him since we were real little kids just learning how to walk. Don Perkins, I went to school with him. Ron Van Duzer, he was a few years older than me but he ran around with Sid and me. Ferguson graduated with my sister. Huff, I knew him too. Yea, I knew 90 percent of those guys on there.”

Seeing those names on that bench brought healing.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “I have wondered for 40 years if it was all worth it. It is hard to look at those names and realize that they never got any older.”

When White got home from Vietnam, it was hard.

“We didn’t get a whole lot of thank yous that I remember,” he said. “Many did not like what we did. It was one of those things where you just came home, took your uniform off and tried to blend in. It was pretty tough to do.”

Standing at the wall in Clinton is overwhelming for White.

“It is so great to have the wall this close,” he said. “It is so nice to know that so many people still care. This is sad, but I am very proud. Proud of them. Proud of what we did, whether it was appreciated or not. This is an overwhelming feeling of emotions and memories.”

“I was so impressed with the people who work at the park, the volunteers. They put a lot of hours in and they are so helpful. We told them we wanted to do a dedication and what we wanted, they had it just the way we liked. It was perfect. They were so kind to us,” White said.

“We put the bench in Clinton,” Stewart said, “because they needed to be with their buddies. We want people to be aware of this park.”

Donations came in from as far Hawaii for the bench.

“This bench has healed so much,” Stewart said. “I hope it can bring some closure to Ron.”

“There’s closure,” White agreed. “Sometimes, though, you almost feel guilty because you got to come home and they didn’t. You got to grow old and they didn’t. Just as long as their memories are preserved and they continue to live in our hearts.”

Donations and brick purchases can be made to the Ohio Veterans Memorial Park at 8005 Cleveland Massillon Road, Clinton, Ohio 44216. The phone number is 330-773-2385. General information is info@ovmp.org . The web address is http://www.ovmp.org.

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