Adams Community Park a newer site of remembrance for veterans
ADAMS TWP — Visitors to the Adams Township Community Park, as of this past winter, have been able to pay their respects and honor local veterans through the township’s Military Banner program.
Unlike many military banner programs, the Adams program is a newer one, which kicked off in November of 2021. Township Supervisor Darryl Brandon said the project was the product of discussions between him and board chairman Supervisor Russ Ford.
“Russ and I talked a few times, because we had seen other communities that had military banners up, and we thought that was a great idea to honor the veterans and veteran families in Adams Township,” Brandon said. “We found a good company, and really moved forward with it.”
Family members of those who served can order banners through a paper form or through a link on the Adams Township website for $125. They receive a large banner to be displayed on a pole in the park, plus two smaller ones for the family to keep.
Since the program started, Brandon said, the township has received a steady one or two calls each week from families hoping to memorialize their relatives.
One such recent call was from JoAnna Halenda of Mars, who purchased a banner in honor of her father, Donald Shirey, who served in the Navy from 1953 to 1957. Shirey’s banner has not yet arrived in the park, but will soon.
“My dad, he will tell you, he got to see the world through being in the Navy, and it opened up so many doors for him,” Halenda said. “He was able to go to college on the GI bill at Slippery Rock, and that’s how he met my mother.”
Shirey was a longtime physics teacher at Knoch High School and got his PhD in information science. He retired in 1996, and recently endured a car accident.
“I had seen (the banners) around different little towns, and thought, ‘we need to do that for my dad,’” Halenda said. “My Uncle Richard was in the Marines, and my Uncle George was in the Army. They were all a year apart in age, and they all served."
For some, the banners are a way of honoring deceased family members.
Richard Gloyer, whose son, Ryan Gloyer, was killed in action in 2016 while serving in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel, described the banner program as "a way to have Ryan’s memory in place for perpetuity.“
“He died in combat, and he’s one of many heroes who gave their all,” Gloyer said. “I think all of our fallen heroes should be remembered, and this is a great way to do that.”
Ryan Gloyer’s name is also engraved on the war memorial in the Adams Township Community Park, and Ryan Gloyer Middle School in Seneca Valley was renamed in his honor in 2018. The school holds annual assemblies to teach students about Gloyer’s legacy.
“(It’s a way) to have his memory remain in people’s minds, so that we don’t forget those who are willing to serve and pay the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms and our way of life,” Gloyer said. “We want to celebrate Ryan for the way he lived his life.”
Valencia resident Debbie Vivirito Bartley’s father, John Vivirito, died in September of 2021. His banner now flies in the park, along with a banner honoring Bartley’s father-in-law, Arthur Bartley, who served in Germany after World War II in the 8th Infantry from 1954 to 1958.
John Vivirito was born in Pittsburgh, and served in the 164th Infantry Regiment, Company B in Germany from 1953 to 1955. He later worked as a mechanical draftsman in engineering.
“My dad, he was a family man. He was all about his family, everything was about his wife and kids and parents,” Bartley said. “He never did anything for himself — he was all about making sure we had, and doing things for us. He enjoyed sports, and I would say he was all about his family.”
Putting up the banner was a chance to honor his memory, Vivirito said.
“It was sort of extra special for us to do this, to honor him,” she said. “Especially for my husband and myself, to have our dads there.”
For one Adams resident, receiving a flag came as a surprise.
“My grandchildren and children got together, and took one of my photographs from the service and had the banner made up,” said Bartley Morrow of Adams, who served in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps during the Vietnam era. “It really surprised me and touched me deeply.”
Dentistry runs in Morrow’s family. He and his father, who was in the Army during World War I, both became dentists, and his daughter, nephew, and grandniece are in the field themselves.
After he received his own banner, Morrow decided to get another banner to honor his father, Stanley Morrow.
“I was deeply touched, and I felt that my father should be recognized also,” Morrow said.
