[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16212-16213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING OUR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH THE AMERICAN VETERANS 
                           TRAVELING TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE AUSTRIA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 4, 2012

  Mr. AUSTRIA. Mr. Speaker, while we can never fully express the depth 
of our appreciation for those who have risked and given their lives to 
protect our freedoms, I rise today on behalf of the constituents of 
Ohio's Seventh Congressional District to recognize and honor our 
military veterans and their families through the American Veterans 
Traveling Tribute.
  Our veterans have quietly gone to work and war so that Americans can 
freely pursue their dreams. Their spouses have gone about the daily 
task of keeping the home fires burning, and have often sacrificed 
careers and other goals to provide stability at home during constant 
transitions. Furthermore, their children have learned to be resilient 
and appreciative of the cost of freedom. They are strong families who 
have contributed to our communities, and have defended our Constitution 
and freedoms.
  The American Veterans Traveling Tribute is a mobile memorial 
dedicated primarily to the memory of fallen military members from 
Vietnam. The traveling unit centerpiece of a the American Veterans 
Traveling Tribute is a 380-foot exact replica of the Vietnam Memorial 
Wall, and the AVTT includes memorial displays honoring the veterans of 
World War 2, Korean War, the Gulf War, September 11th attack victims 
and the current War on Terror.
  A non-profit event owned by a retired Army Vietnam veteran, there is 
a patch and coin available from the AVTT that is inscribed, ``I touched 
the Wall; the Wall touched me.'' This motto was so very true for a 
small group of veterans and citizens in Greene County, Ohio who formed 
a committee and hosted the AVTT in Xenia from October 10-14, 2012. They 
physically touched the Wall, but their lives were touched forever along 
with the lives of thousands of visitors who came to Xenia to see the 
AVTT.
  Tim and Susan Spradlin of Xenia proposed the project in August 2011. 
Tim is a retired Air Force Reserve first sergeant, a member of the 
Greene County Veterans Service Commission

[[Page 16213]]

plus he and Susan are very active members of the Ohio Patriot Guard 
Riders. A veteran of combat in Iraq, Tim was frustrated by the fact 
that age and injuries caused him to retire from the reserve in late 
2008 at age 49 after 30 total years of service. He found new ways to 
serve the military with the Patriot Guard and the veteran's commission. 
In 2010 Susan and Tim rode a PGR escort mission in Sidney, Ohio for the 
AVTT display there. On seeing the entire display Tim told his wife, 
``...Steve Molden would love this'', and so the idea of hosting the 
AVTT in Xenia was first born.
  Steve Molden is a Vietnam veteran in Xenia, who proudly served with 
the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. Now retired from Greene 
County services department, Steve is also a former volunteer member of 
the Xenia Township Fire Department and Greene County Rescue, where Tim 
Spradlin had met him many years ago. For many years Steve had been 
frustrated in his efforts to organize Veterans Day and Memorial Day 
ceremonies or parades in Xenia. Tim was aware of Steve's frustration 
and wanted to do something special for Steve and other Vietnam veterans 
like him. Activated in 1991 for the Desert Shield / Desert Storm 
conflict, Tim never forgot that there were Vietnam veterans across the 
nation who stood up in support of the new generation of military, 
loudly proclaiming that these war vets would not be abused or 
mistreated as many Vietnam vets had been. Tim suggested to the Veterans 
Commission that they could host the AVTT, and the committee was born.
  First to join the local AVTT committee was Steve Molden and veteran's 
service office director Lance Woodward. Lance is a disabled Navy 
veteran who was part of the AVTT display planning in Clermont County, 
Ohio in 2003. Susan followed her husband and agreed to serve as the 
treasurer for the group, and Steve's wife Karen joined as the volunteer 
coordinator, to honor her husband and her uncle, member of the Order of 
the Purple Heart for wounds in Vietnam.
  Steve Molden also brought his old friend Jim McMichaels on board. Jim 
is a Navy veteran of Vietnam, a high school classmate of Steve, and 
they both personally knew some of the 34 sons of Greene County who were 
killed in Vietnam, and whose names were engraved on the Wall. Other 
members of the community stepped up to serve also, including Jim 
Kennedy and Helena Curtis. Helena is a former deputy sheriff and cancer 
survivor whose spirit and dedication as unmatched. She said she was 
inspired to serve on the committee in honor of her father and 
grandfather who were military war veterans. Jim Madsen, a retired Air 
Force officer and federal civilian was proud to join the group and 
dedicated hundreds of hours, stating it was his personal way to say 
thank you, that he felt the need to do more since he had never been 
tasked to go to war during his service years.
  As the committee worked for a year to plan the AVTT event many other 
citizens, spouses, veterans and business people joined the effort. For 
Susan Spradlin it was hard work but a labor of love, honoring her 
husband as an Iraq vet, a tribute to her late father who was a Navy 
veteran of Korea, and her brother who was disabled due to service in 
the Gulf War. Betty Zentiara is 80 years old, a Marine Corps veteran of 
Korea and dedicated many hours of her time to working in the kitchen at 
the event to serve refreshments to the many volunteers. Master Sergeant 
Jason Larimore, an active duty member from Wright-Patterson Air Force 
Base joined the effort and recruited many active duty Air Force 
personnel to man the Wall at night, providing security. David 
``Smitty'' Smith, retired Greene County deputy sheriff and 101st 
Airborne veteran of Vietnam was very honored to serve and inspired to 
bring out his motorcycle ad joined the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders as a 
result of his experience on the AVTT committee. Marine veteran Ed Vance 
tearfully told his fellow committee members that the experience had 
``changed his life''. There were two church pastors who participated in 
the event and ceremonies; both were also Vietnam veterans. Many fire 
and law enforcement personnel also got involved, notably Captain Doug 
Cope, a shift commander with the City of Xenia Fire Division and a 
veteran of the rescue team deployment to New York City after the 
September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.
  Steve and Karen Molden worked to create 34 plaques with the names, 
ranks, service information and dates for the Greene County citizens 
killed in Vietnam. These plaques were placed at the base of The Wall 
during the 4 day display, a touching personal memory of the local 
sacrifice paid by the community. Some of the families for those killed 
in action came to see the Wall in Xenia and they were presented with 
the plaque in honor of their fallen brother.
  Over the 4 day display of the AVTT there was a motorcycle escort 
parade, music and concerts, a police and fire September 11th memorial 
service, and numerous interactions, reunions and fellowship. Steve 
Molden and Jim McMichaels were out at the Wall almost constantly, 
leaving late at night for some sleep and then back early the next day, 
walking, sitting in a golf cart or on a bench, talking, teaching and 
sharing . . . not only were they paying tribute to the fallen, but they 
were honoring all veterans by educating others about Vietnam, the war 
and the people who fought it. Watching these veterans and others find 
healing through this project was so rewarding.
  The pinnacle event was the military memorial service on Saturday 
October 13th. Guest speakers included Congressman Steve Austria, Ohio 
Patriot Guard captain Bob Woods (US Army Vietnam), AVTT owner Don Allen 
(US Army Vietnam) and Major General Ed Mechenbier, US Air Force 
Vietnam, who was shot down while flying an F4 aircraft and spent nearly 
6 years in a POW cell. There was not a dry eye in the large crowd as 
the 34 names of Greene County KIA were read. ``Sorry for crying, but I 
went to high school with some of these guys,'' explained a tearful Jim 
McMichaels as he and Vietnam vets Steve Molden, Sam Wallace, Pastor 
John Corcoran and Pastor Wes Barnhill read the details of the fallen. 
The end of the reading was followed by the USAF band, the bagpipes 
playing Amazing Grace and a bugler playing ``Taps'' as a memorial 
wreath was laid at the apex of the Wall. For Steve Molden, Tim Spradlin 
and Jim McMichaels it was the end of a long year, as they sat down on a 
park bench near the wall and shared tears of joy for the good they had 
done together, and the blessing of surviving their wars.
  Inspired by the dedication and initiative of so many people, the 
Greene County Veterans Tribute Committee will continue to make a 
difference. After all the AVTT bills were paid, the committee donated 
part of their remaining funding to the Honor Flight program and part to 
the Wounded Warrior Project. The remainder will be kept in the non-
profit endowment fund as the seed money for a new project; we have a 
vision to build a suitable large war memorial for all Greene County 
veterans and families on the lawn of the county courthouse. With the 
support of the community, the Members have no doubt that they can 
continue to serve local veterans, serve the community, the nation and 
with God's blessings create a permanent tribute to all Greene County 
citizens who have served in the United States Armed Forces or paid the 
ultimate cost of freedom.
  I am grateful that Greene County, located within my district, was 
granted the opportunity to remember and celebrate the lives of veterans 
and first responders through the American Veterans Traveling Tribute. 
All those who worked to make this event happen are to be commended for 
their time and efforts. It was a bittersweet time to remember both 
those who came home from Vietnam and other wars as well as those who 
never had the chance.
  Thus, today I ask my colleagues to join me and the constituents of 
Ohio's Seventh Congressional District in honoring our military veterans 
and their families for their continued and selfless service to the land 
of the free.

                          ____________________