Stones commemorating Vietnam War heroes get new home
When four stones commemorating and honoring five servicemen killed in action in Vietnam were dedicated in 2014 at the Highfield Community Center ballfield in Butler Township, no one could foresee that come 2021, the land would be purchased and a housing development would be planned for the site.
Officials at American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora decided to move the stones to an honored spot at the Legion property just down the street off Kohler Avenue.
Bill McNutt, post commander, said the public is invited to the re-dedication of the stones and the dedication of a new brass plaque to be placed at the site.
The cost of the plaque was paid by Butler County Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 19, at Post 778.
In addition to dedicating the stones and plaque, a gun salute by a Marine honor guard and a flag line by the Lyndora American Legion Riders, McNutt said two living World War II veterans and two Korean War veterans also will be honored at the event.
He said the four large, flat stones commemorating the servicemen killed in action were moved to Post 778 in the spring.
A group of American Legion members dug the holes and completed the concrete work at the site and placed them in their new home, with a flag representing each branch of the U.S. military flying above them.
Those honored on the stones are former Highfield baseball players Paul Stasko, KIA Feb. 21, 1968, and Thomas Czzowitz, KIA Sept. 9, 1965. Those men each have their own stones.
Another stone bears the names of William Lesnick, KIA Oct. 24, 1967; Gary Reed, KIA March 20, 1968; and Richard Coyle, KIA March 6, 1969.
“He had just started his tour on Feb. 12, 1969,” McNutt said of Coyle.
A nearby bench overlooking the stones allows family, friends, Legion members or residents to sit and reflect on the sacrifices of the five young men or on the Vietnam War.
“They went over there to protect this country, and those five guys gave all,” McNutt said.
Ken Lesnik of Butler Township, who was 15 years old when his brother, William, was killed in Vietnam, said his older sibling served bravely in the 7th Cavalry, U.S. Army.
“You couldn’t find a nicer guy,” Lesnik said of his brother, who worked as a mechanic at the Ford Garage in Butler before being drafted alongside thousands of other young American men.
“My dad tried to get him a furlough, but he said no, he wanted to go,” Lesnik said. “He wanted to serve his country.”
He recalled that his family was able to view his remains when his brother arrived back home, but a glass barrier on the casket prevented his mother and father, the late Joseph and Elinor Lesnik, from touching their departed son.
“That’s what got my Mom more than anything,” Lesnik said.
He is thrilled that the memorial stones have been moved to the American Legion, where the five heroes will be honored in perpetuity.
“When the Vietnam veterans came back home, they didn’t get what they deserved,” Lesnik said. “They were treated like second-class citizens.”
McNutt is asking anyone with contact information for the families of Czzowitz or Stasko to call him at the Lyndora American Legion at 724-287-8364.
