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The Dog Tag Memorial created in honor of Vietnam veterans from Cark County will be unveiled on Saturday, September 26 in Veterans Memorial Park in Springfield.

This memorial is dedicated to the men from Clark County who died while serving their country in Vietnam.  The memorial, constructed in the shape of a large dog tag, bears the names of more than 60 men who lost their lives in the war.

Randy Ark, a Vietnam veteran and member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said that former Commander Dave Bauer came up with the idea to honor Clark County’s lost Vietnam soldiers two years ago.  Ark said that due to Bauer’s obligations of becoming State Commander for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, that he took over the campaign, raising donations and gathering the names of all of Clark County’s soldiers who had died in the war.

Ark said that most of the donations came from private individuals, noting that the Turner Foundation from Springfield gave $1,000 to the project.  He said that the entire cost of installing the monument totaled around $20,000, and that his donors were so generous that they did not stop donating even when he announced that the project had been funded.  He said that the extra funds will be put toward the upkeep of the park, adding that one donor gave enough for him to create the Veterans Memorial Park Endowment under the umbrella of the Springfield Foundation.

The monument is personal for Ark, who served as a medic in Vietnam.  He also lost four classmates from Greenon High School’s class of 1966, and felt the need to honor these men and their families.  He said that as a medic, his thoughts often went to the family members of men who died on the battlefield, saddened at the notion that their loved one had died halfway across the globe and yet they had no way of knowing.  Ark said he hoped the memorial would bring some level of closure to the families who had lost their sons, brothers, uncles, and fathers.

“It’s an honor for us to remember them and their families, and to show that we remember and we care,” said Ark. “It’s to show respect for what these families gave.”

Ark said that he received a call from a woman during the project’s donation phase, who told him that her son’s name was on the monument, and that although she did not have much money, she wanted to make a contribution.  Ark graciously denied her donation, telling her she had “already given enough” through her son’s sacrifice.  He said he was touched by her offer, but stressed that she and the other mothers who never saw their boys come home from war were one of the primary reasons for the monument’s construction, saying that he hopes the families will gain some sort of closure from it.

County Commissioner Rick Lohnes will be the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony, and Governor Kasich has been invited as well.

The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 26 at 1 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in Springfield.

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