WELLSBURG, W.Va. — Donna Sullivan with the Brooke County Veterans Memorial Foundation says no one supports their military veterans more than her area. The city of Wellsburg and its citizens will have some of their pride on display in the coming days.
The Brooke County Veterans Memorial Foundation unveiled flags for veterans at the Wellsburg banquet hall Tuesday night. The city will be honoring veterans with 128 individual banners around the city, which will be on display for two years.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by families and veterans, the general public and interim mayor Danny Dudley.
“The people here in Brooke County are all about their veterans. We have ceremonies at Brooke Hills Park and it’s amazing how many people show up. They don’t even have to have a veteran there. They just come because it’s a really nice event,” Sullivan told MetroNews.
Sullivan is the chair of the project but said the help and ideas behind the scenes made it all possible. She credited her committee members of Eric Fithyan and Lisa Chiodo, saying it ‘wouldn’t have happened’ without them.
She said the banners idea came from her late friend Paul ‘Bud’ Billiard. He brought the thought to Sullivan around a year ago but he passed away in January. Billiard and Sullivan have worked together on veteran ceremonies in the past.
“I spoke with him about a year ago. In the interim, he passed away. I decided to since I knew this was something that he wanted to do, that I would go ahead and move forward with it,” she said.
On Tuesday, the officials presented the banners to the families for viewing and each family received a certificate of gratitude.
Families had to fill out a form of their veteran, living or dead, to be eligible. Then after the next two years, the banners will be taken down and given to each family.
“When we first announced we were going to do it, we filled up the poles in a matter of two weeks. We have 105 poles and the families came out on droves to do it and we are still getting names,” Sullivan said.
The banners will line State Route 2 and in downtown. The banners feature a portion of the United States flag, a picture of the veteran with name, rank, a service, and any military honors.
Sullivan said all different backgrounds of veterans are being honored including World Wars, the Korean conflict, the living, and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Main Street Bank and veterans’ families funded the banners. Similar banners have been hung in nearby Follansbee and Weirton.